| Topics: Civic Communication The Bremerton Sun The Bremerton Sun has organized a series of civic journalism projects on the issues of economic diversification, growth management, and open space preservation. A theme running through all three case studies is the newspaper's focus on facilitating and supporting citizen and community involvement in public decision-making processes. Case studies plus. Index Economic Diversification
Where Do We Grow From Here
Open Space Contents Economic Diversification Economic Development, Economic Diversification 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. After national announcement of 1993 military base-closing recommendations prefigured a bleak local economic future in the wake of Navy spending cuts, Sun staffers teamed up with an unusually dynamic Chamber of Commerce president and younger members of a lethargic economic development commission to plan a community summit on economic diversification. Cosponsored by the Sun and the local electric utility, the April 1993 summit drew about 300 invited participants. Background material for the summit was drawn from the Sun, primarily from two series: one analyzing the local economy, one looking at other communities' diversification efforts. Since the summit, about 150 volunteers have worked on 10 subcommittees of a community task force. The paper tracks stories under the logo "The Cry to Diversify." Bremerton Sun (newspaper)
PO Box 259
Bremerton WA 98310
(206) 377-3711 (phone)
(206) 792-9201 (Phillips)
(206) 479-7681 (fax) Ownership:
Scripps-Howard
No. newsroom employees: 41.5 FTE Circulation:
40,000 (daily)
41,500 (Sunday)
Circulation area (pop.)
Western Puget Sound: Kitsap and part of Mason and Jefferson Cos. (250,000) Initiative
Economic Diversification Dates:
Ongoing since February 1993 Lead Editor:
Jeff Brody Executive Editor:
Mike Phillips When and how did this initiative get started?
Phillips became involved in summit planning after a related editorial appeared. Phone calls from two Chamber of Commerce officials and an educator alerted him to summit preparations already under way; Phillips was invited to join and agreed to sign the paper on as a cosponsor. What were the goals of the initiative?
- Minimize chances of any save-our-base movement or undue enthusiasm for tourism as economic alternatives, both of which are regarded as illusory - if superficially appealing - solutions. - Raise community expectations for the economic future to high-reward competition on the Pacific Rim. - Overcome NIMBY problems and development-environment clashes by building a broad coalition. - Match economic development efforts to areaŐs resources: miles of deep salt water shoreline, high-tech skills in areas like computer engineering, sonar, radar, ultra-precision milling, hazardous materials handling, nuclear engineering, marine architecture. - Raise community awareness of needs required to support economic diversification: public-private technology sharing, higher education enhancements, communications infrastructure, better industrial zoning, more aggressive marketing. How many people worked on it?
At the newspaper, a half-dozen reporters and editors and a half-dozen business-side managers were involved in coverage and in the summit itself. The Sun's general manager and advertising director served on the 20-person summit planning committee. Phillips was a lead speaker. The paper covered the event as it would others. What did it look like in the newspaper?
Phillips kicked off news coverage with a column arguing for economic diversification and detailing actions that could make it happen. The newsroom produced two five-part series in the weeks leading up to the summit. Follow-up stories on economic development alternatives continue. Response to the Initiative In the newsroom:
Some minor resentment that the newspaper coordinated news coverage with the summit, but, Phillips said, generally pride in the quality of the paper's work. In the community:
Some government and established business leaders were miffed that they were bypassed. Great appreciation among women, minorities, labor people, young people, social service folks and educators that they were included. They remain the most energetic and creative of the volunteers. Among political leaders:
Considerable defensiveness at the local level; local-level officials have essentially been left behind. The local congressional and legislative delegations have decided "this is a bandwagon they want to be on," Phillips said. Did any outside group pick up the newspaper's initiative and carry it further?
A local economic-development team has committed itself to recruiting new business, local schools have agreed to work more closely with business and the U.S. Navy has for the first time opened up a top-secret base, sharing technology there with other firms. Contacts: Kitsap County Economic Development Commission: Earle Smith, executive director, Mike Hougan, chair. (206) 377-9499. Puget Power, the local utility company, whose approach to community service includes providing expert outside facilitators for town halls, summits, etc. (206) 377-3931 Overall lessons - successes and failures:
Successes:
The community's leadership structure has been broadened significantly, Phillips said The community clearly is pointed now at a set of high-standard economic goals and is less psychologically dependent on the naval installations, he said. Failures:
No failures, but not every task force coming out of the summit is doing a good job, according to Phillips. At a community update meeting in November 1993, only six of the ten had real progress to report. What's next:
A serious and immediate hurdle to economic diversification is a shortage of land pre-zoned for light industrial use. Such zoning in the past has been handled case-by-case and always has been controversial. Many businesses donŐt want to go through that. So the community must make some decisions about business park zoning. The Sun is considering leading a community discussion and planning exercise on this issue that would be a scaled-down version of the open space initiative. Case study written by Lisa Austin, Assistant Director of the Project on Public Life and the Press, October 1993. Lisa is also a member of the CPN Journalism editorial team. Revision of March 1994 based on written update by Mike Phillips. 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 Index Economic Diversification
Where Do We Grow From Here
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