| Topics: Civic Communication NPR
Election Project In a pilot project to develop a reporting model for the 1996 presidential race, more than 90 NPR affiliates teamed up on 1994 elections coverage, emphasizing the process of voters thinking through the issues and making up their minds. In Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle and Wichita, local NPR staff worked with daily newspapers on issues polling and systematic issues reporting and to develop joint deliberative forums, hotlines and citizen panels. In other cities where partnerships were less formal, NPR affiliates sponsored forums with papers or other community groups; collaborated with newspapers on election reporting; and/or shared election-related information on an NPR-sponsored computer bulletin board. Participating journalists attended training sessions developed jointly by NPR and the Kettering Foundation, covering citizen forums, the principles of deliberative civic life, and the internal basics of the election project itself. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, also a collaborator on the project, is assisting in its design and implementation. The project is funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. 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. National Public Radio affiliates with
- Boston Globe
- San Francisco Chronicle
- Dallas Morning News
- Wichita Eagle
- Seattle Times Jude Doherty
National Public Radio
Chief Editor, Election Project
2025 M. Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 414-2031 (Judy Doherty)
(202) 414-3026 (fax) Initiative
Election project Dates
January-November 1994 Lead Editor
Jude Doherty, election project editor Executive in charge
John Dinges, editorial director When and how did this initiative get started?
According to an October 1993 NPR memo to member stations, "The project builds on NPR's 1992 election coverage, which stressed comprehensive issues reporting, voter views and reactions, reporting on the role of the media, and 'citizen commentators,' while de-emphasizing reporting on horse-race aspects such as polls, negative campaigning and events orchestrated by candidates." Poynter also collaborated on the Charlotte Observer's 1992 election coverage, which will serve as a model for the NPR initiative. What are the goals of the initiative?
"To develop approaches to political coverage that will reconnect voters and candidates on the one hand and citizens and the media on the other," the NPR memo stated. Another goal: to strengthen reporting at member stations and to create closer links between those staffs and their Washington counterparts. What does the initiative entail?
Coordinated training and communication
In January and February 1994, nearly 70 representatives from NPR stations and two dozen print journalists attended one of four training sessions conducted regionally by the Kettering Foundation and NPR's coordinating editors . Participants went through a "National Issues Forum" session, discussing an issue in depth with peers to get a sense of how people sort out public issues together to reach a broad consensus. In August, NPR established an Internet listserve, allowing partners with Internet access to trade ideas, exchange updates and elicit help with stories. Local initiatives: - Boston: "The People's Choice": (Boston Globe, WBZ-TV, WBUR-FM). Coverage began after a late spring issues poll, with a small sampling of respondents serving as focus group to discuss issues in depth with representatives from the paper and WBUR. The Globe asked its citizens' panel to track all elections coverage and raise questions for followups with candidates; shortly after coverage began in June, the rival Boston Herald announced the establishment of its own citizen panel, playing a similar role. In October, the two papers broke precedent and cosponsored the two U.S. Senate forums in which both Ted Kennedy and Milton Romney made their only joint broadcast appearances. In the second of the two, 12 citizens (from each paper's citizens' panels) queried the candidates in a discussion broadcast live statewide on TV and on NPR affiliates, and carried nationally by C-Span. The Globe and WBUR closely coordinated kickoff coverage, with the paper's 1A Sunday coverage complemented by reports on WBUR's Boston Sunday Morning, both beginning June 12. During that launch week, both partners ran additional stories, with WBUR also offering a two-hour talk show on the first issue covered, crime. The NBC affiliate, owned by the Globe, "has not been as involved as we might have hoped," said Globe Assistant Managing Editor Walter Robinson. For example, the station aired a conversation between citizens and U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy on a Sunday morning, so many voters missed the exchange in which Kennedy responded angrily, asking citizens "what gave them the right" to question him. However, WBZ consistently provided the promotion and broad reach that made citizens aware of the coverage effort. (Contacts: Walter Robinson, Boston Globe; Sam Fleming, WBUR.) - Dallas: Texans Talk: The People's Agenda: (Dallas Morning News, KERA-FM and KERA-TV). Tracking the findings of a February statewide issues poll, KERA held and broadcast citizen forums to discuss the top concerns named in the survey; participants were poll respondents from the Dallas area The paper covered the discussions, reporting them in major Sunday stories, and took key questions to candidates for published responses. Since Labor Day, the paper has integrated stories about major issues with more traditional pieces on candidate strategies and standing; the first such piece detailed the concerns of voters in a rural community where road conditions were a top concern - reporters asked gubernatorial candidates to address the issue for the first time in the campaign. Subsequent stories have used one family's concerns to track through a specific issue. KERA has continued to broadcast discussions with voters and to focus elections coverage around issues. Both media elicited questions for candidates from citizens throughout the campaign. The partners teamed up to sponsor the only gubernatorial candidate forum in which both contenders appeared. Twenty citizens, drawn from previous KERA forums, shared the stage and the questioning with four reporters. (Contacts: Morning News: Mark Edgar; KERA: Marla Crockett, Jeff McCrehan) - San Francisco: Voice of the Voter: (San Francisco Chronicle, KQED-FM, KRON-TV) Efforts began with a poll of Bay Area residents, released in March, from which a group of 300 project participants was drawn. In March, partners began tri-weekly series on issues-related stories; began running weekly features with candidates answering citizen questions; and set up voice mail In May, a jointly sponsored Democratic gubernatorial debate was the only such event attended by all three Democratic candidates. NPR national reporter Linda Wertheimer visited San Francisco to convene a focus group for a national story about elections trends, voter concerns and economic issues. Overall, the partnerships can be characterized by a remark made by Dan Rosenheim, managing editor at the San Francisco Chronicle: "If I get some type of scoop, I'm not going to share it with (the broadcast partners), but we can still plan our coverage together and share resources." (Contacts: San Francisco Chronicle, Dan Rosenheim) - Seattle: Front Porch Forum: (Seattle Times, KUOW-FM, KPLU-FM [Tacoma]). After four spring focus groups across the state, the initiative kicked off in the Times on May 22 with a 1A-box and editor's explanation; the piece also highlighted radio programming and offered contact phones and addresses for the media partners. Summer coverage centered on results from a broad-ranging May poll, with questions influenced by focus-group conversations. It asked citizens about political alienation, attitudes about the media and to top concerns ("In thinking about yourself and your household, what are some things that are important to you?" "In your opinion, what would you most like to see happen in your community in the next five years?") The Times ran weekly takeouts during July on the top issues named, while NPR affiliates developed similar stories and also broadcast four one-hour forums, with poll respondents as participants. (In one case, participants were solicited from station listeners.) When the election season heated up after Labor Day, the partners focused on the U.S. Senate race. The Times highlighted candidate stands on the issues named in the poll, and devoted a full open page weekly to answering two- to three-dozen questions received weekly from readers. In late October, the partners co-sponsored the only post-primary conversations in which both senate candidates appeared; they were quizzed by citizens who had sent in questions and participated in on-air forums. The paper ran a full transcript the day after the taped forum was aired. (Contacts: Seattle Times, Carole Carmichael; KUOW; KPLU, Mike Marcotte) - Wichita: Your Vote Counts: (Wichita Eagle, KMUW-FM and three other Kansas public radio affiliates). Results of a May poll of 603 Kansans led to an increase in coverage centered around leadership and government trust issues, after the survey asked respondents to name the biggest "problems" facing the state before they were asked about the top "issues." Before the August gubernatorial primary, the partners held two citizen forums, focusing on crime and on unresponsive government. The eight panelists were drawn from survey respondents who expressed a special interest in these issues. Two more two-hour forums were held after Labor Day - including one in late October - featuring gubernatorial candidates and citizens. The forums were co-moderated by KMUW News Director Gordon Basham and the Eagle's Jon Roe, who is assigned to the public journalism beat. The conversations were taped, edited and broadcast statewide; the paper ran stories on them. The Eagle 's coverage also a weekly "Ask the Candidates" column, featuring questions from citizens; this is the only new feature developed for this year's election coverage, which in many of its elements repeats efforts pioneered in Wichita in the 1990 gubernatorial campaign. (Contacts: Wichita Eagle, Sheri Dill; KMUW, Gordon Basham) How many people are working on it?
Among the 90 member affiliate stations and the newspaper partners, more than 100 around the country. Along with efforts in Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle and Wichita, other major partnerships included: Council Bluffs (Iowa) Daily Non Pareil-KIWR. Joint recruitment of citizens group to identify key issues; joint voter-registration drive. Florida NPR affiliates with Miami Herald, Tampa Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, Bradenton Herald, Tallahassee Democrat. Joint issues polling, pool candidate interviews, pool issues stories and other efforts, detailed in separate PPLP Research Report (See Florida Issues '94) Greeley (Colo.) Tribune-KUNC. Joint development of a series of citizen-driven stories, joint sponsorship of fall citizen forums. - Phoenix: Arizona Republic and KJZZ-FM. Results of a Republic issues poll serve as a baseline for citizen-driven coverage from both partners. Cross promotion. The Republic is "sharing" citizen participants in focus groups with KJZZ for issues forums. New Hampshire Public Radio with New Hampshire Public TV, WGOT-TV60, Nashua Telegraph, Concord Monitor, Valley News, Keene Sentinel. Joint issues polling. Response to the Initiative In the newsroom:
Attitudes at the newspaper partners vary. In Wichita, one project partnership site, the newspaper and the NPR affiliate have coordinated elections coverage before; in other cities, citizen-centered campaign reporting is new. At NPR, affiliates are enthusiastic about closer coordination with national news and public affairs programming. When the project first was announced, some NPR reporters were leery of working more closely with the citizenŐs voice, NPR Editorial Director John Dinges said at the time. But reactions vary. Said NPR Elections Project Editor Jude Doherty, "This philosophical conflict about the value of citizen opinion is a tough nut to crack, and either you respect it or not. It has a lot to do with the individual reporter. ... If what turns my reporter on is the celebrity status of having dinner with powerful people, forget about" the reporter becoming enthusiastic about including citizen voices. From the newsrooms of the newspaper partners:
- Boston
Because "politics is second only to baseball" in the local culture, and because two papers compete, "institutions here including the Globe itself have been more resistant to wholesale change in way we do things," said Globe assistant managing editor Walter Robinson. Traditional political coverage - including horse-race coverage - has remained a consistent element, but, Robinson said, "coverage of races has been better informed because we're paying attention to voters, even though we're doing things in many ways the way they have always been done. The coverage is a little more relevant to what's on voters' minds." Reporters are "for it," said Assistant State Editor Mark Edgar. "They have long looked for ways to get more people in paper." The partnership has freed up additional newsroom resources, meaning a reporter writing a political strategy story doesn't have to seek out a citizen's voice in addition to the rest of the coverage - another reporter can help, in some cases developing another story altogether. "The underlying thing we've tried to do is expand the cast of characters reporters turn for information. We sought to teach readers to be more active citizens, to show them what's needed to make public life work, and it's just become a part of the everyday political coverage, We've just tried to find ways for citizens to engage candidates directly so they can see a trace of themselves in the paper." - Seattle
The Times dropped horse-race coverage in 1986, so the culture change of a greater emphasis on citizen voices was not a wholesale overhaul, said Assistant Managing Editor Carole Carmichael. "Reporters said (the citizens) asked some real good questions; they were enthused." However, in the candidate forum, the gap between what journalists do and what citizens do was obvious as citizens failed to follow up fuzzy answers with repeated questioning or requests for a real response. Among other local media:
The Boston Herald announced a citizen-driven elections effort with weeks after the Globe and WBUR began publishing and airing their work. The Herald and the Globe cosponsored U.S. Senate forums in October, their first-ever collaboration. In Dallas, a local television station not involved in the partnership announced "a bold new way of covering the election called 'Listening to Texans.' Gee, where in the world did they get that idea?" Morning News Assistant State Editor Mark Edgar asked. In the community:
- Boston
While callers in early weeks of the elections effort complained in a live WBUR forum that they "wanted to hear from experts," not other citizens, Robinson said he believes the coverage over several months has been "an empowering phenomenon. People see that people like themselves are having a say in the election, that people like themselves are demanding that the candidates deal with their problems--which is quite a lot different than (journalists') issues. When we raise issues it's kind of bloodless. But when voters raise their problems, it personalizes the campaign. The candidates can't just blather on with their stump speech." - Seattle
Both media partners reported heavy citizen involvement and awareness of the changes in coverage; for example, a coffee-shop worker asked a reporter "What's on the Front Porch this week?" referring to the project logo, "Front Porch Forum." - Wichita
Strong response to call for citizen questions for candidates, and citizens "have put a sharper bead on" the differences between two similar gubernatorial candidates, said Eagle Executive Editor Sheri Dill. However, the logistics of fielding questions from citizens has sometimes been a problem because some of those who posed questions didn't want their pictures in the paper, a standing element of the paper's "Ask the Candidates" feature. Among politicians:
In Boston, U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy responded angrily in a live, televised June session, the first in which he fielded questions from the citizens' panel, asking them "what right" they had to question him. In Dallas, candidates seemed used to responding directly to citizens, as similar approaches were used in 1992 presidential elections (where Texan Ross Perot was a candidate) and the 1993 U.S. Senate campaign. In Seattle, incumbent U.S. Senator Gorton Slade said an early debate was his last, but agreed to participate in the conversation with citizens sponsored by the media partners. It was arranged quickly by the partners after challenger Ron Sims suggested discussing issues with voters directly. "It was pretty clear where the idea came from and we jumped on it," said Carmichael, the Times assistant managing editor. During the forum, Slade said, "We ought to do more of this kind of thing," Carmichael said. In Wichita, gubernatorial candidates have been surprisingly slow to respond to citizen questions, said Eagle Executive Editor Sheri Dill. "Truth to tell, getting the candidates to respond has been a bit of a challenge. ... My sense is that they don't like to be pinned down." What's next:
A post-mortem on the partnerships is planned for November in San Francisco. In Dallas, the Morning News will use an approach similar to the elections coverage for the legislative season. Polling of legislators and citizens statewide is planned as the foundation for legislative coverage, and citizen questions will be posed regularly to top state officials, "continuing that effort for the people to somehow hold the politicians accountable." 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
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New York, NY 10003
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