Key Moments, Spokane, WA 1999
Partners:
A team of reporters and editors used (and helped refine) civic journalism “mapping” tools to chart the key moments in the lives of children that can make the difference between success and failure in adulthood. Building on its “City of Second Chances” project, which told the story of Spokane’s expanding ex-felon population and how prisons were not solving the problem of troubled people who are incarcerated, the newspaper wanted to answer the question: What would it take to change the lives of people who end up in prison?
The paper held four roundtable discussions with educators, police, religious leaders, counselors and others. That helped editors develop a list of 10 moments in life that are critical in affecting whether kids stray or stay on track. They include five chronological moments: conception to birth, birth to age 3 and the bonding process, age 10, the first day of 7th grade, and adolescent rites of passage such as driving, drinking and sex. There are also five developmental moments: making friends, major moves, times of loss, first failure and first success, and values development.
The Spokesman-Review then surveyed more than 70 teenagers, asking them to evaluate their own experiences in these key moments and where they found help getting through them. Reporter Jeanette White mined the community for children and young adults who exemplified these transitions.
The 10-part series “Key Moments,” published in the summer of 2000, included an overview of each key moment, intimate personal stories that put a human face on each one and boxes with tips and lists or resources – all drawn from this innovative use of mapping, focus groups and surveys. After the series ran, the paper held two community forums on the series that helped parents connect with specialists in the community for help during key moments.
Contact:
Chris Peck, (former Spokesman-Review editor)
Editor
The Commercial Appeal
P.O. Box 364
Memphis, TN 38101
Phone: (901) 529-2322
Rebecca Nappi
The Spokesman-Review
999 W. Riverside Ave.
Spokane, WA 99201
Phone: (509) 459-5496
Email: Rebeccan@spokesman.com