Detroit Free Press WXYZ-TV (ABC) Children and violence was the focus of a joint project that grew out of the paper’s “Children First” editorial and community campaign. The effort began with a poll of 1,600 children, aged 9 to 12, in the Detroit area. Nearly one in five said they had witnessed a shooting; almost […]

Rochester Democrat andChronicle WXXI Public Television WOKR-TV (ABC) The partners focused on young people – their experiences, their views, their voices – for “Make Us Safe: Teens Talk about Violence.” First, they surveyed nearly 1,800 seventh through 12th graders in the Rochester area. They found that one-third thought their life would be shortened by violence, […]

The Chicago Reporter The newspaper revisited the 1998 slaying of 11-year-old Ryan Harris and its aftermath, finding it a critical point in police-community relations in Chicago’s crime-ridden Englewood neighborhood. Reporters reconstructed the police investigation of the crime, which led to the brief and controversial arrest of two young, neighborhood boys. (An adult was later charged […]

The Arizona Daily Star Tucson Citizen KVOA-TV (NBC) KOLD-TV (CBS) KGUN-TV (ABC) KUAT-TV (PBS) KWBA-TV (WB) KMSB-TV (Fox) KTTU-TV (UPN) KHRR-TV (Telemundo) KUVE-TV (Univision) This unusually comprehensive partnership – involving all of Tucson’s major media – joined forces for “Teaching Tucson’s Children,” a project on improving local public schools that culminated in a town hall […]

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 […]

: The Spokesman-Review A team of reporters and editors used (and helped refine) civic journalism “mapping” tools to chart the key moments in the lives of children that can make the difference between success and failure in adulthood. Building on its “City of Second Chances” project, which told the story of Spokane’s expanding ex-felon population […]

Herald & Review WILL-TV (PBS) WILL-AM “Dropping Out: Why students leave Decatur schools” was a civic journalism project that involved citizens, including those who’d never finished high school, in developing ideas to help keep students in school through graduation. In November 2001, the partners commissioned a survey of 102 adults who had dropped out of […]

Elmira Star-Gazette The Sabre Radio Group The Star-Gazette’s focus on teaching values to children turned out to be eerily prescient. Just weeks after its series on the subject ran, two teenagers opened fire on classmates and teachers at Columbine High School in Colorado. The event gave the Star-Gazette’s project an added intensity, prompting more area […]

The Portland Press Herald After the shootings at Columbine High School, the newspaper invited teenagers from around Maine to write about what high school life is like today. In April of 1999, 20 essays were published in the newspaper and more than 150 were posted on the “teengo” page of the Press Herald’s Web site. […]