Keeping Your Ears to the Ground
A Journalist's Guide to Citizen Participation in the News:
A Primer on Community Journalism
Tamara L. Gillis, Ed. D.
and
Robert C. Moore, Ed. D.
Keeping Your Ears to the Ground
A JournalistÕs Guide to Citizen Participation in the News: A Primer on Community Journalism
Tamara L. Gillis, Ed. D.
and
Robert C. Moore, Ed. D.
Elizabethtown College, PA, USA
The Polytechnic of Namibia
Published by The Polytechnic
of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia
Department of Media Technology
Private Bag 13388
Windhoek, Namibia
The Department of Media
Technology currently offers a National Diploma in Journalism and Communication
Technology. Though a partnership
with the Department of Communications at Elizabethtown College and the
Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NIZA), the program is engaged in
both the instruction of civic/community journalism and its application in the
public sector.
Copyright © 2003 by Tamara L.
Gillis and Robert C. Moore
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission.
Printed in the Republic of
Namibia
Table of Contents
About the Authors iii
About This Guide v
Chapter 1: Developmental Communication and Civic/Community Journalism 1
Making the Connection Between Developmental Communication and Civic/Community Journalism 1
Thinking of Journalism in a New Way 3
What is in a Name? 3
Of Special Note 6
Additional Resources 6
Chapter 2: Public Listening and the Practice of Community Journalism 9
Key Concepts of Community Journalism 9
Public Listening 10
There are Various Layers of ÒPublic:Ó Tapping into These Layers 11
Identifying What is Important to the Community 13
Limitations of the Media 15
Questions to Consider 15
Assignment 15
Additional Resources 16
Chapter 3: Public judgment and the Practice of Community Journalism 17
What are Some of the Characteristics of the Relationships Between Journalists, the Community, and the Media in General? 17
Public Judgment 18
Questions to Consider 20
Assignment 20
Additional Resources 20
Chapter 4: How Can Journalists Engaged in Community Journalism Help Citizen Act? 23
Review of Public judgment 23
Finding Solutions: Consensus 24
Helping Citizens Act 25
Questions to Consider 25
Assignment 26
Additional Resources 26
Chapter 5: The Five Layers of Civic Life, Broadcasting, and the Practice of Community Journalism 27
Review of the Five Layers of Civic Life 27
A Community Journalism Model for Broadcasting 28
Commitment 28
Research 29
Substance 29
Questions for Review 30
Assignment 30
Additional Resources 30
Chapter 6: Putting All of This into Practice: The Community Journalism Project 31
A Few Final Comments 31
The Project 32
APPENDICES 33
Civic & Community Journalism Bibliography 35
Civic Journalism and Community Empowerment Organizations and Resources—Online Links 47
Civic Organizations (From the Battlefield School District) 59
Civic Journalism Online Resources (From the Texas A & M University) 61
The WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources (Maintained at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, USA) 63
Journalism Organizations and Related Sites (From the University of MD) 65
About the Authors
Ed. D.,
Higher Education Administration, University of Pittsburgh; M.S., Communications
Studies, Shippensburg (PA) University; B.A., English, Shippensburg (PA)
University. Dr. Tamara Gillis is associate professor of communications and
chair of the department at Elizabethtown College. In addition, she has held the position of director of student publications, advising student media (The Etownian and the Conestogan yearbook) and teaches journalism, publication design, and public relations courses. Her research interests include civic journalism, student culture, change management, public relations officers in organization structures, public art as communication, and a "great books" approach to teaching public relations. Dr. Gillis' email address is: gillistl at etown dot edu
Dr. Robert C. Moore
Ed. D.,
Higher Education Curriculum and Instruction and Communications Technology, West
Virginia University; M.S., Mass Communications and Educational Media, Clarion
(PA) University; B.S., Education - English, Speech and Communications, Edinboro
(PA) University. Dr. Robert Moore is professor of communications and former
chair of the department at Elizabethtown College. He teaches communications seminar, media and society, introduction to media production, international communications, and organizational training. His research interests include international communications, civic journalism, freedom of the press, communication administration and curriculum development. Dr. Moore's email address is: moorerc at etown dot edu
About This Guide
This
guide is designed to accompany an advanced journalism course in the study of
current journalistic initiatives.
The guide emphasizes the important connection between communities and
their media -- print and broadcast and the resultant imperative for journalists
to serve the citizenry.
Using
an investigative approach, coupled with case study analyses,
participants/students will develop an understanding and appreciation for
civic/community journalism, its practices, its application and development, and
the implications for it in global communications.
The
purpose of this guide is to encourage journalists to learn, understand, and
apply the basic values and principles of traditional journalism in light of new
democracies and community empowerment found within the tenets of
civic/community journalism.
Objectives
The
course and study guide will help the journalist recognize and value the
practice of journalism as an agent of social change and empowerment.
It will
help the journalist become aware of the resources and develop the skills to
apply civic/community journalism practices in their daily work as a journalist.
The
journalist will adopt a philosophy for developing journalism initiatives in
service to the community and its members.
When
discussing the civic journalism model presented here, the authors will use the
term community journalism. It
should be understood that in this context, the word community could be
interchanged with civic or public.
Many of the readings or resources used to support this guide, in fact,
use civic or public journalism rather than the term community journalism.
A
further distinction needs to also be made. Community journalism, as defined here, is not
interchangeable with the term community media. In this regard, community media is referred to as a media
that has its focus, and perhaps its geographic location and distribution,
limited to a very defined local group of people or target area. It is also often referred to as a media
that is located in a local community.
Community journalism is a way of doing journalism, of serving the
people, of involving the people in the issues that are important in their
community.
Developmental Communication and
Civic/Community Journalism
Charity,
A. (1995). Doing Public
Journalism. New York: The Guilford Press. CHAPTER 1.
MAKING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN DEVELOPMENTAL COMMUNICATION AND CIVIC/COMMUNITY JOURNALISM
NWICO,
the New World Information and Communications Order, the movement by UNESCO in
the 1970's, can be seen as a foundation, a basis, for the current trend, the
current emphasis, among journalists known as civic, public, or community
journalism.
The
goals of developmental communication fit nicely into the movement of community
journalism or civic journalism.
To
briefly define developmental communication, it was the belief that the
instruments of media (radio, television, newspapers) could be used by the
central government of a country to help build a nation. The whole idea behind
UNESCO and NWICO is that developing countries could build themselves up using
the media. This was both a very important concept and a very misunderstood
concept. That is, governments, not only the colonial governments but also the
current governments of independent and developing countries, interpreted the
UNESCO position to mean that they could take control of the media, and that
they would use their government authority to tell the media what to do. The purpose was then to tell the media
what was important to tell the people.
This,
in a sense, disenfranchised the people and the media, it took away some of
their freedoms because it was essentially the government telling the citizens
what was important to them. What must be remembered in terms of nation
building, in terms of development communication, is that it occurs as the
result of people, not of government.
No matter how much the government tells the media to develop people, if
people don't want to develop, they don't.
If people don't develop, nations don't develop. This is where both the
theory of development communication and the practice of development
communication collided. Instead of media often being used to support a
government agenda, they should be used to support the people's agendas, to
support what is important to them. This, by the way, is not different from what
UNESCO in the early 1970's was saying; it was just different in terms of
practice.
Illiteracy,
health, poverty, education and even political awareness are all elements of
nation building, of people building, and while developing countries'
governments acknowledge that these things are important, it was probably their
control that caused the lack of media being supportive of initiatives in developmental
communication. So, community journalism is sometimes interpreted as a return to
the goals of developmental communication. It is an effort to, what has been
called, "democratize the media."
When
the term democratization of the media is invoked, the idea expressed is not
about making the media democratic, not about making it American, not about
making it free. Democratizing the media is all about making it responsive to
the people. When the media is democratized, it is media whose mission is one that
serves the people.
The
basis of this approach comes directly from the UNESCO Commission. According to
the UNESCO report on the New World Information and Communications Order about
democratization of the media, "It is a matter of human rights, the right
to communicate is an extension of the advances toward liberty and democracy.
Democratizing the media cannot be simply additional facilities. It means broader
access to the media by the general public,
and the interchange of information
between people without the dominance of any one person or one group."
When
the media is democratized, it means, in practice, that it serves the people and
that the people use the media to get the information that they are interested
in so that they can live their daily lives in an improved way. In order for
that to happen, the people must participate in determining the focus of the
media. There is not necessarily a hierarchy in this process. Journalists are
not above the people in this regard.
In fact, journalists are servants to the people and partners with the
people. All people are considered equal and central to the purpose of the
media. Urban residents are simply
one of the groups of people that are involved in the consultative process with
the media. They are not to be elite, not to have undue influence. But, in order to do its job properly,
the media may have to go far outside of urban centers to reach all of the
constituencies that they are to serve. Reporters must cover rural and remote
areas as well know how the people feel and to share information that is
important with them. It is the use of information as a self help, as personal
growth, and to achieve greater information and education for everyone that is
essential to developmental communication and the common goals of community
journalism. These are very laudable goals and are important to
self-determination, self-improvement, and to nation building. These are the
goals that journalists should strive for in their daily work.
In
civic/community journalism, relationships must be forged between the media and
the citizens as equal participants in this entire process. That is actually a
very old concept and the basis on which journalism was established hundreds of
years ago. That is where
journalism began and civic/community journalism is a return to journalism's
roots.
There
is a new way of thinking about journalism, a new way for each journalist to do
his or her job. When a journalist
goes into the field and begins exploring stories, the focus is to be less from
the mouthpieces of business, industry and government and more in collaboration
with the people. That's easily said but more difficult to do. Another component of this new way of
thinking is in the newsroom--in editorial meetings. As a story lead develops,
the journalist must consider how it impacts the people from all levels of the
community. Civic/community journalism requires a more people-centered approach
to developing stories and to the stories suggested for the media.
If
journalists are more people-centered in their writing, more people-centered in
their reporting, then the newspaper or broadcast station, regardless of who
owns it, will become more valuable to the people. The goal of civic/community
journalism is to make the media valuable to the people, because journalists are
telling and sharing with them the things that are important to them.
There
are three terms that are used, often interchangeably, to represent this new
journalism concept: public journalism, civic journalism, and community
journalism. All three terms have, as a common basis, the idea of the journalist
as a member of the community gathering new stories for the civic good ... for
the public goodÉfor the community.
A journalistÕs
focus is on the community and how as a journalist, reporter, broadcaster, they
can best serve the people. This is
best done when the journalist is a member of the community by being one of the
citizens, not as an elitist member of the media or society.
These
three terms represent the same idea--that collaboration between the citizens of
the community and the media should all work together to solve problems or come
up with ideas that might be solutions to problems that face the community and
have a focus on self-improvement.
The
term civic journalism began with American newspapers in the Nineties as they
began to revisit the roots of the worthy profession. But today, journalists are
involved in cases of civic journalism that include collaboration of the
different community media - television, radio and the local newspaper. They work together to help the
community deal with issues, or just bringing these issues to light, so that the
people in the community can begin to discuss solutions and opportunities to
make their lives and communities better.
In
fact, civic journalism is happening around the world. Case studies have
documented projects related to civic improvement and public deliberation (some
with the participation of the media) in:
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Guatemala, Hungary, Lebanon, Poland,
Romania, Russia, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tajikistan.
Civic
journalism can be described using a simple three-phase process as written about
by many of the authors in this movement in civic/community journalism. Those
three phases include: consciousness raising, working through the issue with the
community, and then a phase of issue resolution. While the resolution phase may
sound like a final stage, it is just the beginning of actually solving problems
and getting the community involved in solving their own problems or challenges.
In the
consciousness-raising phase, the media finds out what issues are of concern in
the community. To do that, the media must go out and become part of the community.
The media reconnect themselves and talk to people, not just opinion leaders in
the community. The media need to learn from the citizens. They need to learn:
what the people think is going on in their community; what would the people
like to know more about; and, how do the citizens think they can make a
difference and improve their lives. In the first phase, the journalist is on
fact-finding mission to learn about the community. In the process, news stories
may be written or produced about various aspects of the information
uncovered. However, during this
phase, reporters are conducting research on their community for the purpose of
a much more long-range investigation.
In the
second phase of Òworking through problems or issues,Ó the community has now
identified, for the journalist, the issues, an agenda or a public agenda, with
the emphasis on "public."
The citizens have given their input to the media and enlightened them on
what they think is important in their community. From these issues, the media
can begin to construct news stories that highlight the peoples' point of view
of what's happening, or perhaps hold meetings to find out what the community
would like to know more about, how they'd like to see issues addressed, collect
ideas, discuss ideas, bring government into the discussions, find out a variety
of ideas are and how they fit into the picture. This activity leads to the
third phase of civic/community journalism, resolution.
The
plans and activities in phase two may lead to news coverage (print or
broadcast) like a series of articles in the newspaper, or a series of segments
on a broadcast news program, or a community project that addresses the original
issue to alleviate the problem.
But, the civic/community journalistÕs responsibility does not stop
there.
Because
civic/community journalism is a process, the final phase, the resolution phase,
leads back to the beginning of the process. In the resolution phase, news
stories and projects may be completed. This may result in a resolution to the
issue originally identified for the civic/community journalism project. But
other issues may have come to the surface during the reporter's work with the
community. It is at this time that these new issues are taken back to the first
phase and worked through the process, again, with the community, in an attempt
to solve these new issues.
Problems
aren't always solved, and sometimes when they are solved, new problems come to
light. So, the cycle continues. As
the media becomes more aware of issues, they try to help people find solutions
to the issues, and with the citizens, continue to focus on improvement and
resolution of the issues. Because it's the peopleÕs solutions, not the media's
solutions, the media simply continues to be that voice in the community, that
forum in the community, where the public feel that they are the center, they
are the most important part of the community.
As
mentioned previously, this is the bridge between developmental communications
and civic/community journalism. This
is the return to what journalism was all about when journalists first started
writing in newspapers--to keep their communities informed of issues affecting
their survival. Early newspapers developed for local citizens to have a voice
in public issues, for citizens to know what was going on in their community,
and for citizens to know how to participate in their community. Civic
journalism, public journalism, and community journalism is a movement with the
people leading the media, telling the media what is important to them, and
directing how the media can provide that forum for the citizens to engage in
problem solving.
In the
United States and other countries, civic journalism projects have addressed
such issues as elections, crime prevention, youth programs, AIDS, health care,
and education. These topics are of
universal importance and many of the international projects have focused on the
same topics. While much of the
published support materials in the field use American projects as examples, the
tactics employed and the lessons learned will be able to be applied throughout
the world.
Civic/community
journalism is not a movement among scholars. It is not a movement among
lecturers at polytechnics and universities, it is not teaching new journalists
or new students how to serve people better. In fact, civic/community journalism
is a movement of practicing journalists to do their job better and to make the
impact of the media for meaningful.
Arthur Charity, author of Doing Public Journalism, became most noted for his efforts in this area when he
was an editor at a newspaper in Ottawa, Canada. Civic journalism has its roots,
its growth, in a non-American movement. Today, it is still not solely American.
How do the journalists feel about this new way of approaching journalism?
Arthur Charity notes in his book a positive change for reporters in the
performance of their jobs. They have reconnected with their local communities
and improved their writing and focus skills as journalists.
The Pew
Foundation for Civic Journalism has documented the shift in newsroom attitudes
using this process. An enormous amount of reading material is available from
the organization and from their website: www.pewcenter.org
Your lecturer has copies of many of the articles and publications. See the extensive bibliography at the
end of this guide (items that are in bold are available for loan from the
lecturer.)
Reporters
from newspapers and broadcast organizations embrace the concepts of civic,
public or community journalism and they talk about them at length in these
publications. They provide
insights about how the process has changed the way these reporters think about
stories and the way that they collaborate on stories. Civic/community journalism has brought the reporters closer
to the issues and to the people. Journalists feel like they're making a
difference in the lives of their public instead of just being an elitist
organization. That is one of the most rewarding things for a reporter that
comes out of this process.
From
this point forward, when discussing this approach to journalism, the authors
will use the term community journalism.
It should be understood that in this context, the word community could
be interchanged with civic or public.
Many of the readings or resources used to support this guide, in fact,
use civic or public journalism rather than the term community journalism.
A further distinction needs to also be made. Community journalism, as defined here, is not interchangeable with the term community media. In this regard, community media is referred to as a media that has its focus, and perhaps its geographic location and distribution, limited to a very defined local group of people or target area. It is also often referred to as a media that is located in a local community. Community journalism is a way of doing journalism, of serving the people, of involving the people in the issues that are important in their community.
VIDEOTAPE: "Civic
Journalism: A Practical Guide."
This
video is a collection of journalists talking about how they have become active
in their communities. These journalists discuss what that interaction has
brought to their reporting, their writing and their broadcasting. A number of
the projects highlighted in the video are partnerships between television,
radio, and newspapers in different communities. These cases include the
journalists' descriptions of how civic journalism has changed the way they
report and also the way that they gather information and interact with their
communities.
VIDEOTAPE: ÒCivic Journalism: ItÕs More Than Just Good Journalism.Ó
This
video is a conversation between Davis ÒBuzzÓ Merritt, editor of The Wichita
Eagle and media analyst Hodding Carter III. They talk about what journalism has become and how it can be
improved. Two of the most creative
thinkers in journalism today, they reach a working definition of civic
journalism that will serve journalism practitioners, students, and citizens at
large.
Chapter 2
Public Listening and the Practice of
Community Journalism
Harwood, Richard C. and McCrehan, Jeff. Tapping Civic Life: How to Report First, and Best, WhatÕs Happening in Your Community. Second Edition. Washington, DC: The Pew Center for Civic Journalism/Tides Center. 2000. FRAMEWORK 1-4, PAGES 10-22.
Schaffer,
Jan (Exec. Producer.) A
JournalistÕs Tool Box: Techniques
for Building Better Journalism.
Washington, DC: The Pew
Center for Civic Journalism.
2000. PART 3: FINDING THIRD PLACES: OTHER VOICES DIFFERENT STORIES.
There
are three key concepts of community journalism:
1. The goal of community journalism and the goal of the journalist in this process, is consciousness raising. What that means is, to help bring to light information or issues that may be important to the citizens.
2. To interact with the people of the community and to have the citizens tell the journalist about the things that are important to them.
3. To have the journalist identify the issues that are important to the community. Community journalism means getting the public and the media involved in the same community issues.
"Working
through the issues", phase two of the community journalism process, gets
the journalist involved in investigating the issue. The journalist gets the
people involved in letting the media know what is important about the issues.
The media provides a forum so that the people can share that information and
learn and understand those issues that are important to the public in their
everyday life.
For the
journalist to be involved in the community, the journalist must be in touch
with people. The journalist needs to be in touch with the issues and know where
to get information. The journalist needs to know how to share information with
the people.
The
third or final step in this simple community journalism model, which is
actually the main goal of community journalism, is resolution of the issues.
But while that is a goal of what the media want community journalism to do,
seldom does the actual project solve a problem. Seldom do the media actually
solve the issue. But what the media have done is set the stage for the people,
the community, to discuss and learn so they can resolve the issues themselves.
In this
process, journalists are not leaders, and the people are not followers; they
are partners in the discussion of what is important to people in the community.
It is only the people that are going to solve the issues, not the journalists.
What journalists do is get the people involved, get all of the issues and
discussion on the table, cover it, and facilitate the interaction to help the
people help themselves.
Public
listening is the first step in a journalist's research of an issue. Journalists
need to know how the community feels and what's important to the people. That's
exactly what public listening is. It is the process of finding out from the
community members the issues that are important to the community.
If the
reporter is truly thinking about the community, being a community journalist,
the reporter should ask the community, "what's important to you?" and
allow the community to form the questions that the media can help to answer
through their reporting.
The
feedback or information that the public provides may include a number of
sources. Feedback represents the ways reporters and the community can connect
in this public conversation or dialog. Public listening is part of a
conversation between the media and the community. Some ways of making this
connection include getting involved in the community; talking to people individually;
talking to groups of opinion leaders -- the clergy, schoolteachers, bankers,
chiefs, local citizens --getting a cross-section of opinions. Surveys could
also be used to collect community feedback. For example, newspapers could
solicit public input through a mail-in ballots, while broadcast audiences could
call a special telephone number to express their ideas. Other innovative ways
to collect information include town meetings and focus groups.
Another
important item about public listening is that the media shouldn't just ask
people about what's wrong with their community. The media should also ask the
public what's "right", so that the community can also see that there
are good things going on so the community and can build on what has made their community
good to help solve the problems that they see as making their community less
than good.
The
media must consider the public, the community, and the agenda? What are their
issues? These issues, in the final analysis, may not be the issues the media
think are the most important.
THERE ARE VARIOUS LAYERS OF THE ÒPUBLICÓ
Throughout
this discussion of the community journalism model, ideas have been shared about
how journalists identify the issues that are important to the people. The media
don't set the agenda. They go to the people and try to find out what the
people's (the community's) agenda is.
The Pew
Foundation segments the ÒpublicÓ into five basic groups or places. Those five
groups or places in the community are:
1. The OFFICIAL group: those people who are part of the political system or recognized leaders of institutions in society;
2. The QUASI-OFFICIAL group - organizations or people who are involved in the community, but not necessarily representatives of either national or local government. These people tend to be considered ÒleadersÓ by the community but not by the office held.
3.
THIRD PLACES, or people who congregate in those
places, make up the next group.
These places are where people gather informally, like churches,
community events, schools, etc.;
4.
INCIDENTAL PLACES are where
people are simply able to talk informally with one another. Sometimes this is
just simply on the sidewalk, perhaps at the market, or maybe even at a coffee
shop; and
5.
PRIVATE PLACES - in the
privacy of one's home; in people's own private lives.
As
noted above, there are five layers/places or five groups of people in society
to whom journalists often go to get their story information. Traditional
journalism tends to immediately go to the first group, which is the official
group. They want to hear what leaders of institutions and political bodies,
whether they be national or local, have to say about an issue. Then they tend to go to the last group,
which is private people. That means, they go to an individual person to ask
them what they think about what the first group has said or done. In community
journalism, journalists focus on is the middle three groups—those who
make up the community.
A
journalist, who is going to be more responsive to the community, actually
becomes part of the community.
That is, they get to know and understand members of organizations,
clergy, chiefs, and business leaders in the community. They sit and talk with
these individuals in the community, whether it is at social functions, or at
the schools, or in churches. They,
to an extent, interact informally, live with, visit with, and get to know these
people and the community, so that they are more in touch with, more in tune
with what the people think, not only asking those leaders what THEY think the
people think, but they are actually talking to the people about what they think
themselves.
The challenge is for journalists to learn about people--what they value and what is important to them--and then to use that information to begin to investigate a story and then to provide a forum for these people to discuss and ask questions about what is important to them—in a public way. If the media do that, they are empowering the people. The media are asking the everyday citizens to set the agenda, rather than using a more hierarchical approach, or simply asking leaders to set the agenda.
Community
journalism also means, then, that the journalist becomes a member of the
community and can connect what the official and civic leaders have to say with
what individual members of the community have to say. Additionally, there are
people in every community who are looked to as leaders -- opinion leaders.
Sometimes we find that these individuals are very active people who work very
well with the everyday citizen and still work very well with institutions and
organizations in the community. These kinds of people are 'connectors' or the
people who exist in the community who can tie official life to private life.
Journalists
need to also find those people who can give the background, the history, to
give the wisdom on the issues. All too often, journalists come into an
unfamiliar area and they don't have that historical perspective that is so
important in framing an issue more clearly. If journalists do these things,
then the journalists have three important goals for their involvement:
1.
To find out how people
think--what is important to them;
2. To engage these people from all five levels of the community in conversation, so that they are able to share with us and we are better able to understand what they have to say, and,
3. To investigate the stories based on these interactions and find out what is important for the journalist to pursue.
These goals mean that journalists determine, from their input, the struggles and those things of importance that the journalists will deal with in their framing of the stories.
Community
journalists are always trying the answer the question, "why?" They
want a person to elaborate on what they're thinking, what they're feeling,
rather than simply giving a short answer. The journalist would like to know
what is important to the community. They want to know what are the main
concerns of people and what are they thinking. They want to get a greater perspective
regarding the peopleÕs thinking on the issues. The journalists want to look at
the causes and why the causes exist. How does the community think things should
be? How do they think people should help? What has been done? What can be done?
All of these things are open-ended questions that, if a journalist works to
seek input from a variety of levels with questions that are open-ended like
these, the journalist may begin to be able to put together a picture of what
they need to address in a project and what forums they need to make available
in community journalism.
In
summary, at this point, journalists need to try to find a way in the existing
media to not only address issues that are important to the people, but also how
they are going to address issues that are different in each of the various
regions of the country.
The Pew
Foundation identifies a five-step process for beginning journalists to use in
discovering what is important to a community.
Step 1:
Identify a particular community—a geographic area, a neighborhood/suburb,
or issue important to a certain group of people or beat.
Step 2:
Hold newsroom conversations about contacts in the community. Use the five
layers of the community previously discussed to create a specific contact list.
Step 3:
What is it that needs to be investigated for the story? Formulate the kinds of questions that
might be asked of civic leaders, quasi-civic leaders, the charity group
leaders, as well as civic officials. (This gives the journalist a start for the
interviewing process, but it doesn't limit the him or her to just those
questions, because in these meetings obviously more information is going to
come to the surface in discussion rather than just the questions that are
asked.)
Step 4:
ÒInterview catalysts,Ó means talking to those people that are the Òeveryday
leadersÓ in the community.
These catalysts are those people to whom citizens look as
quasi-officials or opinion leaders.
The diverse opinions gotten will be valuable to the story and will be
indicative of a overall sense of the communityÕs important issues.
Step 5:
Interview citizens, not just in those public places, but make this a public
process for encountering and talking with the citizenry. This stage also
includes possibly developing public forums for discussion.
This
five-step process should help the journalist develop a news gathering plan, a
way of developing interviews and contacts, that maybe didn't seem apparent when
the issues were first thought about.
In
review:
1. Get the idea first. It is really a function of being out and involved and hearing about and from people before it ever really reaches an official level of concern.
2. Expand sources. Don't simply go to officials and private citizens, but expand issue sources to include all the various layers of an area or of a neighborhood.
3. Ask better questions. That is, have them open-ended. Get people's ideas and feelings, their insights to what is important.
4. Expand the possibilities for framing stories. A story is not one-dimensional and is certainly not what the journalist perceives it is. The frame of a story is decided as a result of the conversations in the community.
5. Write harder hitting stories. Talk about tensions, talk about issues, talk about problems, and let people know. Hard-hitting stories--give facts, give issues, give background, and give experiences.
6. Have a conversation about the story with other journalists, whether it be in the editorial meeting, when developing the daily diary, or whether it be just among the reporters in the newsroom, what are the other ideas that people think about? What are other angles for us to write stories about?
7. Bridge civic layers . Attempt to get people from all the different areas of society from official to semi-official, to private citizens to be part of the investigative process.
8. Put aside preconceived ideas to try to approach every story not in a biased way. Do not write from a vantage point of what the journalist thinks is right, but to provide a story or to write a story or stories that show a variety of points of view, both the minority as well as the majority point of view.
Gathering
information from a number of different layers of the community gives the
journalist a balance of input. It gives the reporter a balance of ideas because
certainly, the things that are important to one person might not be important
to another person.
A key
reason to get a variety of input from the public is so the reporter can find
out what the climate is really like in the community. The same issue might be
of interest to many people but for very different reasons. This breadth of reasons behind the
issues provides depth to the project and stories.
Community
journalism issues are those issues that are important to the majority of the
community. These issues have the greatest impact on the community. As
journalists, we don't want to talk about issues that simply are important to a
couple, we want to look for a variety of views on an issue that is important to
many people. Yet, there are
minority views to each of the stories and they should be covered as well.
The
media has certain limitations in the coverage of issues. While television is
not broadly received by everybody in the country, it is received by a certain
type of audience. The types of issues journalists would deal with in television
news stories would be those that are appropriate to that audience. Certainly,
you would not focus upon an issue dealing with people that could not receive
your information, because the key to community journalism is to report what the
people think is important to their lives and to the people. Again, journalists
do not solve the problem, journalists help give the people a forum so that the
people can work through and solve their own issues. So, the forum must be appropriate to the specific audience
and be able to reach the specific audience.
The
media might deal with an issue thatÕs important in the urban area and also
important in the rural area differently.
A newspaper might, in fact, address issues from the rural perspective
and television (in a cooperative project) might deal with the urban
perspective.
Community
journalism is changing the way journalists do their job. Journalists are asked
to commit to the long-term investigation for long-term analysis for long-term
improvement in the community.
1. How can community journalism fit into your current reporting practices?
Public Listening Exercise: Develop a public listening project to
determine the needs of your community and a topic suitable for development
using the civic journalism model.
VIDEOTAPE: ÒNew Listening Posts: Blending Investigative with Civic Journalism in Asbury Park.Ó
Jody Calendar, for the Pew Center for Civic Journalism, discusses a civic journalism project in Asbury Park, New York, USA. In particular, she reviews how important it was for the newspaper to be in touch with the community and how the journalists found new sources among the members of the community.
VIDEOTAPE: ÒTune in Your Community, Turn on Your
Viewers.Ó
This videotape, produced by the Pew Center for Civic Journalism, shows how five TV news operations try to meet the challenge of leading serious public conversations on important issues. The tape reviews how stories were chosen, the approaches or framing used in the stories, how journalists try to make themselves ÒthinkÓ like community journalists, and how the media connected with individual citizens.
VIDEOTAPE: ÒIssues
in Community NewsÓ
This videotape, produced by the Center for Community Journalism, reviews the kinds of newsgathering that takes place in newspapers, radio and television. ÒIssues in Community NewsÓ looks at how journalists are stakeholders in their communities and the issues of balancing that role with more familiar hard news, watch dog, aspect to the profession.
VIDEOTAPE: ÒCivic Journalism: A Work in Progress.Ó
This Pew Center for Civic Journalism video looks at The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA) and how Steven A. Smith tried to create a Òcivic cultureÓ in the newsroom. Through public listening, alternative framing, and tapping new voices, the journalist is challenged to invent a new kind of journalism—one that challenges readers to see things in new ways.
Chapter 3
Public Judgment and the Practice of
Community Journalism
Charity,
A. (1995). Doing Public
Journalism. New York: The Guilford Press. CHAPTER 3 & 4.
Harwood,
Richard C. and McCrehan, Jeff.
Tapping Civic Life: How to
Report First, and Best, WhatÕs Happening in Your Community. Second Edition. Washington, DC: The Pew Center for Civic
Journalism/Tides Center. 2000. PART 2, PAGES 23-37.
Schaffer,
Jan (Exec. Producer.) A
JournalistÕs Tool Box: Techniques
for Building Better Journalism.
Washington, DC: The Pew
Center for Civic Journalism.
2000. PART 1: INTERVIEWING: NEW QUESTIONS, BETTER STORIES.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
JOURNALISTS, THE COMMUNITY, AND THE MEDIA IN GENERAL?
The
journalists and the community come together as one without the media attacking
the community. The media tend to be sympathetic to the issues raised by the
community and this leads to a better working relationship between the media and
the community.
The
journalists are sympathetic to the community's issues because the media see
themselves as part of that community.
This is an important element of this model of journalism.
The
journalists try to give the people a chance to be citizens, by connecting the
people to each other and letting them talk about their problems and identifying
the people who can solve these problems. Journalists try to find solutions to
community problems with the input of the community members from all layers of
the community.
The
media is a forum for the community, not a problem solver. The media empowers
the citizens to solve problems on their own as a community, as a group, instead
of looking to an entity like the newspaper, or the television, or the
government, to solve all their problems.
The
journalists bring the publicÕs problems to the attention of the community. They
are not in any way trying to impose solutions on the citizens.
One of
the key elements of this community journalism process is that the media
highlight the problems, but try not to solve the problems. It is important that
the community solves problems for themselves and takes ownership of the
problems and the solutions. Through this process the public may develop a new
interest in the media, as well.
It is
very important to match the type of news media that people use to help them to
solve the problems and be part of the solution of problems.
In
community journalism, all of the media are in partnership to help the
community. Each medium has its strengths and weaknesses in addressing the
issues. If all media in a community come together in a cooperative effort for
the community, then the media may be able to reach many different aspects of
the community.
An
example:
In
dealing with the community journalism issue of education, there might be a
collaboration between newspapers, radio and television on the news coverage of
the issues surrounding education. Different issues would be dealt with by each
media: newspapers, radio and
television. Each media would take different angles; each would follow up
regarding education in different ways each involving the people in the issue
that is raised. Perhaps, one of
the media might sponsor an open on-air discussion on the issue. Then, as a
result of cooperative coverage, the people of the community who are reading
about the issue in a newspaper, when told that theyÕll be able to hear more
about the issue on radio, will tune into the radio when they might not
otherwise have tuned in. If
television, for example, covers a public meeting on the issue that was
announced in the newspaper, then people are going to watch that on television.
Different angles and different stories, with each one promoting the other,
helps in this collaboration. ItÕs not a competition, itÕs each media
cultivating the other and the otherÕs coverage of an issue of importance to the
public.
Community
journalism is a conversation, a dialogue, a two-way exchange. It is the media
talking to the people; very importantly, it is the people talking back to the
media. The focus of that dialogue is to explore more than one side of an issue,
to explore all the various viewpoints of an issue, and not to draw a judgment
that one person is right or one person is wrong. Instead, this exploration
presents a variety of sides of the issue so that the people can be informed
about the issue as they find their own solutions to problems. This dialogue is
not a debate. A basic understanding of a debate is that one party is in favor
of an solution to an issue, while one party is against the solution. Community
journalism is not a debate; it is a conversation about all the various elements
or aspects of an issue and its potential solutions. There are strong points to
be discussed on aspects on each side. There are some points that are weaker. By
the media focusing on all the different aspects, all the different angles of an
issue, the media are promoting people talking on their own. The media are
promoting people acting on their own to address a problem issue. ItÕs not the
media acting; itÕs not the media solving the problem; IT IS the media providing
the forum for people to discuss issues of importance to them. Then the people feel
strong enough, informed enough, to pursue their own solutions to problems. This
issue could be health, literacy, education, transportation, or simply how to
get more information to the rural areas.
Dialogue
is the key element. WhatÕs the role of the journalist, then, in promoting this
dialogue? How do we focus in on creating a dialogue instead of preaching,
telling the people that certain things are right and certain things are wrong?
"Deliberative discourse" means dialogue. It is lengthy discussion of issues resulting from the
investigation within the community. The media and citizens are fellow problem
solvers, but public judgment, what the people decide, is what is best, not what
the media decides. When the people decide, they do so by weighing the strengths
of all the various sides of an issue to come to a compromise; the community
decides what they would like to do. The mediaÕs job is to help them understand
and appreciate how other people think and feel so that the people have more
knowledge, more of an ability to come to their own opinion, their own decision,
regarding the issue.
Deliberative
discourse is often described as the best form of democracy. In ancient Rome,
where people came together to be involved in decision-making, it clearly was
designed to have people understand and agree to common ground in their decision
making in public.
The
community media want to help the people to arrive at their own course of
action, to address an issue they think is important to them. This part of the
community journalism model is described as Òworking toward a choiceÓ that
everybody can agree upon. The media do that by promoting the decisions and
actions of the people. Community journalism is a grassroots movement, a way in
which the media serve the citizens of a community.
In
community journalism, the reporter should be collecting more than "just
the facts" about a news story. Journalists should find out whatÕs
important to the community. They want to know what the background is, and to
describe those elements of the issue from the various points of view of the
community. After that is done, and the media ask the right questions, they are
providing an in-depth opportunity for analysis -- far more than news. When
looking at what kinds of issues that might be of interest to focus on in
community journalism efforts, journalists poll the people. They survey and talk to the people. The
key here is, once it is decided what issue is going to be pursued, once it is
decided where and how support will be provided to help the people, that the
people drive the agenda. The
people tell the media whatÕs important and the media give them as much
information/opportunity to discuss the issues as possible.
The
public judgment, when made on an informed basis, is always right, regardless of
whether the media agree with it or not.
Community
journalism is also about establishing trust. Journalists can be far more
effective if they address simple issues first. Go into the community and
address issues to start building a dialogue around those issues. The journalist
will have an easier time addressing some of the more difficult issues later.
There
has to be some trust built on issues that everyone can agree upon and rally
around before more difficult, controversial issues can be tackled. Community
journalism helps to build some common ground between the community, the media
and the political system if we start out small and donÕt try to take on too
much at one time.
1) What value does your news media (whether youÕre from radio, television, newsprint) add to your role in your urban communities?
2) How can we, as the media, make it easier for citizens to have a voice and to act on the issues that we raise in our work in community journalism?
ASSIGNMENT
Layers of Civic Life Exercise: Develop a process by which community journalists may capture opinions of the five layers of civic life described by The Harwood Group. Coordinate this project with an additional public listening activity.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
VIDEOTAPE: ÒCivic
Journalism: Covering Your
Community Through Creative Partnerships.Ó
This tape is a recording of a session at the Radio and Television News Directors Association (USA) Convention. It highlights the unique alliances made between different media to cooperate on the same community journalism project. The focus is on partnerships and how each media built their approach to the issue in combination with, not competition with, the other media.
VIDEOTAPE: ÒSelf-Publishing Communities: Partnering with the New Competition.Ó
Glenn Ritt, former vice president of news and information at The Bergen Record in Hackensack, NJ (USA) shares his ideas for making newspapers the foundation of a region's information highway by building partnerships with community groups on the Web
Chapter 4
How Can Journalists Engaged in
Community Journalism Help Citizens Act?
Schaffer, Jan (Exec. Producer.) A JournalistÕs Tool Box: Techniques for Building Better Journalism. Washington, DC: The Pew Center for Civic Journalism. 2000. PART 3: FRAMING A STORY: WHATÕS IT REALLY ABOUT?
Community
journalism is journalism through a dialogue; it is meant to be a conversation
among people. It is not necessarily a dialogue between the media and the people
or conversely, between the people and the media. In either case, such a scenario tends to make the media
still very much of a leader in society; it is unidirectional rather than
interactive. In the dialog, the
media is a facilitator that provides a forum for the public. In terms of the
dialogue, the media facilitates the presentation of different angles on the
story. The media provides
information about the options that are available. A key point to remember is
that the media helps present options, but it doesn't present the options in the
sense that one is better than another.
The conversation is then actually between people with the media only a
participant.
FINDING SOLUTIONS:
CONSENSUS
Often
times, consensus is seen as everybody coming to agreement on a solution to an
issue. That is, in fact, not necessarily the case. In a community journalism project, not everyone will agree
that a particular solution or a particular approach to an issue is the way to
solve a problem. Simply put, consensus is an agreement by the community to
pursue a particular course of action.
It doesn't necessarily mean that the members of a community give up
their opinions or their views or that there are not other equally valuable
courses of action.
Creating
a public forum for gathering public opinion and debating possible solutions
could include scheduling meetings among citizens, or scheduling very important
summit meetings with community or government leaders, or feature stories and
regularly appearing columns on the same issue over a period of time are
broadcast or printed. Certainly, to coordinate press coverage with civic events
where people can come together and extend their involvement and their
conversation on these views.
"Some
deliberate questions" or key questions that journalists interested in
creating a forum for collecting different views and opinions on an issue could
ask include:
¥What
brought you into this issue? This question
promotes understanding in group interviews because opponents can usually
empathize with each other's personal stories more easily than with each other's
arguments.
¥What
experiences or beliefs might lead decent and caring people to support that
point of view? This question asks people
to look sympathetically at points of view they've rejected and at the opponents
themselves.
¥Is
that where the disagreement lies? When a
source explains how two sides in an issue disagree, the reporter might restate
what's been said in very concrete terms and ask this question. It often prods
the source to reply with a more refined or focused definition of the
disagreement, narrowing the issue.
¥What's
your underlying interest? Is that something you personally believe? What's your
reason for saying that? These types of
questions are intended to get the source to define the motivation behind their
aims and beliefs.
¥Describe
the other side's position to me. The
request asks the sources to give a description, not a caricature, then is
followed by a question of accuracy and fairness. This might force the source to
reason for a moment from within their opponent's terms.
¥What
point, that the other side makes, makes the most sense to you? What trade-offs
would you be willing to live with? What sacrifices are you unwilling to accept?
What alternative is the least persuasive? What makes this issue so difficult?
These
types of questions help define where common ground is more or less likely to be
found. (This list of questions was
compiled from Arthur Charity's book titled "Doing Public
Journalism.")
If
people disagree, the media want to know where that disagreement is, or if it is
believed that a particular course of action is the proper one, citizens need to
know on what basis that course of action is the proper one. Community
journalists should have each side describe or discuss the other side's position
to understand why perhaps agreement or disagreement might occur. The goal in pursuing solutions to an
issue is consensus.
Being
available to various constituencies is very important for a community
journalist. Letting the community
know that the media is interested in what they have to say on the issues that
are important to them is a very important part of the process in facilitating
change in the community. This is
hopefully what community journalism has as its end reward. It is very important
to be accessible to community constituencies and to let them know that they are
important not only as sources, but also because they are the people who make
decisions and make change happen in a community. It is very important to keep
those avenues open and to see the media as a facilitator in the community in
getting the different voices heard.
The
media have to make a change in their philosophy about who their constituency
is. It's one thing to talk about a parliamentary constituency or a head man's
constituency. But often times, the
media forget that there are people outside of the urban areas. So journalists
need to look differently at who it is they serve, so that they are in touch
with all of those constituencies.
Some
other ways that the media can facilitate community involvement include:
continuing coverage of issues of interest to the citizens; helping to plan and
cover town meetings to discuss issues; developing citizen forums. (As
facilitators, journalists have to try to help the community act, but can not
act on their behalf.) These town meetings are planned by the media as a public
forum to build and identify the public agenda. The media is simply a
participant in the forum.
Consider
an issue that is key in your community:
1. How would you normally cover the issue? That could include discussions of who you would interview, what information would be gathered, and so on. That's a very traditional question. Then, how would you handle it now in a community journalism approach?
2. How would you get involved in the community? How would you identify community angles to these issues? Look at it from the citizens' point of view rather than the journalists' point of view. When you identify how you would look at these different angles, list what kinds of activities you would engage in, in order to uncover those angles. Of course, the easiest one is the town meeting, but we would like you to talk about other different kinds of activities that you would use to find these angles.
3. How would each of the different media cover those angles and still complement one another in the community?
ASSIGNMENT
News Coverage Exercise:
Develop a plan for including the voices of the community in a time
delimited community journalism news campaign for the community news media.
Consider/plan partnership activities with other media. Develop promotional
concepts to support your news campaign.
ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
VIDEOTAPE: ÒCitizen
Reader: Building Civic journalism
Pages at the Virginian Pilot.Ó
Dennis Hartig, Managing Editor of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, explains how his paper experimented by devoting an entire page three days a week to covering education, public life and public safety. The goal was to help make readers more effective citizens by imparting knowledge as well as news.
Looking at the Five Layers of Civic
Life, Broadcasting, and the Practice of Community Journalism.
Schaffer, Jan (Exec. Producer.) A JournalistÕs Tool Box: Techniques for Building Better Journalism. Washington, DC: The Pew Center for Civic Journalism. 2000. PART 4: TAPPING YOUR COMMUNITY: WHAT DONÕT YOU KNOW?
A
sample issue for identifying the Five Layers of Civic Life (and the places that
sources might be found) is the health-related issue of AIDS.
For an
issue like AIDS, it important to consider sources that will help journalists to
identify how the citizenry feels about this issue, as well as information about
the issue itself. What are the layers of civic life to be investigated?
Official
contacts from the official layer that might be used to begin to research and
write a story about AIDS might include the Ministry of Health.
The
quasi-official layer may include advocacy groups, the organizations who talk on
behalf of people with AIDS, and so on.
The
third places layer may include the churches, the unions and the employers,
schools.
The
incidental layer, especially as it relates to a health issue like AIDS, may
include people living with AIDS, individuals talking about people in the
community who have acquired the disease, and even individuals who might give
some information on how the whole situation occurred and how they feel that the
community is dealing with the matter.
The
private layer for this issue may include the family of someone who is suffering
from this disease.
Community
journalism is more than just interviewing citizens. It's definitely not just
printing articles that the citizenry is interested in, but actually
facilitating the discussion and the debate of civic issues with the citizens of
a community, and making them aware of the issues and their discussion of the issues
public so that the community benefits.
In that
way, this community journalism model improves the way that the business of
journalism is done on a regular basis, not just the specific stories that are
chosen to be done about an issue, but the way that all the news stories that
are written or broadcast are approached.
There
are three keys to implementing civic journalism in the practice of broadcast
journalism:
¥commitment
¥research,
and
¥substance.
Commitment
on part of both the broadcast and the print media, when a partnership is
formed, is to work with one another and not compete against one another. One
aspect of the media that cannot be denied is the inherent competitive nature of
the mass media -- television, radio and the newspapers -- in covering news.
But, the three different media have their own strengths and weaknesses, and
when covering the same stories in a community journalism project, the media
need to compound the strengths of those individual media in producing cooperative
stories that serve the people. In many instances, the media will be covering
similar issues, maybe even the same event. But each media need to have
something to differentiate the stories, to take advantage of the strength of
that particular media, and at the same time to work in partnership. There has
to be a commitment on the part of the media to the community model of
journalism for covering the particular issue at hand. The print journalist will approach it differently than the
broadcast journalist, but they need to be committed to working on the same
issue and at times, working together.
Since
community journalism projects are long term projects (projects that will be
addressed over a number of days or weeks of news coverage) the media must be
committed to seeing the project through to its completion for the public's
sake. So the journalist, the public and the news operation must be committed to
this work. Partnerships always require commitment of all parties involved.
If a
local radio news operation and a local newspaper operation develop a community
journalism partnership, then the commitment is not only in time given to the
issue, but they are committed to one another to cooperate with one another and
cover the issue the best they can while maintaining that natural competition
that the media enjoy. Journalists all want to cover the most current issues, to
be there to cover the newsmakers, to be there when the hard and critical news
breaks. While hard news is
important to the people and their right to know, service to the community to
make it a better place to live is a commitment to excellence—to serving
the people. This also comes about
when journalists have a respect for one another to share some information and
also to allow each media to take advantage of the different strengths that it
brings to the partnership.
Research
is the second key. Research is key to understanding any news issue. It's also
the key to finding the resources that are needed to develop stories. Those resources include not only
information from the official layer of our community or the quasi-official
layer, but also from those other layers of society--our citizens as resources
are exceptionally important to the stories. The average citizen, who makes up
the majority of the community is able to identify what the important issues
are, to help determine what forms of public discussion is appropriate, and what
solutions need to be investigated to improve the community.
The
third key is substance. The stories that are written must have substance. That
is, they must have information that is vital and of interest to the
community. If a journalist has
appropriately done research then he or she knows precisely what the community
is dealing with -- what issues they are at the forefront of their minds -- then
the substance should be there. The stories are not just what can be called
"fluffy" stories, stories about human interest and things like that.
These are news stories that people read to learn something -- something about
being a member of that community or more about an issue that they are facing.
The readers and viewers should feel they can partake in the debate and actually
begin to use the information they're receiving from the media on these particular
issues for the long term, and enrich their lives or at least change the way
that they think about parts of their lives, and become part of the community
debate or discussion of these issues.
1. What are the key strengths of broadcast over print media for telling a community-based news story?
2. What are the key limitations of broadcast versus print media for telling a community-based news story?
3. How could a community journalism project be created to have both print and broadcast components that complement one another?
VIDEOTAPE: _____. The Best of Civic Journalism: The (Year) Batten Award Winners. James K. Batten Awards and Symposium for Excellence in Civic Journalism. Washington, DC: The Pew Center for Civic Journalism. VIDEOTAPES WITH ACCOMPANYING PRINTED GUIDES (Years: 1999, 2000, 2001.)
READINGS
Schaffer,
Jan and Miller, Edward D., eds. Of the PeopleÉby the PeopleÉfor the PeopleÉwith
the People: A Toolbox for Getting
Readers and Viewers Involved.
Washington, DC: The Pew
Center for Civic Journalism. 1997.
Harwood,
Richard C. and McCrehan, Jeff.
Tapping Civic Life: How to
Report First, and Best, WhatÕs Happening in Your Community. Second Edition. Washington, DC: The Pew Center for Civic
Journalism/Tides Center. 2000.
Journalists in community efforts do not focus on getting a single story. They focus on finding issues that are important, and then empower the people to talk about those issues. The media covers those issues and the discussions about them over a period of time. While journalists typically go out and do a single story and return to the newsroom, community journalists look at an assignment as a long-term project. To empower people and have them discuss issues that are important to them cannot be dealt with in a single story, even in a single program or a single issue of the newspaper; they are ongoing.
The stories that will be written in the final project are to draw from all five layers of the community; and the community as a whole will feel part of the story because of the story's substance. A journalist should know when a story is complete or is missing information. Think like a reader/viewer and ask the questions that they might ask from the story. The story or the series of stories should be full of information. They should have captured what the people are trying to say is important. Whether it's a government official or it's a citizen responding to a new change in the way that perhaps a new law or a new regulation that they have to follow that affects their life—the story is about feeling, impact, results. The issues are to be covered from both (or all) sides, from the official side, the information coming down to the community and from the citizenry and from the people who have to live with it and their opinions coming up to meet the official layer of the community. It is also common that news stories are written because a press release was received or an official statement from a government office was made. In the end, the important measure of effectiveness is to cover that story in a way that shows how citizens are affected. A lot of readers or viewers are very aware that news coverage as only one-sided and they don't see how it affects them personally. Stories of substance really do affect readers and listeners personally and that's the focus when writing community journalism pieces.
THE
PROJECT
The final project for the course will include a cooperatively designed group community journalism project. The plan for the project should require in-depth investigation, a long-term commitment for the media to cover a wide variety of aspects of the issue selected, and be inclusive of several different media in partnership in the community.
This
project will include the following components and will be completed in the
community and will be presented in its final form suitable for
publication/broadcast. The components of the final project include:
a)
project plan – overview (See
ÒWith the PeopleÓ Stage 1: Project Planning)
b)
public listening (See
ÒWith the PeopleÓ Stage 2: Getting Started)
c) review of layers of civic life (See ÒWith the PeopleÓ Stage 3: Tools and Techniques)
d) plan for news coverage (coordinating
among media) and production (See
ÒWith the PeopleÓ Stage 4: Moving the Needle)
e)
evaluation mechanism and future casting
A presentation will be made to the class to exhibit each project.
APPENDICES
CIVIC & COMMUNITY
JOURNALISM BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Selections in Bold are
available from the Lecturer)
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(03/2003)
(Department of Communications, Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, USA and the Department of Media Technology, The Polytechnic of Namibia.)
Alliance
for Better Campaigns (USA)
http://www.bettercampaigns.org/
The
Alliance for Community Media is committed to assuring everyone's access to
electronic media. The Alliance advances this goal through public education, a
progressive legislative and regulatory agenda, coalition building and grassroots
organizing.
A
nonprofit, the Alliance represents Educational and Governmental (PEG) access
organizations and community media centers throughout the country. It also
represents the interests of millions of people who, through their local religious,
community and charitable groups.
The
Alliance for National Renewal (ANR) brings together a network of people and
organizations that want to better their communities. At the grassroots, all
over the nation, inspiring stories of community renewal are waiting to be told
and heard. This is your opportunity to tap into this rich and growing movement.
Amnesty
International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote
internationally recognized human rights. Amnesty International's vision is of a world in which
every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and other international
human rights standards. Its mission is to undertake research and action focused
on preventing and ending abuses of
the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and
expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of our work to
promote all human rights.
Annenberg
Public Policy Center (USA)
Established
by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community
of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania to address public policy
issues at the local, state and federal levels. The center's initiatives focus
on the Information and Society; Media and the Developing Mind; Media and the
Dialogue of Democracy; and Health Communication.
Australian Centre for
Independent Journalism (Australia)
Contains many links pertaining to the region, as well as the magazine Reportage Media Bulletin (containing full-text articles: Noam Chomsky on Journalism and Reporting Aboriginal Deaths in Custody) and Signposts to Asia and the Pacific (an online database for journalists and researchers) and much more.
Canadian
Association of Journalists (Canada)
The
Center for Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational corporation
dedicated to fostering the development of informed, responsible participation
in civic life by citizens committed to values and principles fundamental to
American constitutional democracy.
http://www.civic.net:2401/ccn.html
The
Center for Civic Networking (CCN) is a non-profit organization dedicated to
applying information infrastructure to the broad public good - particularly by
putting information infrastructure to work within local communities to improve
delivery of local government services, improve access to information that
people need in order to function as informed citizens, broaden citizen participation
in governance, and stimulate economic and community development.
Center
for Community Journalism (USA)
http://www.oswego.edu/ccj/index.html
The
mission of the Center for Community Journalism is to foster effective community
journalism by training working journalists and forging a link between academia
and the world of community journalism that strengthens both.
CCJ
Goals are: to provide continuing
journalism education tailored to the needs of small news organizations, needs
often overlooked by other journalism training programs; to help community
newspapers keep abreast of emerging technologies; to explain the ways community
newspapers contribute to healthy communities; and to strengthen the link
between the classroom and the newsroom.
Center
for Consensual Democracy (USA)
http://www.consensualdemocracy.org
Consensual
Democracy is a sustainable, grassroots approach to civic renewal based on the
visions, values and goals of local citizens. It organizes community members to
work together through nonprofit civic associations that are independent of
local government. Consensual
Democracy is financed by local citizens through earned income and consensual
(voluntary) taxes. It welcomes every citizen who wishes to contribute to a
better community.
The
Center for Democracy and Citizenship is a university-wide resource based in the
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, a leading public affairs
graduate and research institution. The mission of the Center for Democracy and
Citizenship is the promotion of democracy and the strengthening of citizenship
and civic education within a variety of settings, with a special emphasis on
youth.
Center
for Democracy in Action (USA)
http://democracy.edgewood.edu/
The Center for Democracy in Action facilitates citizenship
development and opportunities for participation in public life and service. It
is committed to the teaching of democracy as a transformative way of learning
and living. The Center consciously locates itself at the interface of the academy
and public life and draws its faculty from both sectors.
http://clinton4.nara.gov/Initiatives/OneAmerica/Practices/pp_19980728.3830.html
Despite
all the bad news, something extraordinary is happening in America: A profound
shift in attitudes and expectations is reshaping our culture from the bottom
up. Living Democracy is what we call this broad awakening to the essential role
of regular citizens in solving America's toughest problems. Millions are now
learning that public life is not just for officials and experts, but part of a
rewarding life for each of us. The Center's mission is to dramatically
accelerate the emergence of Living Democracy.
Center for Media and Public
Affairs CMPA (USA)
A non-profit, non-partisan media research organization located in Washington, DC
Chinese Communications
Association (China)
http://access.mpr.org/civic_j/projects.htm
THE
MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO CIVIC JOURNALISM INITIATIVE was started in August, 1995
after the successful "Minnesota Action Plan to End Gun Violence"
project initiated by Leonard Witt when he was editor of Minnesota Monthly
magazine. Civic or public journalism projects conducted by the Civic Journalism
Initiative include: Color of Justice , Covering
Native American Issues , Sharing the Wealth: Charitable Giving
in Prosperous Times , Welfare to Work, Urban,
Rural Conversations, Rural Diversity.
The
Civic Journalism Interest Group of the Association for Educational in
Journalism and Mass Communication AEJMC (USA)
http://www.has.vcu.edu/civic-journalism/
A newsletter, list-serve, and archives of civic journalism scholarship is available online.
http://www.benton.org/Practice/Best/Features/civic.html
Civic
Network Television (CNT) strives to put technology to use in ways that help the
civic, volunteer, not-for-profit and public organizations in communities deal
more effectively with today's problems, while also preparing to meet the
extraordinary challenges that lie ahead.
Civic
Practices Network (CPN) is a collaborative and nonpartisan project bringing
together a diverse array of organizations and perspectives within the new
citizenship movement. It shares a commitment to bring practical methods for
public problem solving into every community and institutional setting in
America. It assumes the responsibility of telling the stories, so that all
citizens may have the opportunity to learn from what others are doing to renew
their communities. CPN has a common faith that we can revitalize our democracy
to tackle the complex problems of the 21st century if we can broadly exchange
and continually refine the civic wisdom of what works and what empowers
citizens to work together.
By
publicly revealing abuses against the press and by acting on behalf of
imprisoned and threatened journalists, CPJ effectively warns journalists and
news organizations where attacks on press freedom are likely to occur. CPJ
organizes vigorous protest at all levels--ranging from local governments to the
United Nations--and, when necessary, works behind the scenes through other
diplomatic channels to effect change. CPJ also publishes articles and news
releases, special reports, a quarterly newsletter and the most comprehensive
annual report on attacks against the press around the world.
http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/index.html
Widely
regarded as the new environmental movement, the Communitarian movement is based
on the centrist philosophy that individual liberties depend upon the bolstering
of the foundations of civil society: our families, schools, and neighborhoods.
It is through these institutions that we acquire a sense of personal and civic
responsibility, an appreciation of our rights and the rights of others, and a
commitment to the welfare of the community and its members. Central to the
communitarian perspective is the belief that public policies should seek a
balance between individual rights and the responsibilities of individuals to
the society at large.
Community
and Culture (South Africa)
http://www.unisa.ac.za/commcul/participation/art_communic.html
Academic
citizenship in a democracy such as South Africa entails among other things that
the media must be accessible to all its people and that sufficient training facilities
must be made available to prospective journalists from all walks of life. In
the spirit of academic citizenship, UNISAÕs Department of Communication has
introduced a Community Journalism for Beginners certificate course to provide students from previously
disadvantaged communities the opportunity to obtain a formal qualification in
the field. This distance education course will equip aspiring journalists with
theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in the field of journalism
http://www.journalistforbundet.dk/coma.asp?o_id=210
Finland JournalistsÕ
Association (Finland)
http://www.journalistiliitto.fi/fi/
The
Freedom Forum is a nonpartisan, international foundation dedicated to free
press, free speech and free spirit for all people. Its mission is to help the
public and the news media understand one another better. With assets of nearly
$900 million, it is the USA's largest foundation focused on fostering First
Amendment freedoms. The operator of the Newseum, the world's only interactive
news museum, The Freedom Forum is a major supporter of journalism education, a
leader in assisting the professional development of journalists, a champion of
diversity and the advancement of women in news-media professions. It is a major
force in international press-freedom programs.
German Association of
Journalists (Germany)
Human
Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the
world. It stands with
victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom,
to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to
justice. It investigates and
exposes human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. It challenges governments and
those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human
rights law. It enlists the
public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for
all. Human Rights Watch is an
independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from
private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds,
directly or indirectly.
Index
on Censorship was founded in 1972 by Stephen Spender. Its goal is to protect the basic human right of free
expression. For the past 31 years, it has
reported on censorship issues from all over the world and has added to the
debates on those issues. In addition to the analysis, reportage and interviews,
each issue contains a country-by-country list of free speech violations. These
lists remain as extensive today as they were in the early days of Index.
Institute for Media, Peace and
Security (International)
The institute of the University for Peace created by the United Nations, specializes in the interactions between media, conflict, peace and security.
Since
1973, the Institute for the Study of Civic Values has been a leading center in
the United States promoting community -- the collaboration of citizens, the
private sector, and government in efforts to fulfill America's historic ideals.
Throughout its history, the Institute has developed programs that use basic
civic values to help citizens learn how to promote community and opportunity in
the country today.
International
Communications Association ICA (International)
ICA
is an international association for scholars interested in the study, teaching
and application of all aspects of human mediated communication.
The
International Federation of Journalists is the world's largest organization of
journalists. First established in 1926, the Federation represents 450,000
members in more than 100 countries.
The IFJ promotes international action to defend press freedom and social
justice through strong, free and independent trade unions of journalists. The IFJ does not subscribe to any given
political viewpoint, but promotes human rights, democracy and pluralism. The IFJ is opposed to discrimination of
all kinds and condemns the use of media as propaganda or to promote intolerance
and conflict. The IFJ believes in
freedom of political and cultural expression and defends trade union and other
basic human rights. The IFJ is the
organization that speaks for journalists within the United Nations system and
within the international trade union movement.
International
JournalistsÕ Network (International)
http://www.ijnet.org/index.html
The
International JournalistsÕ Network (IJNet) is the international center for
journalistsÕ online sources for media assistance news, journalism training
opportunities, reports on the state of the media around the world, and valuable
media directories.
Italian Association of
Journalists (Italy)
J-LAB—The Institute for
Interactive Journalism (USA)
J-Lab is the successor program to the Pew Center for Civic Journalism J-LAB will support newsroom experiments in interactive news that advance civic journalism in the digital arena. J-LAB will be housed at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Jan Schaffer (formerly of the Pew Center) will be the executive director.
The
Kettering Foundation is an operating foundation rooted in the American
tradition of inventive research. Its founder, Charles F. Kettering, holder of
more than 200 patents, is best known for his invention of the automotive
self-starter. Established in 1927, the Foundation today continues that
tradition. The objective of the research now is to understand the way bodies
politic, rather than bodies mechanical, function or fail to function. Kettering
treats politics in its broadest sense politics as a dimension of everyday life
rather than as only what officeholders and governments do. The research is done
for practical purposes; it goes into crafting "tools" (study guides,
community workbooks, and other exercises) that help a public act responsibly
and effectively on its problems.
http://www.media-alliance.org/
Media
Alliance is a nonprofit organization, which serves media professionals,
nonprofit organizations and the general public in the San Francisco Bay Area.
For twenty years, Media Alliance has worked to promote fairness and accuracy in
the media in the Bay Area and nationwide. Our 3,500 members include
professional journalists, freelance writers, activists, students, and other
interested individuals.
The
Media Institute is a nonprofit research foundation specializing in
communications policy issues. The Institute exists to foster three goals:
freedom of speech, deregulation of the media and communications industry, and
excellence in journalism.
MISA--Media Institute for
Southern Africa (SADC)
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is a non-governmental organization with members in 11 of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries. Officially launched in September 1992, MISA focuses primarily on the need to promote free, independent and pluralistic media, as envisaged in the 1991 Windhoek Declaration. MISA seeks ways in which to promote the free flow of information and co-operation between media workers, as a principal means of nurturing democracy and human rights in Africa.
The
National Center for Community Media (USA)
The mission of the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media is to serve and strengthen the local newspapers, radio stations, cable systems and other media that play a key role in the survival and revitalization of America's small towns. The Center affirms the fact that community and communication are inseparable; you cannot have community without communication. It seeks to sustain and enhance the positive qualities of life found in small cities throughout America by nurturing and strengthening community media.
The
National Civic League advocates a new civic agenda to create communities that
work for everyone. Founded in 1894 by Theodore Roosevelt and other
turn-of-the-century progressives, NCL vigorously promotes the principles of
collaborative problem solving and consensus-based decision making through
technical assistance, training, publishing, research and an awards program.
http://www.puaf.umd.edu/Affiliates/CivicRenewal/welcome.htm
The
National Commission on Civic Renewal, made possible by a grant from the Pew
Charitable Trusts, will include individuals across the political spectrum and
from many different walks of life, all of whom have demonstrated leadership in
their fields and a commitment to the betterment of our country. The purpose of
the Commission is to assess the condition of civic engagement in the United
States today and to propose specific actions to be undertaken by the public,
private, and voluntary sectors as well as by individuals that could improve
this condition.
National
Communications Association (USA)
NCA
is a scholarly society and as such works to enhance the research, teaching, and
service produced by its members on topics of both intellectual and social
significance. Trends in national research, teaching, and service priorities are
followed.
The
National Community Building Network (USA)
The National Community Building Network (NCBN) is a national network that serves as hub for brokering information and connections among community builders. NCBN regularly brings its members together and helps community builders become more effective so that their actions have a greater impact on neglected low-income communities. The mission of NCBN is to promote and advance community-building principles, in practice and policy, to achieve social and economic equity for all children and families.
The National Federation of
Community Broadcasters (USA)
The National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB) is a national membership organization of community oriented non-commercial radio stations. Large and small, rural and urban, eclectic or targeted toward specific ethnic communities, the membership is distinguished by its localism and its community participation and support. NFCB's 100 Participant Members and 130 Associates come from across the United States, from Alaska to Florida and from every major market to the smallest Native American reservation stations.
National
Issues Forums (USA)
The
National Issues Forums (NIF) is a network of organizations joined together by a
common desire to discuss critical issues. Organizations who participate in NIF
include educational institutions, leadership groups, civic groups, churches,
libraries, senior centers, community groups, and youth groups. Some are
independent, local forums sponsored by energetic citizens. Others are part of
educational programs at colleges, schools, and extension services.
National
Union of Journalists (United Kingdom)
http://media.gn.apc.org/nuj.html
Organization
of News Ombudsman (International)
An
ombudsman is someone who handles complaints and attempts to find mutually
satisfactory solutions. Ombudsmen can be found in government, corporations,
hospitals, universities and other institutions. The first ombudsman was
appointed in 1809 in Sweden to handle citizens' complaints about the government.
The word is pronounced "om-BUDS-man" and is Scandinavian in origin
The Pew
Center is an incubator for civic journalism experiments that enable news
organizations to create and refine better ways of reporting the news in ways
that help to re-engage people in public life. The center helps to share the
lessons learned at its workshops and seminars for journalists. THE PEW CENTER FOR CIVIC JOURNALISM IS
TO CEASE OPERATION IN 2003. A
SUCCESSOR PROJECT IS SCHEDULED TO BE LAUNCHED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND AND
WILL BE CALLED J-LAB. SEE ITS
LISTING.
THE CIVIC CATALYST:
A newsletter of the Pew Center.
http://www.pewcenter.org/doingcj/civiccat/index.php
PUBLICATIONS: The Pew Center has produced a series of
publications that explore various civic journalism theories and practices.
http://www.pewcenter.org/doingcj/pubs/index.html
VIDEOS: The Pew Center has produced a series of videos that explore various civic journalism theories and practices.
http://www.pewcenter.org/doingcj/videos/index.html
SPEECHES AND ARTICLES: The Pew Center has an extensive online library and
bibliography of speeches and articles commissioned by them or related to their
projects.
http://www.pewcenter.org/doingcj/speeches/index.html
RESEARCH: The
Pew Center funds a large number of research projects each year. Reports of the projects are available.
http://www.pewcenter.org/doingcj/research/index.html
Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press (USA)
An independent opinion research
group that studies attitudes toward press, politics and public policy issues.
The Pew
Charitable Trusts, based in Philadelphia, are a national philanthropy
established 49 years ago. Through our grant making, we seek to encourage
individual development and personal achievement, cross-disciplinary problem
solving and innovative, practical approaches to meeting the changing needs of a
global community. Each year, the Trusts make grants of about $180 million to
between 400 and 500 nonprofit organizations.
The
Poynter Institute is a school dedicated to teaching and inspiring journalists
and media leaders. It promotes excellence and integrity in the practice of
craft and in the practical leadership of successful businesses. It stands for a
journalism that informs citizens and enlightens public discourse. It carries
forward Nelson Poynter's belief in the value of independent journalism.
Public
Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen
education organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1975 by social
scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus
Vance. The two-fold mission of
Public Agenda is to: Help leaders better understand the public's point of view
on major policy issues. Help
citizens better understand critical policy issues so they can make their own
more informed and thoughtful decisions.
Public
Allies is a national multicultural organization designed and run by young
people for young people who want to have a positive impact on their communities
and on our nation. Through a ten-month Apprenticeship Program, Public Allies
develops the leadership capacity of young people in order to bring a new
generation of social entrepreneurs into organizations that work to solve this
country's most pressing public problems.
Public
Broadcasting System (USA)
Democracy Project - The section of PBS's website that, in
their words, is a "laboratory for interactive news programs and features
to inform, inspire and engage you in America's public life." Currently,
The Democracy Project is providing updates on the Congressional Campaign
Finance Hearings, as well as opportunities for online discussion of current
events. The series provides viewers with innovative news and public affairs
programming built upon traditional PBS programming strengths - depth, dialogue,
diversity of viewpoints and duration.
Public
Conversations Project (USA)
http://www.publicconversations.org/
The
goal of the Public Conversations Project is to foster a more inclusive,
empathic and collaborative society by promoting constructive conversations and
relationships among those who have differing values, worldviews, and
positions about divisive public issues.
http://www.kennesawsummit.kennesaw.edu/
The Public Journalism Network is
a global professional association of journalists and educators interested in
exploring and strengthening the relationship between journalism and
democracy. The Network believes
journalism and democracy work best when news, information and ideas flow
freely; when news fairly portrays the full range and variety of life and
culture of all communities; when public deliberation is encouraged and
amplified; and when news helps people function as political actors and not just
as political consumers. It believes journalists should stand apart in making sound
professional judgments about how to cover communities, but cannot stand apart
in learning about and understanding these communities.
Society
of Professional Journalists (USA)
Swedish
Association of Journalists (Sweden)
"The Commission on Human Rights has been the central architect of the work of the United Nations in the field of human rights" - Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, composed of 53 States, meets each year in regular session in March/April for six weeks in Geneva. Over 3,000 delegates from member and observer States and from non-governmental organizations participate.
The
Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy, founded in 1989
by Dr. Benjamin R. Barber, is dedicated to sustaining democratic theory and
extending democratic practice. It approaches democracy in the spirit of
Whitman's ideal of a vigorous citizenry engaged in the culture and politics of
a free society--democracy understood as a mode of living rather than a set of strictly
political arrangements.
World
Communication Association (International)
http://ilc2.doshisha.ac.jp/users/kkitao/organi/wca/
(03/2003)
Civic Organizations
(List Edited for Currency and Duplication)
(Original List Created by Battleground School District,
Washington, USA)
http://www.bgsd.k12.wa.us/glenwood/parents/orgs.html
Are you
concerned about the many belief systems dividing our country? Looking to become
a better citizen through collaboration and partnership? Here are links to
organizations willing to transcend our various belief systems to improve our
communities.
Disclaimer:
Glenwood Heights Primary and Battle Ground Public Schools do not specifically
endorse any of these organizations. We can endorse their sincere desire to make
our world a better place. We offer these links as resources for students,
parents, and other citizens seeking information about civic issues.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resources:
This list was created based on the recommendations of Mark Gerzon in his book, A
House Divided: Six Belief Systems Struggling for America's Soul, G. P. Putnam & Sons, ©1996
Center for Community Change
Policy Alert: www.picced.org/resource/ccc.htm
Independent Sector: www.indepsec.org
International
City/County Management Association (ICMA):
National Association for
Community Leadership:
National Civic League: www.ncl.org
All-America City
Awards
Alliance for
National Renewal
International
Healthy Cities Foundation
The National Conference for
Community Justice: www.nccj.org
Search for Common Ground: www.searchforcommonground.org
Email
comments or questions to: steadman.shirley@mail.bgsd.k12.wa.us
Civic Journalism Online Resources
(List Edited for Currency and Duplication)
(Original List Created by the Dept. of Journalism, Texas A & M University,
College Station, TX USA)
http://journalism.tamu.edu/web1/Undergrad/Course/JOUR408/links.htm
Building Local Civic Nets:
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
http://www.cpsr.org/program/community-nets/report_building_local_civic_net.html
California Voter
Foundation http://www.calvoter.org/
A
non-profit, non-partisan organization that explores ways the news media can
better provide the public with the information necessary to shape a healthy and
engaged electorate. In 1995, CVF co-sponsored "Your Voices Count," a
Civic Journalism project aimed at engaging citizens in the issue of money and
politics.
Democracy Project http://www.pbs.org/neighborhoods/news/
The
section of PBS's website that, in their words, is a "laboratory for
interactive news programs and features to inform, inspire and engage you in
America's public life." Currently, The Democracy Project is providing
updates on the Congressional Campaign Finance Hearings, as well as
opportunities for online discussion of current events. The series provides
viewers with innovative news and public affairs programming built upon
traditional PBS programming strengths - depth, dialogue, diversity of
viewpoints and duration.
Electronic Frontier
Foundation's "Activism & Government" Archive
Electronic Policy Network http://movingideas.org/
A network of policy and research institutions
founded in 1995 by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Paul Starr http://www.princeton.edu/~starr/
and The American Prospect magazine http://www.prospect.org. EPN includes
more than 60 research organizations and foundations whose work tackles topics
ranging from civic participation to welfare reform, health care to foreign
policy, and education to Social Security.
Fallows
Central http://www.jamesfallows.com/
Widely
known for his book "Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine
Democracy", author James Fallows has become an advocate for civic
journalism. Fallows joined the Atlantic Monthly as Washington editor in 1980,
and remained in that position until he became editor of U.S. News & World
Report in 1996, where he will be trying out some of new approaches to practicing
journalism. The site has links to other resources such as Jay Rosen's
monograph, Getting the Connections Right: Public Journalism and the Troubles in
the Press.
Nieman Foundation http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/
It is the oldest mid-career fellowship program for journalists in the world. Fellowships are awarded to working journalists of particular accomplishment and promise for an academic year of study. Also see the Neiman Reports.
http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/contents.html
Penn National Commission on
Society, Culture and Community
http://www.upenn.edu/pnc/public.html
Seeks
to foster the "reasoned and reasonable" discourse essential to the
social, political, cultural and community life of a democracy and to understand
the problems of contemporary public discussion and behavior and foster a more
engaged and thoughtful public discourse in the 21st century.
Project for Excellence in
Journalism and the Committee for concerned Journalists
An
initiative by journalists to clarify and raise the standards of American journalism
and to clarify standards by bringing journalists together to decide for
themselves what their purpose and aims are. It has called journalists to a
period of national reflection through a series of nationwide public forums and
a landmark report on the purpose of journalism. It produced The State of
the American Newspaper project, a landmark series of magazine articles on the
profession, conducts an annual review of local television news published by the Columbia Journalism Review, and produces a continuing
series of content studies on press performance. Its aim is not primarily on
diagnosing the press' problems, but is on creating initiatives that can clarify
what journalism's essential role is and identify examples of good journalism
around the country that personify that.
Radio and Television News
Directors Association http://www.rtnda.org/
The
only organization in the world dedicated exclusively to serving the electronic
journalism profession. RTNDA represents local and network news executives in
broadcasting, cable and other electronic media in more than 30 countries.
_____________________________________________________________________
"In
a neighborhood dispute there may be stunts, rough words, and even hot
insults. But when a whole people
speaks to its government, the dialogue and the action must be on a level
reflecting the worth of that people and the responsibility of that
government."
Martin Luther King, Jr., explaining the nonviolent purpose of the March
on Washington, 1963.
The WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources
(Dr. Wayne A. Selcher, Department of Political
Science, Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, USA)
http://users.etown.edu/s/selchewa/vl/
This
section of the WWW Virtual Library http://vlib.org/ system presents over 2600 annotated links in a wide range of
international affairs, international studies, and international relations
topics. Most of the sites are in English and are carefully selected for their
long-term value, favoring those with cost-free, high-quality information and
analysis online. Each site is described only in general terms because of the
typically rapid changes in the details of its contents. We suggest you begin
with the Starter Tips for Internet Research http://www.etown.edu/vl/starter.html
page. You can either
use the Quick Clicks drop-down menu at the top center of each page to navigate
this whole site, or return to this page from the foot of any other page by
clicking on:
Resource Categories
Getting Started
Starter Tips for
Internet Research http://www.etown.edu/vl/starter.html
Virtual Libraries http://www.etown.edu/vl/librarie.html
Maps http://www.etown.edu/vl/maps.html
Media Sources
News Sources http://www.etown.edu/vl/newsourc.html
International
Radio and Television Broadcasts
http://www.etown.edu/vl/radio.html
International
Relations Journals and Magazines
http://www.etown.edu/vl/journals.html
Organizations
United
States Government http://www.etown.edu/vl/usgovt.html
Nongovernmental
Organizations http://www.etown.edu/vl/ngos.html
European
Union http://www.etown.edu/vl/eurunion.html
Research
Institutes http://www.etown.edu/vl/research.html
United
Nations http://www.etown.edu/vl/un.html
Other
Intergovernmental Organizations
http://www.etown.edu/vl/otherigo.html
Regions and Countries
Global
and Cross-Cultural Issues http://www.etown.edu/vl/global.html
Latin
America http://www.etown.edu/vl/latamer.html
Middle East http://www.etown.edu/vl/mideast.html
Western
Europe http://www.etown.edu/vl/westeuro.html
Africa http://www.etown.edu/vl/africa.html
General
Resources for All Countries http://www.etown.edu/vl/countgen.html
Eastern
Europe http://www.etown.edu/vl/easteuro.html
Asia http://www.etown.edu/vl/asia.html
Resources
for Selected Countries http://www.etown.edu/vl/countspe.html
Topics
International
Business and Economics http://www.etown.edu/vl/intlbus.html
International
Development http://www.etown.edu/vl/intldev.html
Study, Work,
Internships, and Service Abroad
http://www.etown.edu/vl/study.html
International
Communications http://www.etown.edu/vl/intlcomm.html
World
Religions http://www.etown.edu/vl/worldrel.html
Public
Health http://www.etown.edu/vl/health.html
Global
Environment http://www.etown.edu/vl/globenv.html
Peace,
Conflict Resolution, and International Security
http://www.etown.edu/vl/peace.html
International
and National Law http://www.etown.edu/vl/intllaw.html
Human Rights
and Humanitarian Affairs
http://www.etown.edu/vl/humrts.html
International
and Comparative Education
http://www.etown.edu/vl/intleduc.html
American Foreign
Policy http://www.etown.edu/vl/amforpol.html
French
Language http://www.etown.edu/vl/french.html
Spanish
Language http://www.etown.edu/vl/spanish.html
German
Language http://www.etown.edu/vl/german.html
General
Foreign Languages http://www.etown.edu/vl/forlange.html
_____________________________________________________________________This site was reviewed in the CHOICE http://www.ala.org/acrl/choice/index.html
Magazine, Web Issue VI, August 2002, and is
listed in the Librarians' Index to the Internet http://lii.org/ , SOSIG <http://www.sosig.ac.uk/>, BUBL LINK http://link.bubl.ac.uk/, and the Gateway to Educational Materials http://www.thegateway.org/. For some of
the recognitions of this site, please see our Recognitions and Awards
Pages http://www.etown.edu/vl/awards.html. Click here for our Privacy
Policy and Copyright Statements http://www.etown.edu/vl/policy.html. Last updated
on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 .
This section of the WWW
Virtual Library http://www.vlib.org/Home.html system
was created, and is edited and maintained, by Wayne A. Selcher http://users.etown.edu/s/selchewa/home/,
Professor of International Studies, Department of
Political Science http://www.etown.edu/polysci/, Elizabethtown College http://www.etown.edu/, Elizabethtown,
PA 17022-2288 U.S.A.
Copyright © 1997-2003 Wayne A. Selcher. E-mail: selchewa@etown.edu
Journalism Organizations & Related Sites (USA, Some International)
(List Edited for
Currency, Some Sites Added to Original List)
(Original List Created by Christopher Callahan, Associate Dean, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park, MD USA)
http://reporter.umd.edu/journ.htm
Media News
Romenesko's Media News http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45
Jim Romenesko of the Poynter Institute links to the latest media-related news.
Daily Briefing
http://www.journalism.org/resources/briefing/default.asp
Daily media stories from the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Associated
Press Industry News http://www.ap.org/pages/indnews/
Media industry news daily from The Associated Press.
PBS Media
Watch http://www.pbs.org/newshour/media/
Media stories from PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
CNN Reliable
Sources http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/rs.html
Transcripts
from the CNN media show.
Selected Top Sites for Journalists
American Journalism Review http://www.ajr.org/
Newslink provides links to nearly 5,000 newspapers,
listings of journalism awards and fellowships and full text of selected AJR
articles (Disclosure: I am a senior editor of AJR).
Communication Institute for Online Scholarship http://www.cios.org/
The Communication Institute for Online Scholarship is
a not-for-profit organization supporting the use of computer technologies in
the service of communication scholarship and education.
Dart Center for Journalism &
Trauma http://www.dartcenter.org/
Read about trauma, tips for
interviewing effectively and sensitively, test your learning with the
interactive quiz, watch experts discuss emotional injury. Center based at the
University of Washington.
Educational Resources and
Information Clearinghouse (ERIC)
http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/
Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication.
Features literature on thesis topics as well as research summaries,
bibliographies and many other products and services.
FACSNET http://www.facsnet.org/
The online presence of FACS, the
non-profit foundation that specializes in content-specific education for
journalists.
Investigative Reporters and Editors http://www.ire.org/
IRE includes a searchable database of more than 11,000
investigative reporting story abstracts, handouts developed by speakers at IRE
conferences, campaign finance data and sources and a directory of investigative
reporters worldwide, plus details on IRE contests, programs and conferences.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press http://www.rcfp.org/
The committee provides some of the most practical tools for reporters, such as the Freedom of Information Act letter generator, state laws on open records and public meetings, updates on Freedom of Information cases from around the country and a legal defense hot-line for journalists.
The Poynter
Institute for Media Studies http://www.poynter.org/
Poynter Online gives details on the instituteÕs weeklong workshops, which are some of the best journalism educational opportunities available, plus research from the institute on various newsroom topics.
Society of
Professional Journalists http://www.spj.org/
The Electronic Journalist includes news stories on press issues and lists more than 60 journalism contests.
Newsroom Specialists
Computer-Assisted
Reporters
Editorial
Writers
Copy Editors
Online News
Editors
Online News
Association
http://www.onlinenewsassociation.org/
Feature
Editors
American
Association of Sunday and Feature Editors http://www.aasfe.org/
News
Designers
Society of
News Design
http://www.snd.org/
Photographers
National
Press Photographers Association http://www.nppa.org/
International
Journalists
International
Center for Journalists http://www.icfj.org/
Freelance
Writers
American
Society of Journalists and Authors
http://www.asja.org/index9.php
Washington Independent Writers http://www.washwriter.org/
Magazine
Journalists
American Society
of Magazine Editors http://asme.magazine.org/
Alternative
Journalists
Association
of Alternative Weeklies http://aan.org/gbase/Aan/index
National
Society of Newspaper Columnists http://www.columnists.com/
Association
of American Editorial Cartoonists
Youth
Editors Association http://www.naa.org/foundation/yeaa/Index.html
Beats Reporters
Education
Education
Writers Association http://www.ewa.org/
Business
& Finance
Society of
American Business Editors and Writers http://www.sabew.org/
Association of Area Business Publications http://www.bizpubs.org/
Environment
Society of
Environmental Journalists http://www.sej.org/
International Federation of Environmental
Journalists http://www.ifej.org/
Health Care
Association
of Health Care Journalists http://www.ahcj.umn.edu/
Science
National
Association of Science Writers http://www.nasw.org/
Police &
Courts
Criminal
Justice Journalists http://www.reporters.net/cjj/
Washington
Regional
Reporters Association http://www.rra.org/
Statehouse
Association
of Capitol Reporters and Editors http://www.capitolbeat.org/
Children
& Families
Casey
Journalism Center for Children and Families
Politics
Campaign
Finance Information Center http://www.campaignfinance.org/
Sports
Associated
Press Sports Editors http://apse.dallasnews.com/
Association for Women in Sports Media http://www.awsmonline.org
Religion
Religion
Newswriters Association http://www.religionwriters.com/
Other
Specializations
Knight
Center for Specialized Journalism
http://www.knightcenter.umd.edu/
National Press Foundation http://www.nationalpress.org/
Journalism Magazines and Newsletters
American Journalism Review http://www.ajr.org/
Columbia
Journalism Review http://www.cjr.org/
Inside http://www.inside.com/default.asp?entity=localhost
Editor &
Publisher
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/index.jsp
The American
Editor (ASNE) http://www.asne.org/kiosk/editor/tae.htm
Presstime
(publishers) http://www.naa.org/presstime/index.html
Nieman Reports
http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/contents.html
Media
Studies Journal (Freedom Forum)
http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=13087
Communicator
(television)
http://www.rtnda.org/communicator/archive.shtml
The Business
Journalist
SEJournal
(environmental journalism) http://www.sej.org/pub/index.htm
Tip Sheet
(environmental, science and health journalism)
http://www.sej.org/pub/index.htm
The
Children's Beat
ASPE (sports
journalism) http://apse.dallasnews.com/archive.asp
Tracker
(campaign finance coverage)
http://www.campaignfinance.org/tracker/
News Media & the Law http://www.rcfp.org/news/mag/
First Amendment News http://www.freedomforum.org/first/
State-specific
FOI publications (NFOIC)
http://www.nfoic.org/Newsletter.html
Journal of
Mass Media Ethics
http://www.catchword.com/erlbaum/08900523/contp1-1.htm
FineLine
(ethics) http://www.journalism.indiana.edu/Ethics/
Dangerous
Assignments (international)
http://www.cpj.org/dangerous/daindex.html
Journalism
& Mass Communication Educator
http://excellent.comm.utk.edu/JMCE/
Online Journalism Review http://64.87.25.234/ojr/page_one/index.php
Black Journalism Review http://64.87.25.234/ojr/page_one/index.php
St. Louis
Journalism Review http://www.stljr.org/
Minority Journalism Organizations
National Association of Black Journalists http://www.nabj.org/
National Association of Hispanic Journalists http://www.nahj.org/
Asian American Journalism Association http://www.aaja.org/
Native American Journalists Association http://www.naja.com/
Unity
(coalition of NABJ, NAHJ, AAJA and NAJA)
http://www.unityjournalists,org
South Asian Journalists Association http://www.saja.org/
National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association http://www.nlgja.org/
National Association of Minority Media Executives http://www.namme.org/
Women & Journalism
International
Women's Media Federation http://www.iwmf.org/
Journalism
and Women Symposium http://www.jaws.org/
National Federation of Press Women http://www.nfpw.org/
Association for Women in Communications http://www.womcom.org/
Association for Women in Sports Media http://www.awsmonline.org/
WomenÕs
Institute for Freedom of the Press
http://www.wifp.org/
Newspaper Management & Leadership
American Society of Newspaper Editors http://www.asne.org/
Associated Press Managing Editors http://www.apme.com/index.shtml
American
Press Institute
http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/news.cfm?id=5
Inland Press
Association http://www.inlandpress.org/
Magazine Publishers of America http://www.magazine.org/
Newspaper Association of America http://www.naa.org/
National Newspaper Association http://www.nna.org/
Newsletter & Electronic Publishers
Association http://www.newsletters.org/
National Association of Minority Media Executives http://www.namme.org/
Journalism Research
The Freedom
Forum http://www.freedomforum.org/
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press http://people-press.org/
Committee to Protect Journalists http://www.cpj.org/
Joan
Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/presspol/index.htm
Annenberg
Washington Program in Communications Policy Studies
Freedom
Forum First Amendment Center
http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=3928
Project for Excellence in Journalism http://www.journalism.org/
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting http://www.fair.org/
Pew Center for Civic Journalism http://www.pewcenter.org/
Center for Media and Public Affairs http://www.cmpa.com/
John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation
http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp
Association
for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Neiman
Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University
http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/
Broadcast Journalism
National Association of Broadcasters http://www.nab.org/
Broadcast
Education Association http://www.beaweb.org
Shoptalk http://www.tvspy.com/shoptalk.cfm
News Blues
http://www.newsblues.com/
NewsLab http://www.newslab.org/
The Producer Page http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/producer/
Freedom of Information & Media Law
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press http://www.rcfp.org/
Freedom Forum First Amendment Center
http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=3928
Freedom of Information Center http://www.missouri.edu/~foiwww/
National Freedom of Information Coalition http://www.nfoic.org/
Communications Law
http://www.commlaw.com/FSL5CS/practiceareadescriptions/practiceareadescriptions1099.asp
Student Press Law Center http://www.splc.org/
World Press Freedom Committee http://www.wpfc.org/Introducing.htm
Journalism History
Broadcast Pioneers Library of American Broadcasting
Classic Typewriter Page http://xavier.xu.edu:8000/~polt/typewriters.html
Other Journalism Sites
Newswise
(listings of awards and fellowships)
http://www.newswise.com/
National Press Club http://npc.press.org/
Pulitzer Prize
http://www.pulitzer.org//index.html
Newspaper Guild
http://www.newsguild.org/
College & University Journalism
Student Press Law Center http://www.splc.org/
Internships & Job Opportunities http://www.journalism.umd.edu/intern/
Dow Jones Newspaper Fund
http://djnewspaperfund.dowjones.com/fund/default.asp
College Media Advisers http://www.collegemedia.org/
High School Journalism
ASNE's High School Journalism http://www.highschooljournalism.org/
Journalism Education Association http://www.jea.org/
Columbia Scholastic Press Association http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cspa/
National Scholastic Press Association http://studentpress.journ.umn.edu/
Quill & Scroll http://www.uiowa.edu/~quill-sc/