WHYY-TV 12 (PBS) WHYY-FM The station held two focus groups, one with labor union members and one with victims of catastrophic illness, in an effort to redefine the concept of community – away from geography and demography, toward areas of shared concerns. Participants included men and women from different neighborhoods as well as different racial […]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette KDKA-TV KDKA-AM Pennsylvania Newspapers Association The Pennsylvania legislature passed a new, more liberal open-records law in the summer of 2002 after a 10-month effort by the partners to encourage citizens to use public records to make government accountable and accomplish community goals. Post-Gazette editor Jane Elizabeth did not give the project full credit […]

Philadelphia Daily News, philly.com At the height of a crisis in Philadelphia public schools, the paper launched a rich, online source of information to encourage parent involvement and public problem-solving. SchoolNet included a wide range of features. There was contact information for district offices to help parents navigate a sometimes-convoluted bureaucracy. There was a grade-by-grade breakdown […]