Civic Catalyst: Practicing Civic Journalism

Summer 2002

Savannah's "Vision 2010" Wins Batten Awards
The 2002 Batten Awards for Excellence in Civic Journalism goes to the Savannah Morning News for a project that targeted failing schools. The Cincinnati Enquirer was named runner-up. The St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Wisconsin State Journal with WISC-TV were honored with Legacy Awards for work over the last decade, and, for the first time, the Web efforts of three other organizations were recognized with Innovator Awards.

Growth Game: Playing with Tough Choices
The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, SC, used an interactive game to help residents get involved in and make choices about growth and sprawl issues. By Pat Ford.

TBON: Crime is Down, Life is Better
In the eight years since news organizations in Charlotte, NC, joined efforts for "Taking Back Our Neighborhoods" (TBON), the quality of life has improved in at least eight of the 10 neighborhoods. By Charlene Price-Patterson.

Batten Semifinalists: More Great Work
Semifinalists for this year's Batten Awards include the Raleigh News & Observer for "The New Segregation" series, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle for "The Big Deal: Illegal Drugs in the Rochester Region" and the Chronicle-Tribune for "Defining Moments," a look at community renewal in Marion, IN.

2002 Batten Awards Winners
Hear what civic journalism leaders said about their winning projects.

Change: Catch Up to the Readers
Walker Lundy, editor and executive vice president of The Philadelphia Inquirer, talks about his pioneering experiences with public journalism and the challenges he faces today.

Speaking Truth to the Power of Wall Street
Hodding Carter III, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, challenges journalists to change the culture of the newsroom from that motivated to acquire profit to that motivated to acquire news.

Civic Impact: Citizens Do Notice
Four people who have participated in civic journalism initiatives discussed the impact of those efforts.

Civic Connections: Getting Them Right
Three top editors discussed what civic journalism has taught them.

Civic Newsrooms: Building New Reflexes
Three top civic editors talked about newsroom goals, conversations and civic mapping to deliver useful news.

Civic Innovations: Building New Interactions
Top editors and educators discussed new forms of interactivity that are connecting citizens and altering journalism.

Batten Awards Money Takes Many Paths
News organizations that have won a Batten Award have frequently directed the prize money back to the community, contributing to such efforts as a homeless shelter in Minneapolis to special reading backpacks in Madison. By Pat Ford.

Spring 2002

WashPost Haiku: Micro Moments
Short autobiographical vignettes allow readers to tell their own stories and share powerful unfiltered moments in their lives. By Joyce Gemperlein.

E-Letters: Homeroom@pioneeerpress.com
St. Paul Pioneer Press Education Reporter Paul Tosto connects with "school news junkies" through an e-letter where readers can find additional information, links, meeting dates and a feature called "Why I wrote that." By Joyce Gemperlein.

Winter 2002

Sept.11: Helping People Get Smarter
Newsrooms helped their communities understand the impact of the September 11 attacks by applying civic journalism tools and reflexes. By Pat Ford.

Race Conversations Blitz Cincinnati
The Cincinnati Enquirer launches a historic blitz of community conversations about race involving 145 neighborhoods. By Rosemary Goudreau.

Idaho Partners Spotlight Ailing Rural Areas
Four Idaho newspapers and public and commercial television spotlighted the state's ailing rural areas and generated more collaborations. By Pat Ford.

Interactive Game Totes Energy Costs
What if there was a computer exercise to help Wisconsin citizens make choices about their energy future? Now there is thanks to We the People/Wisconsin. By Thomas W. Still.

Lawrence, KS: Common Ground on Growth
A media partnership in Lawrence, KS focused on "Lawrence is Growing" and built trust in a newly converged newsroom. By Pat Ford.

New Views on Old Wire Stories
Earlham College and two newspapers experimented with how to make national and international wire stories more meaningful to readers. By Cheryl Gibbs.

Civic Physics: Energy Matters in NH Effort
An unconventional partnership involving Public Radio in New Hampshire is changing the dynamics of the state's public-policy debate on education. By Jon Greenberg.

Fall 2001

Delving into Race Reporting
The Pew Center unveils a study of race reporting in forty-five U.S. newsrooms spotlighting innovative strategies for reporting on race. Part how-to and part case study, the book provides a roadmap for news organizations seeking to explore growing diversity in their communities.

Ten Tips for Rebuilding Community
Ten tips for journalists to keep in mind after Sept. 11. By Jan Schaffer.

E-mail Swiftly Localizes WTC Attack
A Spokesman-Review e-mail database helped the newspaper quickly engage citizens on Sept. 11. By Ken Sands.

Three Models of School Coverage: Philadelphia, Savannah and Tucson
Three projects -- Philadelphia, Savannah and Tucson -- engage their communities in conversations about education. By Catherine Lee and Dennis Joyce.

Students See Value in Civic Mapping
Students experience civic journalism through a senior capstone class at Miami University (OH). By Judi Hetrick.

Summer 2001

Residents Laud Mapping Project; Seek Even More Choices
The Herald's creation of a clickable online map allows Everett, WA, residents to provide input on waterfront development and sparks a community discussion on land use. By Catherine Lee.

Series Triggers New Hispanic Weekly
Alan White, managing editor of The Eagle-Tribune, explains how the paper's exploration of the Batten Award-winning "Unrealized Assets" in Lawrence, MA, led to a Spanish-language weekly aimed at building bridges between Anglo and Latino residents.

Community Mapping Reveals Dire Needs
Executive Editor Kathy Spurlock chronicles The News-Star's "Focus on Education," a civic mapping project that mobilized the community in Monroe, LA, to respond to the needs of its schoolchildren.

Tech Tools Strengthen Civic Reporting
New technology, from Web cams to computer survey kiosks, strengthens civic journalists' ties to the communities they cover. By Dana Clark Felty.

Spring 2001

West Virginia Partners Split Top Batten Award
The 2001 Batten Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism goes to the Huntington Herald-Dispatch and West Virginia Public Broadcasting for "West Virginia After Coal," a project that examined the effects of a declining coal industry on communities and the use of coal severance taxes. The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, MA, and the Chronicle-Tribune of Marion, IN, were named runners-up while five other organizations garnered honorable mentions.

Mapping Reflects Real Life, Real People
Assistant Metro Editor Kamrhan Farwell of The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, CA, reflects on how a civic mapping project at the paper generated relevant and authentic stories on critical community issues.

How to Reach Diverse Communities
Don Heider, assistant professor of journalism at the University of Texas-Austin and author of "White News, Why Local News Programs Don't Cover People of Color," examines the dearth of diverse community coverage in news and offers pointers to remedy the problem.

Batten Award Winners: How They Did It
The news organizations that won top honors at the 2001 Batten Symposium explain the visions that guided their projects and the resulting changes in their communities.

Reid Ashe Calls for Raising Value of News
In his keynote address at the 2001 Batten Symposium, The Tampa Tribune's Publisher, Reid Ashe, discusses the importance of preserving the fundamentals of civic journalism in the face of the many challenges in journalism today.

Cutting-Edge Links for 10 Town Halls
West Virginia Public Broadcasting and The Herald-Dispatch use new technology known as VBricks to convene an interactive statewide forum and explore unprecedented opportunities to connect with far-flung communities.

Winter 2001

Scoring High Marks on Schools
Active journalism at The Sun in Baltimore, the Wisconsin State Journal and The Wichita Eagle has sparked community action to improve schools, leading to higher test scores and the passage of a school bond; similar efforts continue at other papers. By Eileen Putman.

Case Study: Savannah Schools
The Savannah Morning News has convened community members, who set five goals for the Savannah-Chatham County school district and are formulating recommendations for reaching those goals. By Eileen Putman.

Marion's Moment of Truth
The Chronicle-Tribune's risky, hard-hitting series spotlighting the problems in Marion, IN, launches community dialogue and activism. By Dana Clark Felty.

Computer Kiosks: New Feedback
The Missoulian's Rob Chaney reports that outreach via computer kiosks has allowed the public to help set the agenda in Missoula, MT.

Fall 2000

Neighborhood Newsroom's First Grads
A look at the Savannah Morning News' innovative program that brings community members into the newsroom, training them to become journalists and benefiting from their diversity of experiences. By Pat Ford.

Mapping Key Moments in Young Lives
The Spokesman-Review explores the critical times in a child's development that can make the difference between a future of success or failure. The 10-part series responded to the community's concerns of how early intervention might reduce the future prison population. By Pat Ford.

Bringing New Immigrants into the Debate
The St. Paul Pioneer Press opened a dialogue with the community about the "New Face of Minnesota." Pat Ford reports on the paper's civic coverage of the community impact of a growing immigrant population.

Mapping Pay Off: Better Stories
An update on how the Civic Mapping Seminars and the techniques of civic mapping have improved newsroom reflexes and daily journalism. By Pat Ford.

Sounding Off on Schools
Laura Tutor of The Anniston Star reports on how the paper provided a forum for the community to voice their concerns on a proposed school system merger.

Summer 2000

Stormy Weather Ahead
How do you bring a major story down to the neighborhood level? The Virginian-Pilot found a way to bring home its hurricane coverage with an innovative flood map. By Pat Ford.

Extra: Getting a Handle on Civic Journalism
The Spokesman-Review adds a new tabloid insert to the paper built on the principles of civic journalism with most of the content provided by members of the community. By Pat Ford.

Lexington Builds Common Ground on Growth
The debate over growth in Kentucky's "bluegrass country" had come down to a bumper sticker war: "Growth is Good" vs. "Growth Destroys Bluegrass Forever." With the two sides so starkly drawn, the Lexington Herald-Leader had to dig to find what the community could agree on. By Pat Ford.

Spring 2000

Civic Design: Involving Readers at Every Turn
A look at the growing use of civic design techniques to involve readers in stories and navigate news more quickly. Spotlight on The Gazette in Colorado Springs and The Virginian-Pilot. By Pat Ford.

New Sensibilities Always Vie With Old Habits
Pew Center Director Jan Schaffer says newsrooms may achieve more diversity by changing reporter's habits and reflexes and teaching them how to map their communities.

Teens Go for "TeenGo" Web Site and Series
An ongoing series detailing the lives of Maine teenagers by the Portland Press Herald is providing insight for adults, just as the companion website has given teens a sense of community. Jessica Tomlinson, Community Cooridinator, reports.

Mapping the Traffic Beat
In the perfect marriage of the information highway and the actual highway, Dianne Whitacre, The Charlotte Observer's transportation reporter, tracks commuters on an electronic database that provides sources for every story on her beat. By Pat Ford.

Winter 2000

Rethinking the Old. Trying Something New.
Wisconsin State Journal's Tom Still updates the evolution of "We the People/Wisconsin," the nation's oldest civic journalism project.

Health: Making a Difference in Allentown
The Morning Call in Allentown, PA, has an ambitious three-year project to not only inform readers about heart disease but also to lower their risk of getting it. By Pat Ford.

Crime: The Oregonian Creates New Reflexes
Crime news is a staple of the newspaper business. But that doesn't mean it has to be done by the same old rules. The Oregonian is proving you can cover a traditional beat in a new-- more meaningful-- way. By Pat Ford.

Fall 1999

A Soapbox for the Common Person & Tell Us What You are Thinking
A look at how video-box technology is changing the way some news organizations gather story ideas and opinions from ordinary people. By Pat Ford.

Philadelphia Inquirer Gives Voters a Voice and WPVI-TV Gets a Debate Ratings Hit
"Citizen Voices" was a way for The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board to write about the 1999 mayor's race from the voters' point of view. By Pat Ford.

Summer 1999

An Unconventional New Tool: Dialogue Connects Readers with Suffering Children
The Orange County Register's Laura Saari let children do the talking as they gave readers insight on their impoverished world as "motel children."

Shining a Light in Dark Corners
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch invites readers to help "Imagine St. Louis" in regular conversations in the Sunday paper on topics ranging from education to plans for a new bridge.

Mapping Seminars Peel Back Layers of Civic Life
The first series of Civic Mapping Seminars, co-sponsored by the Pew Center and The Harwood Institute, challenged the participating journalists to find the third places - and the catalysts and connectors - in a community.

Spring 1999

The L.A. Times Crusades to Make a Difference
The L.A. Times looked at the problem of literacy and asked, "What can we do?" Pat Ford examines how the paper is customizing the Baltimore Sun’s "Reading by 9" initiative.

"Rethinking Philadelphia" Draws City into a Dialogue
The Philadelphia Daily News, the tabloid with an attitude, takes a hard look at Philadelphia’s future and creates a dialogue with both readers and public officials about what they can do. By Pat Ford.

Winter 1999

Linking Community Groups Via the Web
New technology is giving journalists a unique opportunity to reach and empower citizens while positioning their organizations as future hubs of the local cyberworld. Author Pat Ford looks at the potential of community publishing.

Reaching New Readers at the L.A. Times
The LA Times has a problem and is using civic journalism to help solve it. Excerpts from the remarks of Mark Willes, Publisher and CEO of Times Mirror Co, to an Oct 15, 1998, meeting of journalists sponsored by the Pew Center and The Atlantic Monthly magazine in New York City.

Fall 1998

In It Together: A Conversation about Race
The Spokesman Review designed coverage around an Aryan Nations march that triggered community discussion and action - and a threat to the paper.

Scouting Out Third Places: Framing for Depth
Students unearthed some surprising civic spaces on assignment at The Missourian. By George Kennedy, University of Missouri.

Newsroom Turnarounds: Civic vs. Traditional Approaches
Newsroom turnaround models at The Sun in Baltimore and The Gazette in Colorado Springs share similarities. By Glen Bleske, California State - Chico.

Summer 1998

New Newsroom Role: Community Coordinator
The Portland Press Herald takes its commitment to civic journalism to a new level: it became one of the first newspapers in the country to hire a full-time Community Coordinator. Coordinator Jessica Tomlinson talks about connecting to readers, organizing town meetings and the benefits of having a community coordinator in the newsroom.

Spring 1998

Orange County: Newsroom Conversations, New Approaches to News
Politics Editor Dennis Foley talks about the culture shift happening at the Orange County Register and its commitment to changing the way stories are written every day.

Winter 1998

Seattle's Mock Jury Convicts
Guilty, guilty, guilty! Eric Pryne and Marion Woyvodich of the Front Porch Forum write about the verdict in a mock citizens trial on growth and development issues.

Where's Grandma
The Grand Forks Herald took the opportunity for service offered by the massive floods that crippled the city. Editor Mike Jacobs talks about the newspaper's role in that crisis.

Fall 1997

Changing the Personality of Local News Pages
The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk embarks on a bold experiment to bring civic journalism into the paper daily with dedicated pages devoted to education, public life and public safety. Managing Editor Dennis Hartig shares the motivations behind the experiment and reader feedback.

The Old vs. A New Model of Journalism
Chris Gates of the National Civic League links the shift in community culture and behavior with the advent of civic journalism.

Summer 1997

Covering Charlotte's Cultural Wars
When "Angels in America" came to Charlotte, The Observer struggled to find a civic approach to covering the community turmoil. Government Editor Chuck Clark reports on the surprising citizen viewpoints and the ways the paper reported on them.

Spring 1997

Knight-Ridder to Fund Civic Journalism Projects
Knight-Ridder announces that it will carry on the community-building vision of late chairman and CEO Jim Batten by funding its own civic journalism projects.

"With the People"
A new toolbox for getting readers and viewers involved is published by the Pew Center; the book shows civic journalism as it is evolving in newsrooms around the country.

Winter 1997

Teaching Civic Journalism
Cheryl Gibbs of Earlham College reports on new approaches to teaching civic journalism in classrooms around the country.

Summer 1996

Charlotte: Doing it Daily
The Charlotte Observer attempts to take its civic journalism to the next level by trying to do it daily.

Spring 1996

Your Voices Count: Citizens Challenge Their Lawmakers
A citizens group in San Jose, CA, presents a "Statement of Accountability" to its legislators in an attempt to make them more responsive to constituents. The group was brought together by the Mercury News and KNTV.

Winter 1996

Utah Growth Summit Attracts Half-Million Citizens
Competing media organizations set aside their differences to participate in a statewide town meeting focusing on growth and its consequences.

Fall 1995

Citizens '96: Linking Civic Journalism Worldwide
"A Citizens' State of the Union" is the theme of a nation-wide civic journalism broadcast effort designed to look at the nation's problems, scheduled for January.

Summer 1995

Getting People Talking
The Record's David Blomquist tells how "Local Live" tried to relieve the sense of powerless among Bergen County citizens and tapped into a citizen hunger to be involved.

Spring 1995

On-Line
Bill Edmonds at the Tallahassee Democrat talks about moving the Public Agenda project on-line, with more that 300 citizens logging on for the discussion.

Tapping the Hidden Layers of Civic Life
Navigating the "swamp" -- Richard Harwood and Buzz Merritt find and explore civic spaces in Wichita.

Winter 1995

A Community Coordinator Can Be an Activist
Charlene Price-Patterson shares the unique perspective and benefits of working as a community coordinator on Taking Back Our Neighborhoods at The Charlotte Observer.