Civic Catalyst: Research

Summer 2002

High Impact Logged in 600 Civic Projects
A study of more than 600 journalism projects collected by the Pew Center shows that more than 345 newspapers and magazines have experimented with some form of civic journalism since 1995. More than half of the projects developed deep civic roots. By Lew Friedland and Sandy Nichols.

Fall 2001

Future News: It's More than Just the Facts
Chris Peck, APME President, releases the results of "Journalism Interactive," a poll co-sponsored by the Pew Center, APME and the National Conference of Editorial Writers at the National Press Club, July 26, 2001.

Fall 2000

Bringing Viewers Back to Local TV News
NewsLab's Deborah Potter discusses research showing some of the reasons for declining viewership and a possible roadmap for bringing viewers back.

Summer 2000

Studying Civic Journalism
Sharon Hartin Iorio of Wichita State describes the 2000 AEJMC Civic Journalism Interest Group's winning research papers by Kathryn Campbell of Southern Oregon University and Renita Coleman of University of Missouri.

Spring 2000

Building Road Maps for Reporters
Frustrations over sprawl and stark differences in the views of minority and white respondents in a poll released by the Pew Center. By Pat Ford.

Spring 1999

Research: Civic Journalism Reflects Old and New Traditions
Pew Center advisory board member Jim Doyle recaps academic research on civic journalism presented at an October 1998 forum at the University of South Carolina.

Summer 1998

Civic Journalism: Proof It Works
Does covering a statewide consitutional convention referendum sound boring? Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle, WOKR-TV and WXXI-TV take a civic approach to the referendum and see startling results in the voting booth.

Spring 1998

Project Reconnect
Four newspaper-journalism school teams report on their attempts to close the distance between the papers and certain groups of their readers.

Winter 1998

Does Civic Journalism Move the Needle?
ASNE's Ethics and Values Committee surveys civic journalism practitioners to determine what is working about civic journalism, how they know it's working, and where the idea is headed.

Feedback: Attitudes Toward Civic Journalism
Civic journalism is one of several topics covered in a survey of media executives across the US surveyed on behalf of APME and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Summer 1997

Public Journalism Can't Do It All
The "Campaign Central" experience: in-depth issues coverage fails to counter multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign.

ASNE Survey: Support for Civic Journalism Techniques
A surprising number of editors surveyed by ASNE show some level of support for civic journalism values and/or tools, according to a report released in April.

Spring 1997

Sustaining Civic Journalism Efforts
The Community Change Project of the Pew Partnership for Civic Change is helping citizens take action on complex issues raised by civic journalism efforts in Binghamton, NY, Peoria, IL and Portland, ME.

Pew Center Helps Support Project Reconnect
Six newspaper/university teams are experimenting in community coverage, focused on a specific topic over the next two years.

"Civic Lessons:" New Research on Civic Journalism
The first academic study of projects supported by the Pew Center suggests that newsrooms are ambivalent about the value of civic journalism, citizens interviewed were consistently positive or even enthusiastic.

Winter 1997

New Civic Journalism Research
Research into four civic journalism initiatives finds surprising reach in communities, lukewarm acceptance in newsrooms.

North Carolina Project Reaches One in Four Voters
One in four North Carolina voters were aware of the "Your Voice, Your Vote Project," and over 80 percent of those voters were favorably impressed with the project according to a new poll.

"Tantalizing" Hints From Other Research
At least three new civic journalism reasearch efforts are measuring the impact of issues-based journalism in 1996.

Summer 1996

Tapping Civic Life: Reporting First, and Best, What's Happening in Your Community
The Pew Center and the Harwood Group release a workbook to help newsrooms tap into elusive civic voices in their communities, based on research done at the Wichita Eagle.

Winter 1996

America's Stuggle Within
The Harwood Group talked to 15 focus groups in four key primary states in an effort to uncover the issues that citizens consider important in the 1996 elections.

Winter 1995

NPR Election Project
Media partnerships in 5 cities across the U.S., led by NPR and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, concentrates on voter concerns in election coverage.