Civic Catalyst: Fall 1996

Inventing New Election Coverage
For this year's elections, media organizations form Seattle to St. Petersburg, FL try new approaches to covering capmaigns, including framing the election as a job interview and running forums and town-hall meetings.

Field Testing Reporters' Assumptions
A cross-state reporting odyssey reminds the Boston Globe's Don Aucoin that reporters' assumptions may not accurately reflect people's priorities.

Hope that Sustainable Change is Possible
Charlotte's Seversville neighborhood begins a rebound after the Observer's "Taking Back Our Neighborhoods" series, reports staff writer Ames Alexander.

Civic Journalism: Doing Less Harm
Giving people information in a way that they can do something with it: Karen Weintraub's description of her civic journalism at the Virginian-Pilotl.

What's Happening in Pew Center Projects
An update on civic journalism at the 1996 project sites.

Helping Voters Make Informed Choices
Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation shares her ideas for making election coverage more comprehensible and useful to readers and viewers.

A Listening Exercise
The Virginian-Pilot's Karen Weintraub shares an epiphany that came during a routine City Council meeting.

"Negative Campaigns: What Can Journalists Do?"
Reflections of a self-described "skeptic, curmudgeon and grouch" on a journalists' retreat convened in September by the Pew Center and the Nieman Foundation.

Congratulations
The Bergen Record's "In a Big Jam" wins the New Jersey Press Association's Enterprise Award.