Project Topic: Project Topic

Reinventing Beat Reporting, Spokane, WA

 in Engagement

Reinventing Beat Reporting, Spokane, WA 2002 

Partners:

The Spokesman-Review, spokesmanreview.com 

Pew support allowed the paper to experiment with interactive on-line journalism tools that improved connections between reporters and readers and users. One of the most successful tools was an automated email system that was being widely used by reporters and editors within months of being created in early 2002. The system allows reporters to send out queries to a large database of readers and users. By the end of 2002, the Spokesman-Review’s database had 4,000 names in it. This was used in many ways. Read more

Eye on Education, Boston, MA

 in Education

Eye on Education, Boston, MA 2002

Partners:

WGBH radio and television (PBS)
The Boston Globe
El Mundo Newspaper
WRCA-AM

The “Eye on Education” initiative addressed such issues as character education, vouchers, charter schools and high-stakes testing. In addition to regular reports, the project featured a special week of TV programming, March 28-April 4, 2002, culminating with “A Day in the Life,” a one-hour verite film that documented a single day at Jeremiah Burke High School from different perspectives. Read more

Building Community from Diversity, Santa Ana, CA

 in Race Relations

Building Community from Diversity, Santa Ana, CA 2002 

Partners:

The Orange County Register, OCRegister.com
Excelsior
Myoc.com

Reporters developed a deep understanding of the Latino population in the Santa Ana readership area with a community mapping project that included a phone survey, an academic cultural study and a dynamic database of sources structured to stay useful even as reporters move on and off the beat.

The Register announced its mapping project to the community with fliers sent to 750 Santa Ana community groups and through messages sent to community email networks. Then a team of two project leaders, two reporters and a news assistant began the process of in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 100 community members. They also compiled detailed lists of “third places” in the community, where people go to attend to issues important to them and their families and neighborhoods. Read more

Talking Race: A New Approach, Dallas, TX

 in Race Relations

Talking Race: A New Approach, Dallas, TX 2002 

Partners:

WFAA-TV (ABC)

In “Talking Race: A New Approach,” WFAA wanted to do just that – try something entirely new in encouraging discussions about race. Intrigued by the concept of “video boxes” – portable, self-contained, user-activated TV cameras that have shown an ability to elicit amazingly candid remarks – the station placed its version of the devices in shopping malls in the Dallas area and asked people two questions: What do you think of race relations in America? When did you become most aware of race? Read more

Civic Leadership Project, Bangor, ME

 in Engagement

Civic Leadership Project, Bangor, ME 2001 

Partners:

Bangor Daily News
The Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy
University of Maine

A six-part series on leadership identified the most active behind-the-scenes community leaders in the Bangor area, what traits they held in common and the importance of their work to the life of the community. The paper began the project by compiling a database of 1,600 community leaders. The list included the directors, trustees and top officers of the 100 largest non-profit organizations and the 50 largest locally owned companies in Bangor and 20 nearby communities, as well as the local managers of the 30 largest national and regional chains with a local presence. They also included town council members, school board members, school superintendents and town managers in the area.  Read more

Community News Digest, Portland, ME

 in Engagement

Community News Digest, Portland, ME 2001 

Partners:

MaineToday.com

The online service, the portal for the Portland Press Herald, the Morning Sentinel, the Kennebec Journal and WMTW Broadcasting, built and customized an innovative software system that allows community groups to generate content. MaineToday originally received funding to use existing KOZ software to improve opportunities for citizens to contribute news, responses and questions to the site. The Portland Press Herald had been using KOZ software to help community groups establish their own Web sites hosted on MaineToday and began the project seeking wider applications of KOZ’s easy-to-use format. Just months into the project, however, KOZ filed for Chapter 11 bankrupcy. By that time – early 2001 – nearly 2,000 community groups were publishing on MaineToday. The staff turned its efforts to building a new software system and also figuring out the best way to use it to enhance community participation. Read more

Computerized Polling Kiosks, Missoula, MT

 in Engagement


Computerized Polling Kiosks, Missoula, MT 2001 

Partners:

Missoulian

Using modest Pew funding, Missoulian reporter Rob Chaney refitted three government surplus computers to become portable polling kiosks, suitable for gathering instant reaction to news events or for determining which issues voters are most interested in.

Software installed in the computers allowed Chaney to program in survey questions on any topic and choose the type of answer he wanted – multiple choice, true-false, short answer – even essay questions. The computers were placed in simple wooden cabinets so they could be taken anywhere – senior citizen centers, high school cafeterias, even street corners if a power supply was available. Read more