Civic Journalism: Six Case Studies
MADISON, WIS.
"We the People, Wisconsin"

"Potential conflict of interest is something we always need to watch for," said Still. He said some "We the People" topics may have hit a sponsor's nerve but no one has tried to influence the program. For instance, teen alcoholism came up frequently during the "We the Young People" series, but Miller Brewing signed up again for 1995.

Still wonders if journalists are more concerned about potential conflicts than the general public. "I think we've gone from worrying about it sometimes to agonizing," said Still, adding that only other journalists have raised the issue in the context of "We the People."

The partners seek to present balance in the sponsorships by trying whenever possible to recruit competing philosophical sponsors, Wood said. For instance, a debate between candidates for state school superintendent was co-sponsored by a half-dozen entities, including the state's largest teacher's union, the school board and the chamber of commerce.

The high profile of "We the People" helps, too. "There are too many partners, it's too public and the partners have been straightforward in all of the fund raising in what people do -- and do not -- get for their sponsorships," Wood said.

As the partners' efforts grew more frequent and ambitious, they developed better organization and communications. "We the People" partners rely on conference calls with a designated note taker distributing the results, frequent partner meetings, an annual event calendar and post-mortems after every event.

As an associate account executive at Wood Communications, Lynn Pappas handles the logistics for "We the People." Relying heavily on computer spreadsheets and databases, Pappas produces a budget for each event, tracks registrants and prepares a series of to-do lists per event with assignments for all the partners.

Even though events differ, she has been able to design templates that can be used for every event. For instance, one two-page document lists all of the logistical elements for a program -- recruitment, location, materials, signs, staffing and confirmations -- and the tasks for each element. Running a newspaper ad to recruit participants entails designing the ad, determining an ad schedule, choosing regions to target, contacting papers for space, setting up a method for recording responses and a follow-up procedure.

"If you don't have somebody doing the logistics, it's not going to happen," Wood said. It doesn't have to be a PR or special events firm. "If you can reach out into your community, you will find most of the skills."

The media partners have their own routines to make sure events get enough attention. For instance, at the State Journal, events are preceded by a curtain raiser that usually appears on the front page and is soon followed with a column and/or an editorial by Still. Reminders run intermittently. Stories on related issues usually are published once a week for the preceding month. The event is covered as spot news, then Still follows up with columns and editorials.

The first event, the town hall meetings with the Democratic candidates for president, was "a baptism by fire," recalled Jim Wood. "Everything that could go wrong went wrong."

It could not have been more complicated.

Many of the problems stemmed from the chaotic nature of presidential campaigns. Paul Tsongas agreed to participate, then dropped out of the race. Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown couldn't be in the same place at the same time. By the time the dust settled, Bill Clinton was in Indianapolis, Jerry Brown was in front of a live audience at the TV studio in St. Paul. Both were linked to town hall sites in Beloit and Wausau.