Teaching Tucson’s Children , Tucson, AZ 2001
Partners:
The Arizona Daily Star
Tucson Citizen
KVOA-TV (NBC)
KOLD-TV (CBS)
KGUN-TV (ABC)
KUAT-TV (PBS)
KWBA-TV (WB)
KMSB-TV (Fox)
KTTU-TV (UPN)
KHRR-TV (Telemundo)
KUVE-TV (Univision)
This unusually comprehensive partnership – involving all of Tucson’s major media – joined forces for “Teaching Tucson’s Children,” a project on improving local public schools that culminated in a town hall meeting, Aug. 24, 2001, that drew 300 people in person and thousands more to their TV screens during the six rebroadcasts of the session.
About 100 citizens participated through the summer in 10 “scoping sessions,” held in libraries, auditoriums and classrooms throughout the community, to frame the issues for the August meeting. The partners also sought input from three online surveys – one for parents, one for students and one for teachers – that asked respondents to rate the importance of 14 educational issues on a scale of one to five.
The week before the town hall, each partner did a week of stories or programs. Though each reported and produced their stories independently, all used the “Teaching Tucson’s Children” logo. The Daily Star and KVOA provided online and in print a pledge form for readers and viewers to send in, agreeing to get involved in improving Tucson schools. About 80 people responded. The PTA in the nearby town of Congress, AZ, picked up on the idea and asked community members there to sign a similar pledge. The Daily Star and KVOA continued to work together after the initial project. At the request of the Tucson school district, the two helped sponsor another town hall meeting for over 100 people, in March 2002, on volunteering.
Contact:
Dennis Joyce
Asst Managing Editor
Arizona Daily Star
PO Box 26807
Tucson, AZ 85726-6807
Phone: (520) 573-4224
Email: djoyce@azstarnet.com