Waterfront Renaissance, Everett, WA 2001
Partners:
The Herald
KSER-FM Public Radio
The paper’s “Waterfront Renaissance” project marked a new development in interactive journalism, marrying the credibility of the news organization with Web-based game technology that had previously been used mainly on advertising and entertainment sites.
When the Herald set out not simply to inform but also to engage residents in the city’s effort to develop a comprehensive shoreline plan, it used many familiar civic journalism tools. A four-part series of stories, which began April 22, 2001, explained the options for the waterfront and included success stories from other cities, as well as a clip-and-send form to get citizen input into what should happen on Everett’s waterfront. The paper also sought citizen input through 10 neighborhood meetings and a larger town meeting where a national waterfront-development expert spoke.
New technology allowed the paper to include a novel option on its Web site. Users could click on a map of the waterfrontand, using a menu of icons on the screen, design their own waterfront development plan. They could play with the Sim City-like choices until they were satisfied with their designs and then electronically submit them. Some 420 people submitted their designs this way. Another 600 mailed in paper versions. In addition, 300 residents signed a petition demanding no development and delivered it to the Herald on the final day it was accepting the filled-in maps. The paper reported the results – the most popular option people chose for the sites was parks – and helped set up four independent watchdog groups to ensure public input would be considered in the final development. By the following year, one citizen favorite, bike paths, was starting to happen.
Contact:
Stan Strick
Executive Editor
The Herald
1213 California Street
Everett, WA 98201
Phone: (425) 339-3480
Email: strick@heraldnet.com
Mark Briggs
New Media Editor/Manager
The Herald
1213 California Street
Everett, WA 98201
Phone: (425) 339-3000
Email: briggs@heraldnet.com