The Pew Center was an incubator for civic journalism experiments that enable news organizations to create and refine better ways of reporting the news to re-engage people in public life. It operated from 1993 to 2002. J-Lab, its successor project, archives its projects and publications, and maintains its website.
The Pew Center shared the results of these experiments with the journalism professions through its:
- James K. Batten Awards for Excellence in Civic Journalism
- Funding for Civic Journalism Projects
- Workshops
- Spotlights
- Publications
- Videos
- Quarterly Civic Catalyst Newsletters
- Presentations and other outreach
The Pew Center for Civic Journalism was created by The Pew Charitable Trusts to help stimulate citizen involvement in community issues.
The project helped print and broadcast news organizations experiment with ways to reconnect to their communities and engage their citizens in dialogue and problem solving.
Major partners have included the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, IRE, The Maynard Institute, NPR, PBS’s Democracy Project, The Kettering Foundation, National Association of Black Journalists and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. The Tides Center of San Francisco administers the project.
The Center shared the results of various civic journalism experiments with the journalism community through its workshops, publications, videos, and other outreach programs. Since the Center was created, more than 3,520 journalists have attended 49 workshops; more than 10,000 journalists and civic leaders now receive the Center’s quarterly newsletter; and about 226 news organizations have participated in 121 civic journalism initiatives supported by the Center.
The Pew Charitable Trusts, based in Philadelphia, make strategic investments to help organizations and citizens develop practical solutions to difficult problems. In 2000, with $4.8 billion in assets, the Trusts granted $230 million to 302 nonprofit organizations.
For more information, contact J-Lab director Jan Schaffer,
jans@j-lab.org
The Pew Charitable Trusts has extended the Pew Center’s grant until May 30, 2003. Reach us at our new offices at the University of Maryland, where we are building a successor project called, J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism.
The Pew Center’s archive of almost 800 civic journalism projects are be housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society, in Madison, home to the nation’slargest mass communications history collection. It will able available to researchers in late 2003.