Citizens' Links for News, St. Paul, MN 1999

Partners:

Internews Interactive
KTCA-TV

Pew Center funds supported the use of videoconferencing technology that allowed KTCA to originate broadcasts from new and unconventional locations and to connect citizens from far-flung parts of the large, rural state. The result was innovative programming with groundbreaking levels of interactivity.

The first broadcast to use the new technology, in January 1999, linked newly elected Gov. Jesse Ventura, in the KTCA studios in St. Paul, with citizens in Bemidji, Mankato, Duluth, Windom and Minneapolis for a discussion of his new tax policies.

The program was so successful, the governor's office agreed to an ongoing series of discussions. Later programs featured discussions of education and agricultural policy.

The technology was also used to link citizens from a Minneapolis soul food restaurant, Lucille's Kitchen, with white residents of a depressed farming community for a series of riveting discussions about their similarities and differences.

A live show in June 1999 linked two families with teenage children from the living rooms of their homes to the KTCA studios for a discussion of underage drinking. During the broadcast, the teens took a test, published in the Star Tribune, designed to identify teenage drinking risk factors.

Use of the technology to allow ordinary citizens to participate in public discussions from their own zones of comfort - the restaurants, shopping malls and other "third places" in their own communities - became a permanent and popular fixture in KTCA programming.

Contact:

Bill Hanley
Executive VP, Content
KTCA-TV (PBS)
172 East 4th Street
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: (651) 229-1380

Email: bhanley@ktca.org

Evelyn Messinger
Director
Internews Network
705 Mission Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
Phone: (415) 457-5222
Email: emessinger@internews.org

Men as Peacemakers, Duluth, MN 1996

Partners:

Duluth (MN) News Tribune
WDSE-TV public television
Violence Free Duluth organization

The project "Men as Peacemakers" reversed the normal tendency to let men stay on the sidelines while women lead efforts to end violence and attracted the efforts of hundreds of Duluth men.

A community organization approached the media partners after a series of particularly gruesome incidents in Duluth, asking for help in promoting violence- prevention strategies. Initially, the partners agreed to finance a retreat, where about 50 men planned strategies for curbing violence. Impressed with the results, the partners launched a civic journalism project to explore the issue more fully.

In March 1996, the News-Tribune began seven-month series of stories on ways people are affected by violence, how they learn to be violent through sports, the media and in the home, and how prejudice, drugs and peer pressure influence violence. The paper also printed and distributed a resource guide showing men what services are needed and exactly how to volunteer.

WDSE featured segments on its public affairs show and produced a documentary and a 90-minute televised town forum, Oct. 8, 1996. The documentary was distributed to libraries and edited for use in classrooms, along with a teacher's guide created for the project.

The "Men as Peacemakers" group grew from the original 50 to more than 200 and sponsored a "week without violence" that included a community fair, showcasing the news coverage and showing people how they could get involved.

Craig Gemoules
Deputy Managing Editor
Tampa Tribune
202 S. Parker Street
Tampa, FL 33601
TEL: (813) 259-7600
FAX: (813) 259-7676
EMAIL: cgemoules@tampatrib.com

Across Generations: What We Owe Each Other, St. Paul, MN 1996

Partners:

St. Paul Pioneer Press
KARE-TV (NBC)
Wilder Research Center

Following up on the success of its "Safer Cities" project, the paper focused on intergenerational conflict with the eight-week, 14-part series "Across Generations: What Do We Owe Each Other?" First, a poll of 1,528 adults in the Twin Cities area showed some of the differences between people of different generations - young people, for example, were less likely to have a religious preference. Then a team of reporters explored the topic through "immersion reporting" - spending long periods of time with interview subjects in places such as nursing homes or day-care centers to create more trust and avoid superficial, sound-bite quotes.

The paper also invited readers to share their stories of intergenerational connections, generating more than 200 responses. A class of eighth graders was given cameras to document a special relationship with an older person. These elements were included in the package, which began running Nov. 10, 1996. The package also included suggestions for closing generational gaps - such as adopting a grandparent or creating a family history book or video - and a clip-and-send coupon for readers to pledge to take action to create connections between generations.

The paper sponsored a four-hour intergenerational dialogue at the Mall of America, attracting some 70 people of all ages. It also distributed more than 2,000 "tool kits" with tips and suggestions for connecting with different generations.

Walker Lundy
Editor
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55101-1057
Phone: (612) 228-5480
Email:lundy@pioneerplanet.infi.net

Brett Benson, Project Leader
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55101-1057
Phone: (612) 228-5438

Kay Harvey
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55101-1057
Phone: (612) 228-8468

Kate Parry
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55101-1057
Phone: (612) 228-5400

Safer Cities, St. Paul, MN 1995

Partners:

St. Paul Pioneer Press
KARE-TV (NBC)
Wilder Research Center

Breaking out of the daily police blotter routine, the paper commissioned a poll of 2,853 Twin City residents that explored public attitudes toward crime and safety and assigned a team of four reporters to look at crime in the context of race, age, gender and geography. They also explored the media's role in public perceptions of crime.

The 10-part series began in the Pioneer Press on Sept. 24, 1995 and ran Sundays through Nov. 26. With interactive features, such as a risk quiz and a neighborhood audit, the series guided readers through a psychological evaluation of their own fears, a reality check about the dangers in their lives, the best ideas from around the country for fighting crime and a look at the most promising local efforts, including a map of resources and lists of safety tips. The paper also sponsored two public forums - each with about 40 people - on crime issues and reported the results.

KARE aired six stories about the poll results. Reader reaction was overwhelmingly positive and the series won the top prize from the Minnesota Associated Press and the University of Minnesota Journalism School. The series had a long-term impact on the paper, too. Editors revamped crime coverage, instituting a public safety column, and reorganized the newsroom into teams and clusters.

The paper also applied and refined the "Safer Cities" model in later projects, including "Across Generations," about tensions among different age groups, "Poverty Among Us," about combating post-welfare reform poverty, and "The New Face of Minnesota," about immigration. Together, these projects won a Legacy Award in the Pew Center's 2002 Batten Awards competition.

Walker Lundy (Former Pioneer Press editor)
Editor & Executive Vice President
The Philadelphia Inquirer
400 North Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19101-8263
TEL: (215) 854-4594
FAX: (215) 854-5099
EMAIL: wlundy@phillynews.com

Kathryn Parry
Sr. Editor, Politics & Special Projects
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar Street
St. Paul, MN 55105-1057
TEL: (651) 228-5522
FAX: (651) 228-5500
EMAIL: kparry@pioneerpress.com

Kay Harvey
Aging and Family Issues, Express
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar Street
St. Paul, MN 55101-1057
TEL: (651) 228-5468
EMAIL: kharvey@pioneerpress.com