Transforming Journalism for Today Reinventing It for Tomorrow
By Jan Schaffer Executive Director Pew Center When the Pew Center for Civic Journalism was launched in 1993, we didn’t know what would happen. What would happen if we tried to support some experiments in newsrooms with funding? What would happen if we survived the early, and harsh, criticism and contributed a useful legacy of […]
Linking Civic and Conventional Journalists
By Jan Schaffer Executive Director Pew Center Columbia Journalism Review in a recent issue reported on how much of the current political campaign coverage is – shhh, say it softly now – civic journalism. “Reporters and editors nationwide, many of whom recoil at the civic-journalism label, are experimenting with civic-journalism-like ways of making their campaign coverage […]
Civic Journalism: Point – Counterpoint
NBC/MSNBC Anchor Brian Williams’ remarks about civic journalism in his keynote address at the Edward R. Murrow Awards ceremony prompted some laughter from the audience. But they prompted a different reaction from broadcasters who are leading the field in the use of civic journalism tools. The Awards dinner was part of the annual Radio-Television News […]
Just Who Are Today’s Citizens?
About 105 journalists were in San Diego Jan. 21-23 for “Straight Talk on Local Issues,” a workshop co-sponsored by the Pew Center and RTNDF. Media scholar and author Michael Schudson gave the keynote address, later condensed in The Philadelphia Inquirer. By Michael Schudson Professor, U.C.- San Diego Everyone wants to reform American citizens. They should […]
This is Not your Father’s Newsmobile
By Jan Schaffer Executive Director Pew Center What is civic journalism? Isn’t it just good, old-fashioned journalism? Not if you look at this year’s Batten Award winners and the semi-finalists on page 7. Nope, this is not your father’s newsmobile. Throughout these projects, we see many common characteristics that make civic journalism very different from […]
What’s Coming? Will We Be Ready for It? Equipping Journalists for the New Communications Era
By Anders Gyllenhaal Executive Editor The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC The following are some highlights of keynote remarks at the Aug. 10 Pew Center luncheon at the annual AEJMC convention in Phoenix. Let me start out with a story that goes back about a decade ago. Right at the end of the ’80s in […]
Roadmap 2005: National vs. Regional Strategies for the Future
Pew Luncheon Symposium: Thursday, October 26, 2000 Journalism is no longer monolithic. While all journalists share core values, they no longer share identical goals for their news organizations. And regional news organizations now have very different strategies from national news organizations. About 150 epople heard these three top news executives describe their aspirations for the […]
Weaving Your Community’s Master Narrative
By Jan Schaffer Pew Center Executive Director Whenever I ask a group of journalists to name a subject that would make their readers squirm – not call to complain, but squirm – they readily nod their head and start volunteering responses: race relations, education, the have vs. the have-nots, growth and sprawl. Then I ask if […]
Civic Journalism: The Public “Gets” It
By Jan Schaffer Pew Center Executive Director What is civic journalism? Read on for a hard and fast definition. We all know civic journalism has had a lot of journalism done to it. To some degree, it’s been caught in a journalistic time warp. Stuck in an old master narrative almost entirely informed by Lexis-Nexis […]
Interaction = Connections = Relationships
By Jan Schaffer Pew Center Executive Director An old colleague, now a major daily metro editor, once asked me: Why? Why would an editor want to engage in civic journalism? Why bother to seek community input, try using it to enrich coverage, invite feedback? “I want to decide the stories,” she declared. “That’s why they […]