| Topics: Civic Communication Spokane Spokesman-Review The Spokane Spokesman-Review has revamped its editorial and opinion pages, supported back-yard discussions on the community, and raised citizen awareness of river front issues in a series of civic journalism projects. Case studies plus. Index The Pizza Papers
River Forum Contents The Pizza Papers The Pizza Papers In August 1993, more than 1,500 area residents took up the Spokesman-Review's offer of a free pizza for anyone sponsoring a backyard get-together to discuss hopes, fears and suggested changes for the community. The paper gathered questionnaires from these meetings, published results and sent comments to elected officials. The initiative was a prelude to a later research visit by urban affairs consultant Neal Peirce, under the sponsorship of the Spokesman-Review and other area organizations. That work in turn was followed by the paper's own focus-group and interview research to gauge community attitudes about the likelihood for change, which formed the basis of "Values for a Growth Decade." Readers responding to an invitation for comment were invited to one of three public forums a month after publication; 400 attended. The paper also hosted a discussion on the topics with the local public television station. In response, a variety of citizen recommendations for improving local government were adopted. 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. Spokane Spokesman-Review (newspaper)
999 W. Riverside
P.O. Box 2160
(509) 459-5423 (phone)
(509) 459-5482 (fax) Ownership
Cowles Publishing Co
No. newsroom employees: 150 FTE Circulation
122,000 (daily)
155,000 (Sunday)
Circulation Area(population)
Spokane; Couer d'Alene, Idaho; 17 outlying counties in Washington, Idaho, Montana (500,000) Initiative
The Pizza Papers/Values for a growth decade Dates
August 1993-February 1994 Lead Editor
Chris Peck, Managing Editor What are the goals of the initiative?
The paper told participants that the project's mission was simply "to build regional consensus on a set of core values to help guide political, economic and social decisions through the 1990s." What does the initiative entail?
For the Pizza Papers, participants sent names, addresses, phones and a summary of backyard conversations in on a standard form. The Peirce Report followed the consultant's standard design, with Peirce and a small team of urban affairs experts conducting a range of community interviews and making recommendations. Subsequently, the paper convened eight focus groups to gauge "how optimistic or pessimistic various citizen groups were about the region," Peck said. Results of follow-up interviews with newcomers, longtime residents and political leaders were compared with focus findings. The paper published what it learned in a package called "Values for a Growth Decade." Public forums and the public television broadcasts followed. How many people were working on it?
In addition to the Peirce team, about six news staffers. What does it look like in the newspaper?
The Peirce Report ran over four days in early 1994. The display - full pages, full color, broadsheet format - was published with close attention to clarity and design excellence. Photographs were matched to voices "heard" in the reports. Graphs and charts were needed to give visual impact to public opinions on affordability of housing, neighborhood safety, geography and the environment. Response to the Initiative In the newsroom:
The newsroom at first responded cautiously to the Pizza Papers, Peck said, but enthusiasm built as public reactions poured in. National attention also improved newsroom response. Utne Reader picked up on the story; Editor and Publisher, the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association, and a number of other newspapers have written or inquired about the Pizza Papers. Reaction to the Peirce team was mixed. Some members of the news staff considered the team's fee too expensive and believed their reporters could have done the job. This sentiment was offset somewhat when a major policy recommendation in the report - to combine city and county government - moved onto the public agenda. Elements incorporated into regular newsroom routines and/or culture:
Responses from the Pizza Papers created an instant data base of new sources for comments on community issues and a new resource for confronting issues that seemed about to overwhelm the region: rapid growth, escalating housing costs, rising crime rates and dissatisfaction with government responsiveness. In the community:
Enthusiastic public response pressured the paper to continue as lead player in community reform and development. Instead, the paper convened a meeting for citizens interested in tracking these issues; out of that meeting a new organization emerged. Among political leaders:
The Pizza Papers became a focal point of discussion among public officials and in public meetings. Did any outside group pick up the newspaper's initiative and carry it further?
Following the Pizza Papers, the Peirce Report, "Values for a Growth Decade," and subsequent forums, the local group charged with rewriting the Spokane County government charter adopted the entire package of the Spokesman-Review's project recommendations on improving local government. "Vision Spokane" is the organization resulting from the paper's effort to hand off responsibility for citizen review of development issues. What's next:
Newsroom on Wheels: This spring, the paper will set up roving newsrooms in outlying communities and at special events to meet the public, gather story ideas, and ask for more first-person commentary.
News Extra: By the end of 1994, the paper hopes to offer deeper, more detailed coverage of certain news categories to readers for an additional fee. This may include extra sports, business or gardening new to those who sign up for the service; subscribers also would have access to the newspaper's electronic news and photo archives.
Newspaper as reference guide: The paper is developing a new content plan that will attempt to build in a reference point in every major story, explaining how readers can get more information on a subject or become more actively involved in the issue discussed.
- RCN, 3/94 Update The paper "shifted back into straight journalism" on issues raised in Values for a Growth Decade, handing off responsibility for the work itself to Vision Spokane, a group of neighborhood activists and non-profit developers. The group is trying to figure out a process that gives citizens input and direction in decisions about the type of development that should occur. The organization was established in March 1994, when the paper convened a breakfast meeting for citizens interested in carrying forward development planning and review. Together, the Pizza Papers, the Peirce Report and Values for a Growth Decade were the starting point for continuing newsroom reflection on the connections between the paper and area residents. In anticipation of a general rethinking of the paper's content and organization, the subject is the charge for one of four newsroom task forces that grew out of a newsroom survey. Others are looking at newsroom culture, risktaking and rewards; total-content editing and design, which encompasses beat structures; and "editorial add-ons," such as on-line services, etc. Peck is asking the "connections" task force to focus immediately on areas of conflict between public journalism and a more traditional approach. "That's the issue it always comes back to: this isn't journalism and it violates every tenet of ethical journalism," Peck said. In Spokane, the beginning definition of public journalism centers around the newspaper as a force for helping readers become better citizens; Peck is asking the task force to work up a fuller definition from there. The work takes place as staffers complete a survey that asks what newsroom culture rewards today, what it should reward, and how to get there. "Can you pick up identifiable pieces to change that in the end will change everything?" Peck asks. "You change everything all at once, it creates the editor or the driver as messiah or god. That doesn't work; I'm wary of that. I'd rather hear from staff that they want to be part of it, but you have to put some ideas out there." Update written by Lisa Austin, Assistant Director of the Project on Public Life and the Press. 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 Index The Pizza Papers
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