The Election Connection, Los Angeles, CA 1998

Partners:

Orange County Register
Riverside Press Enterprise
KCET-TV (PBS)
KCRW-FM in Santa Monica
KPCC-FM in Pasadena
Orange County News Channel

The partners, who'd been working together since the 1996 "Voice of the Voter" project, called their third joint effort "The Election Connection" to emphasize the goal of helping voters feel connectedto the electoral process. The project began with a poll of 600 voters to determine which issues were their highest priorities. Reporters from each news organization then spoke with respondents for stories on the poll and on each issue. Coordinated coverage among all the partners began March 16, 1998 with an overview of poll results. Issues stories ran every two weeks through the June 2 primary.

The partners also coordinated coverage of the financing behind four major initiatives on the 1998 ballot. For example, their stories revealed that most of the support for a ballot measure that would restrict the use of union dues came from conservative groups outside the state. The measure was defeated. Opposition to another initiative, allowing gambling on Native American reservations, was largely financed by Nevada casino owners. That measure passed.

In attempting to stimulate public conversation about the election, the partners brought together a panel of politically and ethnically diverse Southern Californians to watch and discuss the debate between leading gubernatorial candidates. They also sponsored a debate between candidates for state attorney general. KCBS-TV aired a weekly Election Connection talk show on Sunday mornings and KCET-TV hosted a one-hour special featuring a live studio audience on a ballot issue that would eliminate bi-lingual education in California schools.

A second poll conducted after the primary was the first to show Democrat Gray Davis with a double-digit lead over his opponent in the gubernatorial race and the first to show Republican congressional candidates in jeopardy because of a public backlash against GOP efforts to impeach President Clinton.

The partners considered their Web site, electionconnection.org, one of their major successes. The site received 158,000 visits between March and November 1998, with a spike of 50,000 visits for November.

Contacts:

Dennis Foley (former Chairman, The Election Connection, a project of the Southern California Voices of the Voter coalition)
County Government Reporter
The Orange County Register
PO Drawer 11626
Santa Ana, CA 92711-1626
Phone: (714) 285-2862
Email: dfoley@ocregister.com

Maine Citizens' Campaign Documentary Video, Portland, ME 1997

Partners:

The Portland Newspapers
WGME-TV
Maine Public TV
Maine Public Radio

What started as an election year effort to get citizen voices in campaign coverage entered a new phase in 1997, as some 40 residents of Sanford, Maine, who'd been empaneled for the "Maine Citizens Campaign" refused to disband when the journalism project was over. The group began a second year exploring issues and meeting with public officials in hopes of taking action for positive civic change.

With Pew funds, the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram continued to provide facilitators and other support for the citizens group but there was much less regular coverage by both the papers and broadcast partners.

WGME produced three legacy videos on the group; one distributed to junior highs and high schools throughout Maine for use in a civic involvement curriculum, another aired on WGME and a third distributed to media around the country as a model of the citizen engagement process.

The partners teamed up again to use the citizen consultation model for covering state government with the "Beyond the Ballot" series. The partners polled 1,100 people from five different regions of Maine to determine which issues people felt were most important and how they varied from region to region.

The series began Aug. 23, 1998, with stories showing the issues of jobs, education and taxes transcended regional differences while interest in social issues such as child abuse, health care and poverty differed from region to region. Follow-up stories gave the five candidates running for governor in 1998 a chance to address the citizens' issues.

Through the fall, separate town meetings were held in each of the five areas surveyed. Seventy-five demographically selected citizens deliberated the issues for a day and questioned gubernatorial candidates who attended the sessions. The information gathered was published in book form and distributed to key leaders throughout the state. The paper also used the book as a guide for reporting on what progress Gov. Angus King made in addressing citizen issues after his election to a second term.

Gary Legters
Operations Manager
WGME-TV
1335 Washington Avenue
Portland, ME 04104
Phone: (207) 797-9330

Jim O'Rourke
Acting News Director
WGME-TV
1335 Washington Avenue
Portland, ME 04104
Phone: (207) 797-9330

Lois Czerniak
Executive Producer
WGME-TV
1335 Washington Ave
Portland, ME 04130

Portland, OR 1997

Partners:

The Oregonian
Oregon Public Broadcasting

That most fundamental of civic activities, voting, was the subject of a three-part series in the Oregonian and a special call-in show on public radio. Though Oregon had one of the highest voter turn-out records in the nation, there were still nearly a million eligible Oregonians who did not vote. Through a survey of 733 people and three focus groups, reporters learned that voters and non-voters had a great deal in common and that not voting was not an indication of detachment or alienation. In fact, they found 80 percent of non-voters were active in their community, with many involved in three or more civic activities.

The survey divided respondents into three groups: frequent voters, occasional voters and non-voters. Results found that non-voters tended to be younger and less well-educated than frequent voters but all groups felt cynical about elections-that they are about choosing the lesser of two evils and that voting changes very little. All groups were put off by negative campaigning.

The findings were reported on three consecutive days beginning Oct. 26, 1997. The series included the pros and cons of ideas to curb negative campaign ads, lists of opportunities for community involvement and each part invited caller comment. Oregon Public Radio aired a call-in show just before the series ran, inviting suggestions about what needs to be addressed to get people to vote.

Sandra Mims Rowe
Editor
The Oregonian
1320 S.W. Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
TEL: (503) 221-8400
FAX: (503) 294-4175
EMAIL: srowe@news.oregonian.com

The Voters' Voice, New Hampshire 1997

Partners:

New Hampshire Public Radio
The Keene Sentinel
The Portsmouth Herald
UPI of New Hampshire

Inspired by the success of its election year project, "Voter's Voice," New Hampshire Public Radio sought citizen participation in coverage of non-election issues through a series of "Citizens Exchange" meetings in different communities, in association with local newspapers.

The network began the project in early 1997, with a series of call-in shows from its Concord studios, where citizens asked questions of the new governor, their congressmen and senators and engaged in discussions of campaign finance reform, race relations and health care issues.

NHPR then took the show on the road. The first stop was the Nashua Public Library on May 12, where about 90 citizens participated in a forum with the governor. The forum was taped and aired the next morning and again the next evening. It was also broadcast on Media One and stories ran in the Telegraph. Later forums allowed citizens to question other key elected officials about a wide range of issues.

Mark D. Handley
President/General Manager
New Hampshire Public Radio
207 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301-5003
TEL: (603) 226-0850
FAX: (603) 224-6052
EMAIL: mhandley@nhpr.org

Maine Citizens Campaign '96, Portland, ME 1996

Partners:

Portland Newspapers Inc.
Maine Public Broadcasting Network
WGME-TV (CBS)

The "Maine Citizens Campaign" followed a group of about 40 residents of Sanford, ME, a neglected mill town as they deliberated the issues and interviewed candidates in the 1996 campaign. Conceived as a way for the partners to get more citizen voices into their election coverage, the project took on a life of its own as the citizens became empowered by the process and tried to become an action group.

The partners chose to base the project in Sanford after studying past elections and demographics that suggested the town would be representative of the state. They then surveyed 300 residents and followed up with phone interviews of 70 respondents to form the core group. Members met 16 times - eight all together and eight in smaller groups - to become educated on issues and develop questions for candidates.

The partners had hoped to attract all or most of the presidential candidates to meet with the group but only Republican hopeful Senator Richard Lugar appeared. The citizens also interviewed senate and congressional candidates.

Stories about the group's meetings ran in the paper and on TV and radio from November 1995, when the group first began to meet, through the November 1996 election. The partners also used the Sanford citizens to get voter comments into routine election coverage.

When the election was over, the citizens decided to continue meeting with the goal of starting a project of their own. The paper continued to provide assistance and occasionally cover activities. WGME produced a half-hour documentary on the group's second anniversary. The group eventually dissolved but individual members went on to participate in local government.

The project led the newspaper to hire a full-time community coordinator, Jessica Tomlinson, to connect with citizens for civic journalism efforts.

Jeannine Guttman
Editor and Vice President
The Portland Newspapers
390 Congress St.
Portland, ME 04104
Phone: (207) 780-9000
Email: jguttman@portland.com

Jessica Tomlinson
Online Community Organizer
MaineToday.com
50 Monument Square
Portland, ME 04101
TEL: (207) 822-4072
FAX: (207) 879-1042
EMAIL: Jessica@mainetoday.com