The civic journalism movement (also known as public journalism) is, according to professor David K. Perry of the University of Alabama, an attempt to abandon the notion that journalists and their audiences are spectators in political and social processes. In its place, the civic journalism movement seeks to treat readers and community members as participants. With a small but committed following, civic journalism has become as much of a philosophy as it is a practice.
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Definition
According to the now dormant Pew Center The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Research Center is a strictly non-advocacy organization, while the Pew for Civic Journalism, the practice "is both a philosophy and a set of values supported by some evolving techniques to reflect both of those in journalism Journalism is the investigation and reporting of events, issues, and trends to a broad audience. Although there is much variation within journalism, the ideal is to inform the citizenry. Besides covering organizations and institutions such as government and business, journalism also covers cultural aspects of society such as arts and entertainment. At its heart is a belief that journalism has an obligation to public life – an obligation that goes beyond just telling the news or unloading lots of facts. The way we do our journalism affects the way public life goes."[1] Leading organizations in the field such as the now dormant Pew Center The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Research Center is a strictly non-advocacy organization, while the Pew, the Kettering Foundation, the Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the Public Journalism Network assist with the spread of civic journalism across the country—one university and one paper at a time.
Main Tenets
According to The Roots of Civic Journalism by David K. Perry,[2] the practitioners of civic journalism –- who saw the movement's most drastic growth in the early 1990’s –- have always adhered to the basic tenets of public journalism:
- "Attempting to situate newspapers and journalists as active participants in community life, rather than as detached spectators."
- "Making a newspaper a forum for discussion of community issues."
- "Favoring the issues, events and problems important to ordinary people."
- "Considering public opinion through the process of discussion and debate among members of a community."
- "Attempting to use journalism to enhance social capital."
Structure
Usually formulated by a few devoted members in a newsroom A newsroom is the place where journalists—reporters, editors, and producers, along with other staffers—work to gather news to be published in a newspaper or magazine or broadcast on television, cable or radio. Some journalism organizations refer to the newsroom as the city room, civic journalism projects are typically associated with the opinion section of papers. These projects are usually found in the form of organized town meetings and adult education programs. The Public Journalism Network explains that "journalism and democracy work best when news, information and ideas flow freely; when news 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."[3]
Key Proponents of Civic Journalism
- David Mathews, president of the Kettering Foundation and a supporter of civic journalism states that, "when people are in the business of making choices, they are going to look for information to inform their choices." Mathews affirms that civic journalism is aimed at aligning journalistic practices with the ways that citizens form publics, in turn creating a more efficient and reciprocal way of communicating with readers.
- Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan. Founded in 1831, NYU is the largest private, nonprofit institution of higher education in the United States, with an enrollment of more than 40,000 students distributed across, is one of the earliest proponents of civic journalism. From 1998-99, Rosen wrote and spoke frequently about civic journalism. He published his book, What Are Journalists For? in 1999 about the early rise of the civic journalism movement.[4] Rosen writes a popular blog called PressThink.
- W. Davis "Buzz" Merritt Jr., a former editor of The Wichita Eagle The Wichita Eagle is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas. It is owned by The McClatchy Company, which publishes 31 other newspapers, including The Kansas City Star. It is the largest newspaper in Wichita, Kansas and the surrounding area, is another pioneer of civic journalism. Merritt is a key advocate for news media reforms, and published his book Public Journalism and Public Life in 1995. Merritt began exploring civic journalism after acknowledging loss of public trust in traditional journalistic values. Merritt feels that journalists need a clear understanding and appreciation for the interdependence of journalism and democracy.
Merritt's View
In a National Public Radio interview Merritt succinctly summed up civic journalism as, "a set of values about the craft that recognizes and acts upon the interdependence between journalism Journalism is the investigation and reporting of events, issues, and trends to a broad audience. Although there is much variation within journalism, the ideal is to inform the citizenry. Besides covering organizations and institutions such as government and business, journalism also covers cultural aspects of society such as arts and entertainment and democracy Democracy is a political form of government where governing power is derived from the people, either by direct referendum or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative democracy). The term comes from the Greek: δημοκρατία – (dēmokratía) "rule of the people", which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) &. It values the concerns of citizens over the needs of the media and political actors, and conceives of citizens Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities. "Active citizenship" is the philosophy that citizens should work towards the betterment of their community through economic participation, public , volunteer work, and other such efforts to improve life for all citizens. In this vein, as stakeholders in the democratic process rather than as merely victims, spectators or inevitable adversaries. As inherent participants in the process, we should do our work in ways that aid in the resolution of public problems by fostering broad citizen engagement."[5]
Case Studies
- Citizen Voices
The Citizen Voices Project was one newspaper A newspaper is a regularly scheduled publication containing news, information, and advertising. By 2007 there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a day (55 million in the U.S). The worldwide recession of 2008, combined with the rapid growth of web-based alternatives, caused a serious decline in advertising and’s attempt to facilitate civic conversation within the diverse city of Philadelphia Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States. Citizen Voices came in to effect in 1999, during a very close mayoral election between a black democrat The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. It is one of the world's oldest political parties and boasts the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the United and a white republican The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. The party's platform is generally considered right of center. Citizen Voices was modeled on the National Issues Forum and was intended to amplify minority voices not frequently acknowledged in the political realm. Forums were held throughout the city, facilitating deliberation of the most important issues facing citizens: jobs, neighborhoods, public safety, and reforming city hall. Essays written by Citizen Voices participants were published in the commentary pages of The Philadelphia Inquirer The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States. Owned by the local group, while the editorial board framed its coverage of the campaign around the five designated issues. While the Citizen Voices Project did not increase voter turnout, it has given journalists a new perspective on how to cover urban political issues.
- Front Porch Forum
In Seattle, the Front Porch Forum was introduced in 1994 through a partnership between The Seattle Times The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, USA. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. Since the 2009 demise of the printed version of rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, it is the area's only major daily print newspaper newspaper, KUOW-FM KUOW-FM 94.9 is a National Public Radio affiliate radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is the second-most listened-to radio station in the Seattle/Tacoma media market and the most listened-to news radio station in the state. It is a service of the University of Washington radio station and the Pew Center The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Research Center is a strictly non-advocacy organization, while the Pew for Civic Journalism. The mission of the Front Porch Forum was to strengthen communities through news coverage that focuses on citizens’ concerns, encourages civic participation, improves public deliberation and reconnects citizens, candidates and reporters to community life. Over the course of 5 ½ years, The Seattle Times The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, USA. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. Since the 2009 demise of the printed version of rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, it is the area's only major daily print newspaper and KUOW-FM KUOW-FM 94.9 is a National Public Radio affiliate radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is the second-most listened-to radio station in the Seattle/Tacoma media market and the most listened-to news radio station in the state. It is a service of the University of Washington featured a series of stories highlighting issues that affect Seattle residents, and encouraged readers' participation.
See also
References
- ^ Pew Center for Civic Journalism, "Doing Civic Journalism," at http://www.pewcenter.org/doingcj/, accessed Dec. 25, 2008
- ^ David K. Perry, Roots of Civic Journalism: Darwin, Dewey, and Mead. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003.
- ^ Public Journalism Network, 2003. “A Declaration for Public Journalism,” (25 January), at http://www.pjnet.org/charter.shtml, accessed Dec. 25, 2008
- ^ Jay Rosen. What Are Journalists For? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999.
- ^ Jeffrey A. Dvorkin. 2001. "Can Public Radio Journalism Be Re-Invented?" National Public Radio interview with W. Davis "Buzz" Merritt Jr. (Dec. 30) at http://www.npr.org/yourturn/ombudsman/2001/010705.html, accessed Dec. 25, 2008
External links
- Pew Center for Civic Journalism
- Kettering Foundation
- Jay Rosen of New York University
- Citizen Voices
- Public Journalism Network
- Citizen/Public Journalism Bibliography
Categories: Journalism genres
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Sun, 06 Jun 2010 04:24:50 GMT+00:00
Florida Times-Union As " civic journalism ," this project is intended to help spur results. The stakes could not be higher. While it's true that Duval County has some outstanding ...
