Publications
Civic Journalism: Six Case Studies
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.
“Voice of the Voter”
“Voice of the Voter” was only one of Krassner’s duties, and even with Eisele’s help, the task was overwhelming. Another Holly — Holly Kernan — was hired as a part-time public affairs producer. Based in the newsroom, Kernan dedicated her time to “Voice of the Voter” community outreach. “Obviously, [the needs] are going to be different in different markets. What worked for us was having somebody in the newsroom,” Krassner said. Kernan and Krassner attended editorial meetings to find ways to tie coverage into community outreach.
Krassner doesn’t advise any newsroom to tackle an effort like this without help. “Be realistic. To do added value does take time and people power. That doesn’t mean you have to hire additional staff. Look inside first, throughout the organization, then consider extra support as an option.” She suggested inside support could come from community relations, promotions, and marketing; outside support could mean a hired coordinator, interns, or volunteers.
KQED faced other concerns. News director Ramirez, a Cuban-American, was especially sensitive to the need to choose community partners carefully. “The problem is choosing which one. Who do they trust in that community? You need to be cautious. You need to understand that each one of these communities is as heterogeneous as the whole city. To be in touch with one publication is not enough.”
“You have to spend the time to find out where the civic conversation occurs in that community.”
Making It Easy
Meanwhile, the Chronicle was turning its attention to another kind of outreach.
The newspaper kicked off its voter-registration drive August 19 with the announcement that registration forms would be inserted in the 560,000 papers distributed September 23. The completed postage-paid forms would be forwarded by the secretary of state’s office to the appropriate county.
It was a small notice, but arranging it was no easy task. Yoachum was assigned to negotiate with the secretary of state’s office. She refused involvement in debate negotiations to avoid a conflict with her reporting, but felt comfortable with this assignment “because this was something I wasn’t going to write about.”
Her first contact was with the secretary of state’s press office.
“When I first called them, I would say that the reaction ranged from laughter to incredulity. Nobody had ever wanted to do this and it had never been done — so we were breaking new ground.”
The state office agreed to provide the forms, but told Yoachum the Chronicle would have to pay about $25,000 to cover the cost of printing and mailing. She suggested finding a less expensive method. A few days later, her contact called and offered to print and deliver the forms at no cost.
No explanation for the change of heart was given, but acting Secretary of State Tony Miller was campaigning to become the full-fledged secretary of state.
The paper also decided to print absentee ballots several times during the general election campaign, in part because of the belief that Democrats gain most from voter registration efforts while Republicans have the most to gain from absentee ballots.
“We’re not in business to promote any party but we are in business to promote the idea of voting,” Yoachum explained. “Registration is giving people a tool and, then, if they choose not to vote that’s their choice. At least, they’re then equipped to vote. The second step of making absentee ballots available is a convenience.”
Yoachum knows some journalists believe newspapers should not even encourage people to vote. “I know there is a prevailing thought that the last thing a paper ought to do is get involved. There are some levels of involvement that I’m not particularly comfortable with either, but a level of involvement that essentially promotes practicing democracy is safe.”
The Chronicle was the first, but several other Bay Area newspapers followed suit. The result: nearly 40,000 people – roughly one-third of the 112,595 new voter registrations between September 23 and the October 14 deadline – registered by using color-coded applications distributed by California newspapers. The Chronicle accounted for 15,640 registrations, a 3-percent return on its distribution.
“Voice of the Voter” picked up steam again in early September as Democratic candidate Kathleen Brown and Republican incumbent Pete Wilson battled over the issue of debates. This time, Brown wanted to debate, but Wilson was unhappy with all but one of the proposed formats and especially opposed to any format that included the public as questioners. The wrangling grew so fierce the very issue of whether the two should debate became a story.