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Topics:
Civic Communication
Akron
Beacon Journal,
The Beacon-Journal's
five-part project "A Question of Race" won the Pulitzer Prize
for public service in April 1994. Reporting centered around discussions
in focus groups among blacks and whites, convened by the newspaper,
conducted by independent research contractors, and observed by
reporters. The groups were questioned about the paper's analyses
of quantitative data that showed continuing disparities between
blacks and whites. During the series, the newspaper invited area
organizations to volunteer to establish projects addressing race
relations; publisher John Dotson then hired two facilitators to
direct planning efforts among the groups. With the last part of
the series, the paper invited readers to return a coupon on which
they pledged to fight racism in 1994. The names of 22,000 respondents,
about half of whom came from area schools, were published in a
special supplement. Planning forums among organizational volunteers
began in November 1993. By mid 1994, an estimated 10,000 area
residents were involved in some kind of effort to work on race
relations in the area.
A
Question of Color
A
case study by Project
on Public Life and the Press
New York University
Department of Journalism
10 Washington Pl.
New York, NY 10003
(212) 998-3793
©
Project on Public Life and the Press,1994
The Project is funded by a grant from the John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation.
Akron
Beacon Journal (newspaper)
44 E. Exchange St.
P.O. Box 640
Akron, OH 44309-0640
(216) 996-3000 (phone)
(216) 376-9235 (fax)
Ownership
Knight-Ridder Inc.
No. newsroom employees: 155
Circulation
160,000 (daily)
226, 000 (Sunday)
Circulation Area(population)
Summit County and surrounding five counties (872,500)
Initiative
A Question of Color (stories, 1993). Coming Together (publisher's
initiative, 1993/1994)
Dates
Five publications dates throughout 1993, beginning Feb. 28.
Lead
Editor
Bob Paynter
Executive Editor
Dale Allen
When
and how did this initiative get started?
Planned on the heels of the Rodney King trial, the series first
was published during Black History Month and coincided with the
30th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream"
speech.
What
are the goals of the initiative?
The reporting project was an effort to move the community beyond
previous conversations on race, and to ask why notable gaps still
exist in quantifiable measures of perceptions about relations
between black and white, such as wages, housing and educational
opportunities. The publisher's initiative was designed to involve
Akron-area citizens in specific efforts to bridge racial gaps.
What
does the initiative entail?
The reporting project focused on five topics: an overview, housing,
economic opportunity, education and crime. Three days of stories
within each part were centered around discussions among blacks
and whites in focus groups convened by the newspaper, conducted
by independent research contractors, and observed by reporters.
Reports were supplemented by charts detailing differences among
black and whites as reflected in databases from the U.S. Census
Bureau, FBI, state and local education agencies, county tax authorities
and local criminal justice agencies. A five-question poll, conducted
by the University of Akron and accurate to within 4 percentage
points, offered a barometer of racial attitudes. A unique aspect
of the initiative: A story on the last day of the series discussed
the dramatically different attitudes about crime coverage reflected
in focus groups with black and white Beacon Journal reporters.
How
many people are working on it?
Twenty-nine on the reporting project, plus contract research staff.
Two full-time facilitators - a retired lay clergyman and a retired
school principal, one black, one white - coordinate community
efforts. About 50 staffers from across the building lead small-group
sessions at forums where organizations convene to establish long-term
plans and set goals. About half the volunteers are from the newsroom.
What
does it look like in the newspaper?
Series always got big play on 1A and jumped inside the A section.
As an indication of commitment to the series, it got almost three
times more 1A space than stories from Waco on the day after federal
agents launched their first raid on the Branch Davidian compound.
Stories generally ran at least 70 inches, with one or two stories
per day supplemented by charts and some photos. Sidebars with
some installments explained how to file a housing discrimination
complaint. Beginning with the second installment of the series,
in May, the paper began running a "What Can We Do?" coupon inviting
area civic groups, religious organizations and schools to suggest
projects they would undertake to improve area race relations.
The December installments featured the 1A coupon inviting people
to make a New Year's resolution to fight discrimination. Names
of the 22,000 people who returned the coupon were printed in a
special section in January. Forums where community groups meet
to brainstorm potential solutions are covered by the news staff.
Response
to the Initiative
In
the newsroom:
Focus groups showed vast disagreement between black and white
reporters asked to discuss their attitudes about the paper's own
crime coverage. The discussions were held after citizens in focus
groups repeatedly mentioned the role crime coverage played in
shaping racial perceptions. "It shows a couple of things," Managing
Editor Glen Guzzo said of the staff's own divergence. "How little
agreement there is even in our own newsroom; we're like the rest
of the community in our various points of view. It's also quite
instructive to those out there who think the media is a conspiracy
- we don't even have agreement in our own newsroom."
More experienced
staffers noted that the series seemed to be a return to traditional
journalistic practice - working with and in the community. One
long-time reporter assigned to cover an organizations forum told
Guzzo, "It was wonderful that the Beacon Journal was being involved
in the community, as in the days of Jack Knight and his successors."
Guzzo thinks public journalism reflects a healthy middle ground.
"When we started to go the other way, not wanting to have such
a relationship where the Beacon Journal ran the town, the pendulum
swung too far. It didn ' t work to the benefit of the community
or the newspaper."
In
the community:
The first call for organizations to launch projects drew 80 responses.
By February 1994, more than 300 groups were involved. Under direction
from two facilitators hired by the Beacon Journal, plans were
underway to develop a common umbrella - a slogan, community t-shirts,
etc. - and a unified direction. Organizations are involved at
a range of levels, including groups of black and white friends
who team up to socialize together for the first time.
What's
next:
Once community organizations agree on a common approach and direction,
they will begin developing specific action plans. A meeting in
February was a "report back" from leaders of small-group sessions
at the organizations forums. At the next meeting, in May, the
paper's facilitators will reconvene the full forum .
Case study
written by Lisa Austin, Assistant Director of the Project on Public
Life and the Press, March 1994. Lisa is also a member of the CPN
Journalism editorial team.
Update
Together,
the paper's facilitators estimate between 10,000 and 15,000 people
are involved in some way with the efforts launched by the community
groups, who are moving forward around the theme of developing
interpersonal relationships to improve race relations in Akron.
The May event drew nearly 150 groups who set up booths to show
what they are doing and to invite citizens to participate; about
500 people attended.
The most
visible success to date involves a partnership between a black
and a white church with combined membership of about 1,500 people.
Together, they have sponsored a community hunger walk, developed
monthly Bible studies that involve members of both churches and
are currently planning a community-wide family concert. Though
the Akron Area Association of Churches had promoted such pairing
of congregations in the past, these two came together only through
the work of the newspaper. Several other churches also have developed
partnerships, and for the first time representatives of the Black
Muslim and Bahai religions have joined the association of churches.
Another
major effort involves the staff of a community museum showcasing
the former home of the founder of Goodyear Tire Co. Located in
an all-white neighborhood, the museum's 25-member staff includes
only two minorities, both in the maintenance department, and the
museum has been denied grants in the past for its failure to develop
a diverse audience. After becoming involved with the paper's community
effort, the museum staff formed a diversity task force to develop
strategies that make minorities feel welcome in the museum; among
its first efforts was a grant application to develop diversity
training for staff and to build minority audiences.
Though community
groups have been somewhat resistant to developing their own agenda,
asking the facilitators for more help, facilitators Richard Averitte
and Bill Fisher say they believe the open process of coming to
a jointly developed, community-based effort is crucial to the
effort's success.
-LA, 7/94
More
Information
Project
on Public Life and the Press
New York University
Department of Journalism
10 Washington Pl.
New York, NY 10003
(212) 998-3793
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