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Civic Communication
Fort
Wayne News-Sentinel
The Neighborhood Project
Since 1992,
the News-Sentinel has pledged to work for at least a year with
a neighborhood association on efforts that require no money and
no work. Five editors meet quarterly with area residents and monthly
with neighborhood association officials, brainstorming on projects,
discussing ways to involve other community agencies and organizing
informational meetings for officials who might help targeted efforts.
In the second year, the paper also organized a bus tour of the
targeted area for public officials including city council members,
heads of key agencies such as the police department and code enforcement,
state representatives and members of Congress. Reporters cover
neighborhood meetings, track significant initiatives in the area
and field story ideas that apply more broadly to the city as a
whole.
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.
Fort
Wayne News-Sentinel (newspaper)
600 W. Main St, P.O. Box 102
Fort Wayne, IN 46801-1002
(219) 461-8222 (phone)
(219) 461-8649 (fax)
Ownership
Knight Ridder Inc.
No. newsroom employees: 70
Circulation
55,000 (daily)
circulation area(population)
Fort Wayne and northeastern Indiana (173,700)
Initiative
The Neighborhood Project
Dates
Ongoing since 1992
Lead
editor
Joseph Weiler, Executive Editor
When
and how did this initiative get started?
The paper's editorial-page editor suggested the News-Sentinel
follow one neighborhood for a year; the idea came in response
to the failure of 1991 efforts by residents of a drug-plagued
neighborhood who organized to hold weekly crack-house protests.
While both public officials and the media initially turned out
in droves, the effort waned as attention for it dwindled. The
initiative was moribund when the paper checked on it six months
after the first protests.
What
are the goals of the initiative?
To strengthen both neighborhoods and the paper's understanding
of how to cover them.
What
does the initiative entail?
In 1992, the paper announced the project, issued a call for interested
neighborhoods, and set simple ground rules: The paper donates
neither money nor work for area projects. After a selection process
where representatives of the neighborhoods say how they think
the paper could help, the paper's team holds an initial meeting
in the area, inviting all interested residents to discuss their
goals for the coming year. Five editors then meet monthly for
an hour at the newspaper with neighborhood leaders. Three more
neighborhood-wide meetings are held through the year. Reporters
cover the area-wide meetings and follow up with stories on subsequent
activities by residents.
Specific
work has varied in the two neighborhoods targeted so far. In one,
residents wanted to improve the image of the area elementary school.
The paper and the neighborhood association cosponsored a block
party to welcome a new principal, which was heavily promoted in
house ads in the Neighbors section, and covered in news sections.
The paper and the neighborhood association also teamed up to sponsor
an informational meeting about establishing a community center,
a long-time neighborhood goal. At the meeting, which included
representatives from area groups looking for places to hold activities,
school-system representatives said they were quietly looking for
six target sites for community centers; the school was selected
as a pilot.
In the second
neighborhood, where residents targeted higher home-ownership rates
as a goal, the paper and the association held an information session
with bankers, government officials and redevelopment experts.
The association subsequently bought and fixed up three homes in
the area; its president personally has purchased, improved and
marketed two others.
How
many people are working on it?
Six: the executive editor, managing editor, metro editor, editorial-page
editor, neighbors section editor, all of whom are involved with
the selection process and neighborhood meetings, and one reporter
designated to cover the meetings and the neighborhood.
What
does it look like in the newspaper?
The Neighbors section runs stories about quarterly meetings in
the neighborhood, along with updates on new efforts and activities
in the area. Other stories detail citywide problems and/or remedies
discovered through the paper's work with the neighborhood. For
example, when residents of the first area targeted by the paper
complained about trouble getting sewer lines fixed, the paper
developed a piece on the process by which the city selects areas
for repair. Similarly, the paper has run a special tab on how
to protect your home and neighborhood.
While more
stories come out of the neighborhood targeted by the paper, "I
don't think it's overkill that the average citizen would notice,"
Weiler said. The first neighborhood was mentioned in the paper
three times the year before the project, and 27 times in the year
while the paper worked with residents there. Response
to the Initiative
In
the newsroom:
Initial skepticism -- mostly centered around questions of equity:
"The old idea if you do for one, you must do for all" -- has tempered
over time. "Even if there is still skepticism, it's an accepting
sort," Weiler said. " (Skeptics in the newsroom say) 'I don't
think this is right but maybe it will work.' It's not a flash
point kind of issue."
In
the community:
Dramatic increases in neighborhood participation. In one area
where just six to ten people were actively involved in the neighborhood
association, turnout for meetings has nearly trebled, and new
leaders have been elected. Residents of targeted neighborhoods
say they will benefit from the project for years to come, a response
that surprised Weiler.
The Leadership
Fort Wayne project has picked up on the paper's effort by adopting
a neighborhood itself. The 40 members of the leadership class
will work with an area where the neighborhood association is defunct;
they have asked the paper to offer a few initial tips on the work.
Among
political leaders:
Because the paper is paying more attention to a given neighborhood,
public officials do, too. For example, police were initially unresponsive
to repeated complaints about drug traffic in the second area the
paper worked with, telling residents they already were aware of
the problem. After the area was targeted by the paper, the crack
house in question was closed by police. In another case, a sidewalk-repair
project that had been dropped half-finished was completed after
the paper organized a bus tour of the neighborhood for public
officials. "We didn't editorialize for it, but things start to
happen," Weiler said.
Lessons:
Time/cost effectiveness: The project has cost the paper nothing
and entailed little staff time. Editors involved meet with groups
from the neighborhood once a month for an hour at news offices,
and hold larger community meetings four times a year. "It's not
the time commitment," Weiler said. "They get so pumped up by having
to come talk to us. We don't quite understand it, but psychologically
it pumps them just to have us there."
Teaching
government-contact strategies: Residents in each neighborhood
initially called Weiler to ask that he contact a government agency
about problems, but "what happened by the end of the year was
a new connectedness," Weiler said. Residents themselves learned
who to contact, how to make an effective approach and how to follow
through.
Editorial
perceptions vs. community perceptions: After the paper profiled
problems with a crack house in one of the newspapers, editors
who commented on the bravery of citizens who protested it were
surprised to garner an irate reaction from neighborhood residents.
"They thought we had just run down their neighborhood in front
of the public," Weiler said. "It never occurred to us. At least
we're starting to understand how we're perceived and why."
What's
next:
The paper plans to start the selection process for another neighborhood
in spring 1995.
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
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