Civic Journalism: Six Case Studies
MADISON, WIS.
"We the People, Wisconsin"

Spreading the Word

Instead of relying on the televised events to sustain momentum, they asked people around the state to host their own local town meetings to continue the discussion the night of the gubernatorial debate. The partners provided the materials, some training and some guidance; the hosts -- which included other newspapers and broadcasters, university extension services and minority groups -- were responsible for the logistics, recruiting a demographically representative audience, and finding a facilitator. This gave "We the People" the chance to spread its roots without overburdening the partners.

"I think we can be the impetus to discussing important statewide issues. I see the TV show as a beginning and not an end to the discussion," WISC's Bier said.

The fall 1994 "Voter's Self-Defense Manual" was another form of outreach, an effort to keep the issues in front of the people between events. Future plans call for distributing more materials that outline various positions on a "We the People" subject.

Finally, in addition to replying to the frequent requests for information on "We the People," Still and Iverson have become ambassadors for civic journalism, working with media organizations in other states that are interested in doing civic journalism projects.

Still sees "We the People" as enlightened self-interest."The enlightened part is we're serving as this conduit, this facilitator, to help make a better democracy, a better discourse. And the self-interest is by getting people in on the ground floor, getting them more excited about that kind of process, we think they become better, or more regular, newspaper readers."

After nearly four years of intense activity, none of the "We the People" journalists has any plans to pull back.

"I never feel more useful," Iverson said. "You know, we're all familiar with the phrase photo op journalism. Sometimes, I've thought of this as citizens' op journalism: That if you give people the chance, the opportunity, to be citizens, they take it."