1997 Batten Awards

Honorable Mentions

The Riverside Press-Enterprise, CA
"Through the Prism"

The O.J. Simpson verdict hit close to home in Riverside County. The reaction exposed a deep gulf between blacks and whites over what was believable in the U.S. legal system.

Then another incident sparked what became the series, "Through the Prism." An armed black man invaded a local halfway house where former Los Angeles policeman Stacey Koon was placed after his jail term for beating Rodney King. Koon was not there, but the invader took two people hostage, killed one with a shot to the head, then was killed himself by sheriff's deputies.

Blacks in the neighborhood were outraged. To them, the killer was a hero protesting the insult of placing the despised Koon in their neighborhood. Moreover, they believed that police, not the invader, killed the hostage.

How to pull apart this tinder and examine it without a full-scale explosion? The Press Enterprise spent a year getting people to talk to one another and explain their prejudices. What in their lives led them to their beliefs? Would people understand one another better if they knew the origins of someone else's beliefs?

To encourage open discussion, the paper broke some of its long-standing practices. Some anonymous letters were allowed; repetition was endured as a way of measuring the breadth and depth of community opinion.

The series survived considerable backlash in the community, including demands from the police, some Latinos, and some school officials that it stop for fear of provoking worse problems.

By year's end, 156 articles and 469 letters were published; more than 1,000 phone calls, E-mails, faxes and letters were received. The city's Human Relations Commission started a study circles program, another group set up a Search for Common Ground program, and several school districts took part in initiatives to continue the conversations.

Contact:
Mel Opotowsky
Managing Editor
The Press- Enterprise
3512 Fourteenth St.
Riverside, CA 92501
Phone: 909-782-7562
Fax: 909-782-7572
E-Mail: mopotowsky@pe.com

The Kansas City Star
"Raising Kansas City - Democracy and the Next Generation"

"Democracy is impatient. It won't wait for older. It won't wait for wiser. So, in theory, the sooner our citizens understand, appreciate and use it, the better off the country will be."

That theory inspired this year-long project, which was a successor to the 1995 "Raising Kansas City -- Values and the Next Generation," a 1996 Batten Award winner. Its goals were to show high school students how democracy works and involve them in its processes, using the 1996 presidential elections as a focus. The students conducted two polls -- one surveying 8,726 students that identified their 10 most important issues and a survey of 7,092 seeking their opinions about those issues.

The Star's reporters then wrote stories about the top issues -- everything from the affordability of college and balancing the budget to raising the minimum wage. Students wrote editorials about topics for Teen Star, the paper's teen publication. They worked on a Voter Guide and 35,000 copies were distributed to the schools. They also appeared in seven televised forums questioning four U.S. Senate and two U.S. House candidates and the Governor of Missouri.

In all, more than 60 high schools, 94 teachers and thousands of students participated in the initiative. More than 340 students and parents attended a workshop on "Making College Affordable," where they heard from 10 experts in college finance. And more than 5,000 reprints of the series were ordered by high schools in Missouri and Kansas.

Contact:
Tim Janicke
Assistant Managing Editor/Photography
Kansas City Star
1729 Grand Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64108
Phone: 816-234-4340
Fax: 816-234-4923
E-mail: tjanicke@kcstar.com

St. Paul Pioneer Press
"Across Generations: What We Owe Each Other"

To The Pioneer Press journalists it seemed that the ties that bind different generations were fraying. Was this at the root of many of the nation's knottiest policy debates? Examining that breakdown and rebuilding those ties were the focus of this 14-part series.

Coverage was informed by a poll plumbing the divisions and similarities among the different generations. Then the 15-person "Across Generations" team tackled -- and posed to readers -- these questions: Why Not Me First? Who Pays For Whom? Who Will Take Care of Me? Who Are You Calling X? What Can I Expect From Retirement? What Do We Owe Our Children?

The journalists saw how generational issues imposed themselves at the core of such public policy debates as Social Security, Medicare, school funding, crime in the streets, and early childhood health care. More important, the team was able to make the link between choices in individual lives and public policy decisions facing society.

Throughout the effort, the paper offered readers a menu of opportunities for getting involved in rebuilding generational ties. For instance, more that 200 people responded to an invitation to share their memory of a treasured intergenerational connection. A class of eighth graders was given cameras to document a special relationship with an older person. Sixty people attended an intergenerational forum to address the controversial Mall of America's limits on teens. More than 160 others called with questions about retirement financing. And about 3,000 "tool kits" with tips and ideas for reconnecting generations within families and within communities have been distributed.

As a result of the project, the paper has created a Family Beat in which two reporters are continuing to report on the issues.

Contact:
Brett Benson
Senior Editor- Online
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: 612-228-5438
Fax: 612-228-5500
E-mail: bbenson@pioneerplanet.infi.net