Civic Catalyst: Civic Journalists

Spring 2002

We Know What They Want
San Jose Mercury News Editor David Yarnold speaks at the Pew/Maynard workshop "Community Media Connections" January 11 in San Francisco.

Winter 2002

The New York Times: A Civic Nomination
James Fallows tells why he thinks The New York Times should be awarded the James K. Batten Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism. Reprinted from Slate, Dec. 3, 2001.

Fall 2001

Covering a New America: How Multicultural Communities are Shaping the Future of Journalism
Martin Baron, Editor of the Boston Globe, speaks to the AEJMC Convention at the annual Pew Center Luncheon August 7, 2001.

Summer 2001

10 Tips on Award-Winning Civic Journalism
Leonard Witt, executive director of the Civic Journalism Initiative at Minnesota Public Radio which produced the award-winning "Guinea Pig Kids," shares lessons on achieving excellence in civic journalism.

Fall 2000

Civic Journalist Turns Civic Mayor
A look at how Wayne Poston, former editor of the Bradenton Herald, has incorporated the lessons of civic journalism into his new job as Bradenton's mayor. By Pat Ford.

Fall 1999

Civic Journalism: Savior of Newspapers in the 21st Century?
Chris Peck, editor of the Spokesman-Review, proposes a future game plan for newspapers and outlines how he believes civic journalism will be a key to industry survival in the 21st century.

Summer 1999

The Batten Winners: Journalism that Took Risks
Pew Center Director Jan Schaffer describes how the 1999 Batten Award winners were willing to take risks.

Why "the Informed Citizen" is Too Much to Ask - and Not Enough
Michael Schudson, author of "The Good Citizen, A History of American Civic Life," tracks what it means to have informed citizens at the end of the 20th century and the implications for journalists.

A Citizen's Eye View: Civic Journalism, Civic Engagement
Philadelphia Daily News Editor Zack Stalberg advocates journalism with power, passion, influence - and humor.

Spring 1999

The Examiner Maps the Remaking of The New City
Managing Editor Sharon Rosenhause shares how her newsroom explored the demographic changes that are turning San Francisco into a "New City."

Winter 1999

A View From the Civic Journalism Trenches
Kate Parry, senior editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, writes of her "fascinating decade of experimentation" with civic journalism as it has evolved to become a valuable everyday tool for reporters, photographers and editors.

Fall 1998

Sifting through Perceptions, Seeking the Truth
Lessons learned in covering a changing Chicago community. By Jim Perez, Chicago Reporter.

Summer 1998

Cracking the Spiral of Silence, Empowering People
Frank Denton of the Wisconsin State Journal puts a new perspective on framing at a panel discussion at the 1998 Batten Symposium in Chicago May 12.

Winter 1998

Challenging Assumptions: One Reporter's Experience
Starting where the citizens start is giving Eric Pryne of the Seattle Times an entirely different perspective on the issue of growth.

How to Keep Civic Journalism Working
Frank Denton of the Wisconsin State Journal gives his tips on doing civic journalism. Excerpted from remarks made at a Pew Center retreat head at the Poynter Institute in November.

Take a Walk in the Woods .. Listen to the Public
Forty seasoned civic journalism practitioners gathered Nov. 7-9 for a retreat, sponsored by the Pew center and hosted by the Poynter Institute. The goal was to assess past experiments and explore new ones. Here are highlights from their conversations.

Fall 1997

Today's Journalism: An Assessment
Max Jennings of the Dayton Daily News reassesses the role of journalism in society and the goal of objectivity at a Pew Center-sponsored workshop in Tiburon, CA in June.

"Liars, Incompetents, Distorters: Who Believes Journalists Any More?"
Excerpts from a panel discussion in New York City sponsored by the Pew Center in cooperation with Atlantic Monthly on September 11.

Summer 1997

Journalism: Broken, Unmoored From A Higher Calling
Ervin Duggan, President of the Public Broadcasting Service, advocates bold experimentation in his 1997 Batten Symposium keynote address.

The Challenge Is To Reclaim Our Moral Authority and Ask: How Do We Know What We Know?
Cole Campbell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about embracing new challenges and changing the way we think about news at the Batten Symposium on May 14.

We Need to Do It or They'll Do It Themselves
Who's a journalist in the digital age? The Bergen Record's Glenn Ritt discusses the paper's efforts to connect with community groups through traditional media and on-line at the Batten Symposium.

Media, Values, Moguls
Jennie Buckner, James Fallows, Daniel Okrent and Mario Cuomo discuss the state of modern journalism: excerpts from a symposium April 16 in New York City sponsored by the Pew Center with Atlantic Monthly.

Needed: The Courage to be Different
Rebecca Rimel, President of The Pew Charitable Trusts, shares words of inspiration and encouragement with attendees of the Batten Awards on May 14.

Spring 1997

Elite Journalists and their Communities: The Gap Has Widened
Pew Center's Ed Fouhy discusses the gap between journalists and their communities, the impact it has on coverage, and what civic journalism can do to help.

Listening to the Public? Ghetoizing the Job
Bill Theobald of the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis News reports from the public journalism ghetto in his newsroom on the ups and downs of being the designated civic journalist.

Winter 1997

Foundations: Nurturing Journalistic Values or Threatening Independence?
Pew Center's Ed Fouhy discusses the merits of foundation funding to nurture journalism.

Fall 1996

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.

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.

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.

Summer 1996

The Puff Adder's Nest of Modern Journalism
James Fallows of The Atlantic Monthly delivers the keynote address of the 1996 James K. Batten Symposium for Excellence in Civic Journalism.

Symposium Panelists
Excerpts from "Civic Journalism: From Citizens Up," and "Elections '96: From Citizens Up," two panels of the 1996 Batten Symposium.

Civic Journalism Comes to Buenos Aires
John Dinges of National Public Radio and Max Jennings of the Dayton Daily News attend "Civic Journalism: Theory and Practice" in Buenos Aires in April, with more than 60 journalists discussing ways to adapt civic journalism to Argentina.

Winter 1996

Moving in on the Beat
Wome new friends, new insight and the cockroaches were part of Pioneer Press reporter Richard Chin's foray into civic journalism.

Fall 1995

"... If you can't do both, get out of the business"
Hodding Carter !!!'s keynote address at the James K. Batten Award Dinner September 13.

Summer 1995

Civitas @ Prague.1995
Martha Steffens of the Dayton Daily News was one of six American civic journalists at the USIA conference in Prague to discuss journalism's role in democracy.