Project Topic: Engagement

We the People/Wisconsin, Madison, WI 1997

Partners:

Wisconsin StateJournal
Wisconsin Public TV
WISC-TV
Wisconsin Public Radio
Wood Communications

The oldest, continuously operating civic journalism partnership tackled issues of race and culture in 1997 both with programming and outreach activities. With its “We the People500” effort, the partners diversified and broadened the base of citizens who attended their town hall meetings, coffee shop conversations and other listening sessions. Those sessions had generally reflected Wisconsin’s overwhelmingly white population so the partnership reached out to news organizations in seven cities with larger minority populations to join in sponsoring some events. The new partners included print and broadcast media in Milwaukee, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Wausau, Hayward, Superior and Beloit. The partners also held focus groups to learn how minority citizens get their news and how “We the People” could be more involved in reaching those citizens and reconnecting them with public life. Read more

CANCELLED: Daytona Beach, FL 1997 

Partners:

The Daytona Beach News Journal
WCEU-TV (PBS)
WESH-TV (NBC)
Stetson University

At the Pew Center’s request, the partners returned their funding when the project became stalled because of newsroom changes.

The Public Agenda, Tallahassee, FL 1996

Partners:

Tallahassee Democrat
WCTV6 (CBS)
Florida State University
Florida A&M Universities

The third year of the “Public Agenda” project ended with a hand-off to the community. Over its three-year span, the project involved more than 1,000 people in 15 discussion groups. A final poll of 353 adults in the Tallahassee area showed the project appeared to have contributed to positive changes in community attitudes and behavior. The poll found that about one third of area residents had heard of the project. Participation in some aspect of the project – whether joining a discussion group or attending a public meeting – registered at seven percent but that represented a doubling over the three years of the project, from three percent in 1995.  Read more

Soapbox: A Guide to Civic Journalism at The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA 1996

Partners:

Spokesman-Review 

One of the early innovators in developing and using civic journalism tools, the Spokesman-Review embarked on a project to foster their growth in other newsrooms. With Pew support, the paper hired an intern specifically to advance civic journalism outreach. During her year in Spokane, the intern worked with community groups, helped organize a forum to make the paper more accessible to citizens, helped edit contributors to the paper’s reader-written opinion pages and wrote opinion pieces herself. Read more

We the People/Wisconsin, Madison, WI 1996

Partners:

Wisconsin StateJournal
Wisconsin Public TV
Wisconsin Public Radio
WISC-TV (CBS)
Wood Communication Group

In the spring, a forum allowed citizens to question candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in “You Be the Judge,” broadcast from the high court’s chambers. Citizens got the chance to assess the performance, structure and financing of the state’s public university system and recommend a course for its future in “The Future of the UW System.” Town hall meetings were held on campuses statewide and citizen recommendations were given to the UW regents. Read more

Leadership Challenge, Peoria, IL 1996

Partners:

Journal-Star 
WMBD-TV (CBS), WMBD-AM 
WCBU-TV (PBS), WCBU-FM (NPR) 
Illinois Central College 
Bradley University 

Noting a decline in civic leadership and community involvement, the partners embarked on “Leadership Challenge,” a project that met its ambitious goal of inspiring citizens to take leadership roles in the community.

Designed from the beginning to become a community effort, the media partners invited civic institutions to join the steering committee that framed the project. Through a series of targeted mail surveys, a random sample telephone survey of 509 Peorians and four community roundtables involving some 50 people, the partners were able to document the reasons people were becoming less involved in community activities. Read more

Speak Up, Tampa Bay, Tampa, FL 1996

Partners:

WTVT-TV (Fox) 
Weekly Planet Alternative Paper
WMNF Community Radio 
Tampa Chapter of National Conference

The partners sought to bring civic journalism to the Tampa Bay area through a series of four jointly sponsored town hall forums and the encouragement of smaller “kitchen table” discussions in citizens’ homes. The forums were aided by “Speak Up, Tampa Bay,” a group of citizens brought together as an advisory board on civic journalism to WTVT and the Weekly Planet. The group evolved into an independent body focused on engaging citizens in deliberative dialogue by hosting forums and small group discussions on Bay area issues and on connecting the media with citizens and their issues. Read more

A Community Conversation, Grand Forks, ND 1995

Partners:

Grand Forks Herald
WDAZ-TV (ABC)
Northern LightsPublic Radio 

The partners held a series of “Community Conversations” via coffee klatches, focus groups and polls, assessing quality-of-life issues and forging a vision for the future of Grand Forks, a city of 60,000. The partners kicked the project off by driving a van to various public places around the city for a month. They interviewed some 120 people in coffee shops, bowling alleys, shopping malls and a U.S. Air Force base. They used comments from these conversations to devise a poll of 400 residents. The surprise consensus, reported by the partners on June 2, 1995, was that people believed Grand Forks officials could make the city a better place by fixing the streets. Read more