Civic Discourse, Tampa, FL 1997
Partners:
The Weekly Planet
Speak Up Tampa Bay
University of South Florida
Study Circles Resources Center
The partners continued their quest to bring civic journalism to the Tampa Bay with the convening of a “framing” conference in the spring of 1997. About 350 citizens attended three days of town hall meetings with experts and journalists and generated a 20-page list of the area’s strengths and weaknesses.
The project suffered a setback, a short time later, when the lead partner, WTVT, dropped out after a change in leadership, leaving the alternative, entertainment-focused newspaper, Weekly Planet, scrambling to keep the momentum going. Editor Ben Eason launched a more serious alternative paper, a quarterly called Public Life, which carried news from neighborhood associations and civic groups and explored issues such as the media’s responsibility to the community. Eventually, with additional Pew support in later funding cycles, Eason used the network of civic organizations he’d connected with to start an email based wire service, helping the groups connect to each other as well as get wider circulation for their concerns and events among media organizations.
Contact:
Ben Eason
President and CEO
Creative Loafing
1310 E. 9th Avenue
Tampa, FL 33605
TEL: (813) 248-8888
FAX: (813) 248-9999
EMAIL: ben.eason@creativeloafing.com