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This is an archived site of work by the Pew Center for Civic Journalism from 1994 to 2002. More about the Pew Center here. The Pew Center spun into J-Lab: the Institute for Interactive Journalism in 2002. For more information, contact us.

TOPLINE PART FOUR

Research – Journalism Interactive

Embargoed for Release
Thursday, July 26, 2001, 1 p.m.

Journalism Interactive

New Attitudes, Tools and Techniques
Change Journalism’s Landscape

A Study Conducted for:
Associated Press Managing Editors
Pew Center for Civic Journalism
National Conference of Editorial Writers

Conducted by:
Campaign Study Group
Springfield, Virginia

Topline Part Four (Questions 24-34b)

24. Have you added any non-traditional newsroom positions to improve community coverage?

	n size	%
Reader Advocate/Ombudsman	27	28%
Community Coordinator	25	26%
Public Editor	19	20%
Interactive Editor	18	19%
New Initiatives Editor	7	7%
Other	30	31%

25. Are you systematically diversifying sources and voices in the newspaper by…?

	n size	%
Developing a new source list	162	78%
Use of citizen reporters	29	14%
Civic mapping	30	15%
Other	46	22%

26. What has been the most innovative idea in your newsroom in the last 5 years?

	n size	%
Restructured beats/Teams/Edition zones	75	31%
Use of technology in reporting	45	18%
Use of reader feedback (forums, advisory groups, phone-in)	38	16%
Specific story mentions	29	12%
Restructured management style/Encourage interaction among staff	24	10%
Other	16	7%
Restructured style (more narrative/explanatory/solutions/hard news)	13	5%
Cooperative efforts (with TV, other newspapers, ideas from others)	11	5%
Enterprise reporting	9	4%
Expanded/Improved staff	9	4%
Added e-mail addresses to bylines	6	2%

27. Which story or stories have you done in the past 5 years that have had the most impact on your community?

	n size	%
Corruption/Mismanagement/Uneven regulation enforcement	40	16%
Regional economic/Growth and development	32	13%
Education/Schools	31	12%
Profile of specific industry	31	12%
Diversity/Race relations/Immigration/Changing communities	28	11%
Health/Medical issues	24	9%
Specific crime story	22	9%
Environmental impact	20	8%
Specific disaster (fire, flood, bombing accident)	17	7%
Social services/Welfare/Poverty/Public housing	17	7%
Youth at risk (drugs, gangs, violence)	17	7%
Other hard news stories	17	7%
Other feature stories	15	6%
Infrastructure (roads, housing)	13	5%
Other (unspecified)	10	4%
Drugs/Alcohol abuse/DUI	8	3%
Investigation of public records	6	2%
Candidate profiles/Voter education	3	1%

28. How is the kind of journalism that you practice today different than it was 10 years ago?

	n size	%
Different design	181	56%
Different narrative techniques	170	52%
New beats	169	52%
Different relationships with readers	70	22%
Other	205	63%

29. Has your newsroom partnered on new coverage with other local organizations?

	n size	%
Local commercial or cable TV station	161	69%
Radio	79	34%
Local college or university	74	32%
Community organizations	56	24%
Public television station	49	21%
Community access television	27	12%
Other	23	10%
Public libraries	20	9%

29b. Which partnerships have been most successful?

	n size	%
Local commercial or cable TV station	62	41%
None successful/not accessed yet	20	13%
Local college or university	20	13%
Radio	18	12%
Other	15	10%
Community organizations	14	9%
Public television station	8	5%
Other newspapers	6	4%
Public libraries	3	2%
Community access television	1	1%

30. Do you offer readers any opportunities to publish their own stories or ideas (other than letters to the editor)?

n size

Yes

249

72%

28%

30b. If yes, where?

	n size	%
In the newspaper	114	46%
On the editorial pages	177	72%
In zone sections	32	13%
On Web sites	40	16%
Other	35	14%

31a. Do you use the tools and techniques of so-called civic or public journalism?

	n size	%
Yes	163	45%
No	144	40%
Don’t know	53	15%

31b. Do you…?

	n size	%
Embrace the label “civic journalism”	70	24%
Recoil from the label	35	12%
Like the philosophy and tools, dislike label	169	58%
Dislike the philosophy and tools as well as the label	33	11%

32. What core competencies do you most value in hiring today’s reporters and editors?

	n size	%
Writing/Grammar skills	123	40%
No change in skills desired	112	36%
Intelligence/Ability to think critically/Problem solver	90	29%
Attitude/Dedication to journalism/Enthusiasm	86	28%
Ability to execute enterprise/Initiative/ Aggressiveness/Curiosity	81	26%
Reporting skills	65	21%
Accuracy/Fairness	47	15%
Other	34	11%
Broad knowledge/Diverse background	32	10%
People skills	28	9%
Community awareness/Understanding	25	8%
Verbal skills	21	7%
Computer/Internet literacy	20	6%
Able to learn/Adaptable	20	6%
Experience	19	6%
Investigative/Research skills	19	6%
Ethics/Integrity	16	5%
Creative/Go beyond obvious	10	3%
Healthy skepticism	5	2%

33a. Are you satisfied with your newsroom’s level of interactivity with readers?

n size

Yes

27%

252

73%

33b. For the future, do you believe the health of the newspaper business depends on…

	n size	%
More interactivity with readers	308	90%
Less interactivity with readers	1	0%
The same as now	33	10%

34a. Gender

n size

Male

262

76%

Female

25%

34b. Number of years in the business?

	n size	%
Less than 10 years	15	4%
10-19 years	95	27%
20-29 years	168	48%
30-39 years	68	19%
40 or more years	4	1%

Report continued in Press Release…

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[Table of Contents] [Highlights] [Detailed Findings 1] [Detailed Findings 2]
[Detailed Findings 3] [Topline Results] [Press Release]