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Topics: Civic Communication
Bradenton
Herald
Community Voices: Search for A Superintendent
When the
local school superintendent retired after 11 years, the Herald
focused simmering conversations about problems in the school system
with an outreach project. The paper invited interested citizens
to the paper to talk and sent reporters to hold extended conversations
in "places where public opinion bubbles up" — including Wednesday-night
church groups and PTO meetings. Concurrently, the school board
had launched a national superintendent search rather than accept
the coach-turned-administrator suggested by the outgoing superintendent
as his successor. As the paper further detailed citizen concerns
raised in the meetings, and supplemented the initial opinion with
extensive reporting in the community, the school board established
a citizen advisory panel to nominate and interview the top candidates.
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.
Bradenton
Herald (newspaper)
102 Manatee Ave. W.
Bradenton, Fla., 34205
(813) 748-0411
Ownership
Knight Ridder Inc.
no. newsroom employees: 65
Circulation
43,000 (daily)
52,500 (Sunday)
circulation area(population)
Manatee County (150,000)
Initiative
Community Voices: Search for A Superintendent
Dates
April-October 1994
Executive
in charge
Wayne Poston, executive editor
Online clip
availability:
Dialog; America Online in Mercury Center News library.
When
and how did this initiative get started?
Basic journalistic awareness that concerns about the school system
crossed a broad segment of the area's residents sparked the initial
meetings. Interest in schools has been strong for years, as evidenced
by a record of successful school bond measures. An influx of younger
residents with children has brought down the county's average
age from 67 in 1974 to 44 today; though still heavily populated
by retirees from the Midwest, Bradenton defies what Executive
Editor Wayne Poston calls "the popular misconception that retirees
have no stake in education and don't care about it. They will
pay and they do have a stake."
What
were the goals of the initiative?
To make sure that citizens had a hand in setting the agenda for
the future of the area's schools, and "to stimulate a deliberative
conversation about this decision," said Wayne Poston.
What
did the initiative entail?
After the superintendent resigned, the paper immediately announced
plans for two community meetings to discuss the superintendent
post and issues about schools. The meetings, one in the afternoon
and one in the evening, were announced in stories and promoted
in house ads. Reporters covered the meetings, each of which drew
about 40 people from various sectors of the community, highlighting
the repeated call for a candidate search extending beyond the
current administration. To track other issues raised in the initial
sessions, staff from across the newsroom fanned out across the
community, not only attending meetings of existing community groups,
but also setting up booths at a half-dozen spots in the community
"where people go and talk about community events," including the
local waterfront festival and a large flea market. Dozens of people
stopped to talk with reporters at the booths, which carried signs
saying "Talk to us about education."
Education
reporters tracked the superintendent search process. When the
candidate field narrowed to two, a reporter went to each one's
home community and also reviewed each the candidate's doctoral
dissertation.
How
many people worked on it?
Most of the newsroom was involved at some point in the effort,
Poston said.
What
did it look like in the newspaper?
Extensive play for stories, placed on 1A and the local section
front, with substantive jumps.
Response
to the Initiative
In
the newsroom:
The effort was viewed, essentially, as another in an ongoing series
of efforts to incorporate citizen perspectives into regular news
coverage, Poston said. "Because we've had a pretty good community
connection, this was just a different spin on we what usually
do... We're dealing with non-traditional news sources, people
out there who have opinions and thoughts bubbling a little under
the surface, and we ask it to blossom and grow."
In
the community:
In meetings and in interviews at the outreach sites, area residents
were responsive to the opportunity to talk about the future of
the school system.
However,
the idea of looking outside the system for a superintendent "didn't
play with politically connected people and there was a real controversy
in the community," Poston said.
Among
political leaders:
The school board set up a citizen advisory panel for the search
process. Its members interviewed candidates and reported back
to the board members, who in turn used the reports in their own
interviews with finalists.
What's
next:
Area residents are pushing the paper to incorporate similar approaches
on an ongoing, everyday basis. When the county administrator interviewed
for another job in Ohio this fall, a "guy called out of the blue"
and urged Poston to tackle behind-the-scenes problems in county
government. Poston recalled the conversation: "He said we need
to solve some of the problems we have that won't let good people
do their best work and get the community moving as it should.
You are the only institution that can do that. You proved that
with the school superintendent and the Voices." (See separate
research report on Voices of Florida, a collaborative effort among
six newspapers covering the 1994 statewide elections.)
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.
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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