Wisconsin StateJournal Wisconsin Public TV Wisconsin Public Radio WISC-TV (CBS) Wood Communication Group Pew support helped “We the People/Wisconsin,” one of American journalism’s first and most enduring civic journalism coalitions, use innovative techniques to engage citizens in election coverage. The Pew support helped the partners measure whether the effort had an impact on public participation […]

The Seattle Times KUOW-FM Radio KCTS Public TV KPLU-FM, Tacoma, WA Energized by their work together for the 1994 NPR election project, the partners used their newly formed “Front Porch Forum” alliance to tackle a number of issues facing the Seattle area. They held a joint forum on a new, multi-million dollar transit system and […]

The Virginian-Pilot The Harwood Group For the 1996 elections, the paper completely re-imagined and refashioned campaign coverage, moving from traditional horse race coverage to the innovative (and, later, much-copied) concept of candidate as job applicant. Pew helped fund a new kind of poll that aided this coverage. Rather than a market-driven poll, the Harwood Group […]

WKRC-TV (CBS) The Community Press Chain of Suburban Weeklies Q102 and WNNK Radio An unusual partnership, with TV taking the lead and enlisting suburban weeklies rather than one large daily, “Voices of the People” sought, according to its mission statement, “to empower citizens by making sure their voices are heard and by showing their involvement […]

The Seattle Times KUOW-FM Radio KCTS Public TV KPLU-FM, Tacoma, WA The “Front Porch Forum” partners solidified their initiative in their third year, hiring a project coordinator and engaging more than 2,000 citizens in forums, focus groups and polling. The project focused on the gubernatorial and congressional elections. An initial poll of 570 Washington residents, […]

Portland Newspapers Inc. Maine Public Broadcasting Network WGME-TV (CBS) The “Maine Citizens Campaign” followed a group of about 40 residents of Sanford, ME, a neglected mill town as they deliberated the issues and interviewed candidates in the 1996 campaign. Conceived as a way for the partners to get more citizen voices into their election coverage, […]

New Hampshire Public Radio The Keene Sentinel The Portsmouth Herald UPI of New Hampshire Inspired by the success of its election year project, “Voter’s Voice,” New Hampshire Public Radio sought citizen participation in coverage of non-election issues through a series of “Citizens Exchange” meetings in different communities, in association with local newspapers. The network began […]

The Oregonian Oregon Public Broadcasting That most fundamental of civic activities, voting, was the subject of a three-part series in the Oregonian and a special call-in show on public radio. Though Oregon had one of the highest voter turn-out records in the nation, there were still nearly a million eligible Oregonians who did not vote. […]

The Portland Newspapers WGME-TV Maine Public TV Maine Public Radio What started as an election year effort to get citizen voices in campaign coverage entered a new phase in 1997, as some 40 residents of Sanford, Maine, who’d been empaneled for the “Maine Citizens Campaign” refused to disband when the journalism project was over. The […]

Orange County Register Riverside Press Enterprise KCET-TV (PBS) KCRW-FM in Santa Monica KPCC-FM in Pasadena Orange County News Channel The partners, who’d been working together since the 1996 “Voice of the Voter” project, called their third joint effort “The Election Connection” to emphasize the goal of helping voters feel connectedto the electoral process. The project […]

Portland Newspapers Central Maine Newspapers WGME-TV (CBS) Maine Public Television “Beyond the Ballot” not only dramatically changed the way major media in coastal Maine covered the statewide 1998 elections, it set the course for their coverage of politics and government for the four years that followed. Beginning with a poll of 1,106 Maine residents in […]