South Florida Sun-Sentinel CBS 4 and Newsradio 610 The partners documented the way massive social changes have swept aside the traditional definition of “community” and replaced it with a patchwork of affiliations, raising serious issues for civic institutions. Though focused on the suburbs of South Florida, “Invisible Boundaries: Communities of Choice” was a story of […]

Tallahassee Democrat WCTV6 (CBS) Florida State University Florida A&M; Universities A three-year project, “The Public Agenda” involved thousands of Tallahassee citizens in discussing and seeking solutions to a wide range of issues facing the city. Project leaders at the Democrat and WCTV used a host of tools – small group discussions, frequent polls, large forums […]

Tallahassee Democrat WCTV6 (CBS) Florida State University Florida A&M; Universities The second year of the three-year “Public Agenda” project trained more citizens to lead and participate in small group discussions and continued polling to be sure the concerns of all members of the diverse community were surfacing. For more details, please see Year One (1994) […]

WTVT-TV (Fox) Weekly Planet Alternative Paper WMNF Community Radio Tampa Chapter of National Conference The partners sought to bring civic journalism to the Tampa Bay area through a series of four jointly sponsored town hall forums and the encouragement of smaller “kitchen table” discussions in citizens’ homes. The forums were aided by “Speak Up, Tampa […]

Tallahassee Democrat WCTV6 (CBS) Florida State University Florida A&M; Universities The third year of the “Public Agenda” project ended with a hand-off to the community. Over its three-year span, the project involved more than 1,000 people in 15 discussion groups. A final poll of 353 adults in the Tallahassee area showed the project appeared to […]

The Weekly Planet Speak Up Tampa Bay University of South Florida Study Circles Resources Center The partners continued their quest to bring civic journalism to the Tampa Bay with the convening of a “framing” conference in the spring of 1997. About 350 citizens attended three days of town hall meetings with experts and journalists and […]

Tampa Bay Weekly Planet Using a database of more than 300 community groups and media organizations, the Weekly Planet created an email “wire service” for community news to compliment the “Public Life” newsletter launched earlier with Pew support. Grass roots organizations would send the Planet staff news about what they were doing and, about once […]