| Topics: Civic Communication Chicago Sun Times
Chicago Public Schools: At the Crossroads The Sun-Times dispensed with its traditional aloofness to participate in a schools "summit" in collaboration with the Chicago PBS affiliate and local foundations. The paper provided front-page coverage for three days, including background features and "what to watch for" guides. 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. Chicago Sun Times (newspaper)
401 N. Wabash Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
312-321-2404
Fax 312-321-1696 Ownership
Chicago Sun Times Inc. Circulation
357, 000 (daily)
531, 000 (Sunday)
Circulation Area; population
Chicago and environs; 2.7 million Initiative
Chicago Public Schools: At the Crossroads Dates
March 1993 Lead Editor
Dennis A. Britton, Senior VP, Editor When and how did this initiative get started?
Editor Dennis Britton had been looking for "opportunities to get involved" in the community. He was approached by WTTW, the local PBS affiliate, and agreed to collaborate. Other partners were the Chicago Community Trust, and the Joyce, Wieboldt, Spencer and MacArthur Foundations. What were the goals of the initiative?
The goals of the summit were to gather every major stakeholder in the public schools together for a televised discussion that might head off disaster in a system anticipating a $300 million budget shortfall, facing upcoming union negotiations, and searching for a new superintendent. The purpose of the Sun-Times involvement was to help make the summit work by drawing attention to the plight of the schools, and offering readers the background and information they would need to feel engaged in the discussion. A secondary goal was to test Britton's conviction that community involvement, including "alliances" with other organizations, could work without violating the principles and values of good journalism. What did the initiative entail?
The Sun-Times gave extensive coverage to the problems facing the schools, profiled the major players in the summit, provided a glossary of key terms viewers would hear, highlighted important facts and figures in boxes and graphs, listed the schedule of topics at the summit, and examined how readers and kids see the problems of the schools. The summit included the governor, the mayor, the heads of the school board and teachers' union, parents, teachers, principals, students and national experts. It was broadcast live on WTTW and included three sessions, each with 15 discussants and a moderator. The topics were signs of progress in the city schools, the leadership necessary to reform the system, and financing issues. The event was simulcast on WBBM-AM, the city's all-news radio station, and on local Spanish-language radio and TV. It was rebroadcast in prime time by WTTW the following week. How many people worked on it?
Six reporters under the coordination of the chief education reporter, plus several researchers, overseen by Britton. What does it look like in the newspaper?
The front-page plus three inside pages were given over to the project the day before the summit; key players and terms were provided on summit day; analysis and interviews with participants followed on the day after. Response to the Initiative In the newsroom:
Britton says, "The stodgy ones said I was crossing the line. I felt a bit chastened at first, but then I realized that while we've got First Amendment protection we also have obligations. So I said 'to hell with' the resistance." Elements incorporated into regular newsroom routines and/or culture:
The newsroom is on notice that what Britton calls "involvement" will continue. "There's not a long line backing me up," he admits. "But our society urgently needs good urban newspapers committed to making a difference in the community." In the community:
Appreciative letters. No significant complaints. Among political leaders:
The mayor and governor felt the summit was important enough to participate. Overall lessons - successes and failures:
Britton is aware that he failed to win wholehearted newsroom support, but the paper's leadership is determined to continue with "alliances" that would benefit the community without compromising journalistic values. "I'm fully aware of the old shibboleth about not getting involved. It's tattooed inside my arm. But this is so shortsighted, for me and journalism. I felt I had more to offer. Here we are, above average in intelligence and we are not fully participating in society when we act as journalists."
- RCN, 11/93 Update The Sun-Times continues to make itself the best source in the city for education coverage. There are now three full-time education writers and an education editor. They pride themselves at having surpassed the competition, the Tribune. In his support for the education initiatives, Editor Dennis Britton gives indication of support for the community relevance of this intensified coverage, but it is by no means a project in public journalism. There is a strong tradition of so-called "controversy" journalism in Chicago newspapering generally, and at the Sun-Times, and these patterns do not yield just because a lead reporter (like Maribeth Vander Weele) carries out bold reporting on a beat that constantly uncovers entrenched corruption and bureaucratic bungling. Absent strong executive leadership, this pattern is not likely to change at the Sun-Times. As it stands, the education reporters do their own reader-advisory "grouping" with the public, with teachers and principals. But, at this time, there is no general reform of the culture of the newsroom at the Sun-Times.
- RCN, 5/94 More Information Project on Public Life and the Press
New York University
Department of Journalism
10 Washington Pl.
New York, NY 10003
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