| Topics: Civic Communication Cape Cod News
Cape Cod Agenda After eliciting local residents' top concerns in a mail-in ballot early in the year, the Cape Cod Times published results from more than 700 citizens and held four public meetings across the cape, attended by more than 600 people. Meeting discussions centered on actions officeholders and policy makers should take on five top issues. The paper plans to build the concerns raised into regular government coverage, and to establish new beats if necessary to adequately address the issues raised by citizens. 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. Cape Cod Times (newspaper)
319 Main Street
Hyannis, Mass., 02601
(508) 775-1200 Ownership
Ottaway Newspapers group
No. newsroom employees: 70 Circulation
50,000 (daily)
60,000 (Sunday)
Circulation area(population)
Barnstable County (200,000) Initiative
Cape Cod Agenda Dates
January 1994-present Executive in charge
Timothy White, managing editor When and how did this initiative get started?
Initially, as an effort to reactivate a citizens panel established in 1992 as part of the paper's revamped election coverage. What are the goals of the initiative?
"To get citizens more involved in looking at issues and at what's going on around here," said Managing Editor Tim White. What does the initiative entail?
In early 1994, about 700 people returned a full-page Sunday section front ballot inviting area residents to rank topics of greatest concern, and to write in their own. (The 20 to 30 choices offered on the ballot were drawn from a brainstorming meeting among newsroom staffers and a dozen-member citizen panel.) After tabulating responses, the paper published a list of key concerns—including the environment, jobs, crime, and infrastructure—and organized four public meetings around Cape Cod to discuss these issues. More than 600 people attended the meetings, each of which opened with commentary by local leaders. (Former U.S. Sen. Paul Tsongas was the speaker at the first meeting.) Those present were then invited to discuss and debate "what policy makers and public officials ought to be doing." How many people are working on it?
A college newsroom intern tabulated responses, White was in charge of the project, and Senior Staff Writer Peggy Eastman developed most stories. What does it look like in the newspaper?
"We covered the daylights out of this," White said. 1A promotion and coverage of issues meetings. Sunday section front for the initial ballot. Response to the Initiative In the newsroom:
Reaction is "mixed from 'Gosh what a great idea' to 'What the hell is this weird stuff?' " White said. "You get funny looks from the young journalists who want everything to be hyper-traditional. The older journalists are more disgusted with traditional journalism." The paper's senior staff writer, age 61, is "wildly enthusiastic," White said. "Like a lot of us, she's looking for ways to better connect with the community, to make the newspaper the agenda setter, to make the paper a tool for change in the community—not from the top down, but rather to be the institution that invites the public in. She really buys into that." While the majority of the newsroom staff says 'This is interesting, this is nice, I'm glad we're doing it,' we need to get more people more active in the process," White said. Elements incorporated into regular newsroom routines and/or culture:
The paper plans to incorporate the concerns raised in the Cape Cod Agenda process into regular beats; if they don't fit established beats, White said, new ones will be created. In the community:
Significant numbers turned out for meetings and sent in comments. One set of responses surprised—and somewhat dismayed—the news staff: Citizens called to say "Thanks for not getting in the way" when the paper ran unedited transcripts of citizen conversations with electoral candidates. Among political leaders:
Relatively little direct reaction or commentary, but the meetings drew a number of local politicians, many of whom attended forums both inside and outside their own districts. Though officeholders were not specifically invited to the sessions, "This seemed to hold a lot of genuine interest for them, especially the state reps, but real people dominated the meetings, not pols," White said. White plans to incorporate issues and directions raised at the meetings into regular government coverage, involving more reporters and assignment editors involved in process. He also wants to get citizens more actively involved in a yet-to-be-determined way. Case study written by Lisa Austin, Assistant Director of the Project on Public Life and the Press, September 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 Back to Communication Index | 
