Project Topic: Governance

A Duty to Protect, Tacoma, WA 2001 

Partners:

The News Tribune
KCTS-TV (PBS)
KPLU-FM

The Washington state legislature was poised in January 2002 to limit lawsuits that could be brought by victims of crimes committed by prisoners on parole until a poll commissioned by the partners showed 90 percent of the state supported the victims’ right to sue. The measure was tabled, a sign of success for a project that sought to inject citizens’ voices into the debate over what to do about the state parole system.

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New Hampshire Tax Challenge, Concord, NH 1999

Partners:

New Hampshire Public Radio

An estimated 30,000 residents, or more than 4% of the state’s registered voters, used their computers to access the radio station’s online calculator to see how proposed new tax bills would affect them. 

In addition, NHPR used the site as a reporting tool, monitoring a Feedback Zone and interviewing some of the respondents for radio stories about the personal impact of various tax proposals. 

The nine-month project not only gave citizens the facts and figures they needed to participate in a public-policy debate, but brought a large online audience to the network’s Web site during daytime hours when its radio listener numbers are down. 

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Muncie, IN 1998

Partners:

The Muncie Star-Press
WLBC-FM 

When Indiana legislators met in 1999 to begin restructuring the state tax system, they had a good understanding of what their constituents thought about the issue, thanks to a booklet called “Hoosiers Talk Taxes,” the culmination of a yearlong project to inject citizen voices into the debate over tax reform.

The first effort in the project was to educate journalists themselves about the complex issues surrounding tax reform. Economics professors from three Indiana universities held a seminar that attracted 20 journalists, in June 1998. The session aired live on WLBC and was broadcast later on cable. 

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Your Voices Count, San Jose, CA 1995

Partners:

San Jose Mercury News
KNTV (ABC) 
KPIX-TV (CBS) 
KIVE and KARA Radio
Santa Clara Public Libraries

Solid investigative journalism documented the problem of special-interest money corrupting the California State Assembly,but the Mercury News turned to civic journalism to ensure that its investigation had impact. At the end of its hard-hitting “Legislature for Sale” project, the paper asked citizens to volunteer to learn more about and become involved in, the legislative process. Some 200 people responded, and about 75 stayed with the project through the 1995 legislative session.

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