Civic Catalyst Newsletter
Fall 2000

Civic Journalism Workshops

It's been a busy summer. At the Pew/RTNDF "New Dimensions in Storytelling" workshop, June 9-11, in Philadelphia, more than 90 print and electronic journalists heard the latest ideas for covering sprawl and crime. They got training in mapping their communities and they heard about Knight-Ridder's new Community Publishing initiatives.

At the Advanced Civic Journalism Workshop, July 28-30, at the University of Minnesota, 25 senior editors talked about the best ideas they had already implemented - and their best ideas for the future. They heard how some of the language and thinking of today's urban architects relates to journalism, how knowledge management should be considered a core journalistic competency and how to nurture new leadership and new thinking in their newsrooms.

And at a day-long Super Workshop preceding the NABJ convention in Phoenix, more than 50 reporters and editors got a civic journalism primer and new ideas for covering hot-button issues and hard-to-access communities.

Participating in the Advanced Civic Journalism workshop:

LEFT: Connie Haas Zuber, public life editor, Fort Wayne (IN) News-Sentinel and Rick Thames, editor, Wichita Eagle.

RIGHT: Martha Steffens, editor, The San Francisco Examiner

LEFT: Walker Lundy, editor , St. Paul's Pioneer Press.

RIGHT: Cole Campbell, a visiting scholar at The Poynter Institute.

At the Pew/RTNDF workshop:

LEFT: Managing Editor Ellen Foley discussed the Philadelphia Daily News's technology coverage.

RIGHT: Managing Editor Dan Suwyn discussed how The Savannah Morning News takes the public's pulse.

LEFT: Akron Beacon Journal's Dennis Willard described education coverage.

Participants at the NABJ super workshop included:

RIGHT: Chris Murray from The Gazette Newspapers.

LEFT: Alliniece Andino of The Florida Times-Union.

RIGHT: Tiffany Glenn of the St. Petersburg Times.