 | Topics: Communication Tallahassee Democrat In its extensive "Public Agenda" project, the Tallahassee Democrat is engaging the views of citizens and measuring citizen interest and attitudes on democracy and participation. In "Your Vote, Your Future," the paper focuses its election issues coverage and encourages voter registration. Case study plus. Index Public Agenda
Your Vote, Your Future Contents Public Agenda Public Agenda 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. Initially envisioned as a monthly page featuring a status report on critical community issues, a Q&A and excerpts from community conversations, the "Public Agenda" concept now embodies plans for a large-scale, two-year initiative. The Democrat is working with the local CBS affiliate and two state universities in a major coverage, research and public awareness effort. The project includes a two-year series of polls designed to measure citizen issues interests and citizen attitudes about democracy and participation. The media partners are jointly sponsoring community issues forums and the ongoing neighborhood discussion groups. The initiative is funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Tallahassee Democrat (newspaper)
P.O. Box 990
277 N. Magnolia Dr.
Tallahassee FL 32302-0990
(904) 599-2150 (phone-Heldman)
(904) 599-2100 (gen'l))
(904) 599-2155 (fax) Ownership
Knight-Ridder
No. newsroom employees: 60 Circulation
57,900 (daily)
78,600 (Sunday)
Circulation Area (population): Leon County (150,000) Initiative
The Public Agenda Dates
Nov. 1994-June 1996 (Planning began December 1993) Lead Editor
Bob Shaw, managing editor Executive in charge
(If different from above)
Lou Heldman, executive editor When and how did this initiative get started?
Heldman came up with the idea of a "public agenda page" at the first API-Project on Public Life and the Press seminar in November 1993, and presented it there to fellow participants. Later, Heldman wrestled with the issue of bringing citizens into the process of setting the agenda for the issues covered on the page. He was particularly interested in designing an initiative that genuinely embodied the process of citizen deliberation. The full-blown initiative is an outgrowth of that exercise. It also was spurred on by the prospect of a Pew Charitable Trusts grant under the "Renewing Our Democratic Heart" project, designed to encourage public journalism partnerships between newspapers and TV stations. What were the goals of the initiative?
For the news staff, Heldman writes in a description of the project, the Public Agenda will "help us set priorities for coverage and story play and increase the stature of personnel covering those issues." Research will be used "not just for stories reporting the results, but to add depth on ongoing coverage" of issues citizens identify as being of greatest importance. For the community, Heldman writes, the Public Agenda is "really about changing the way people think and act. If those now calling themselves 'residents' or 'taxpayers' begin thinking of themselves as 'citizens,' and acting in intelligently empowered ways, it follows that public officials will begin to think differently about citizens and their own responsibilities." What did the initiative entail?
During summer 1994, the partners: - Hired Harwood and Associates to conduct a series of 10 in-depth conversations with 29 Tallahassee residents representing 90 percent of the area's demographic clusters. In these June/July 1994 conversations, researchers probed for top community concerns and general attitudes about government and community involvement. The conclusions: "People recognize the tough challenges they face and want to deal with them. But for this to happen Tallahassee has to create a new public conversation that engages citizens and taps the spirit of community."
- Conducted a poll of 828 Leon County residents, in which respondents identified public policy concerns and discussed citizenship attitudes. More than 80 percent of those questioned agreed with the statement, "I would devote more time to helping solve community problems if I thought I'd be listened to."
- Led 60 citizens through four-and-a-half hours of training on forming and leading community discussion groups.
- Hired a project director and a community coordinator. They developed training for citizens and newsroom staff, made presentations about the project to major community groups and met one-on-one with citizens to encourage participation in the project.
In November 1994, the partners will launch the project with: - Publication and broadcast of survey results, beginning Sunday, Nov. 13. In addition to news features, the paper for the first time will publish the "Public Agenda Page," as a Comment section front, and WCTV will devote its public affairs show to the project.
- Hold a community forum in the state House of Representatives chambers, with citizens discussing their hopes for the future of Tallahassee. The paper will cover the meeting, which also will be taped for broadcast.
- Invite citizens to participate in smaller neighborhood discussion groups.
- Continue stepped-up coverage of issues identified in the survey.
- Work with journalism students at Florida A&M, where the student paper will appoint a public journalism editor and students will conduct one-on-one interviews in the African-American community that comprises 29 percent of Tallahassee's population. Students also will help with a Public Agenda newsletter, to be published several times a year for distribution to citizens and others directly involved in some aspect of the project.
Other background: - The newspaper will pick up the monthly "Public Agenda Page" section front that sparked the initiative. General coverage of public issues will be increasingly refocused to place more emphasis on citizen concerns. The newspaper also will link the Public Agenda into the local free-access computer network, which will establish bulletin boards devoted to public discussion of issues.
- Florida State University will handle the training, logistics and education materials involved with the Public Agenda, through the Center for Professional Development. Project staff developed develop and distribute background kits on issues, as well as information about conducting meaningful public discussions. The center also will collect and disseminate results of such discussions, publish a Public Agenda newsletter several times a year with help from Florida A&M students.
How many people worked on it?
At the newspaper, two reporters are assigned full time to the track "Public Agenda" issues; the editorial-page editor is responsible for the monthly "Public Agenda Page." The grant also covers the cost of a project coordinator and a community outreach staffer. At the television station, the news director and a lead anchor are the two most actively involved staff members. Heldman formulated the full proposal in consultation with and assistance from newspaper staff; David Olmsted, vice president and general manager of WCTV; Virginia Dodge Fielder, vice president/research of Knight-Ridder; and several FSU and FAMU social science, public policy, and journalism professors. Heldman also met with FSU President Sandy D'Alemberte and Provost Robert Glidden to enlist university involvement. Response to the Initiative In the newsroom:
Aside from the elections and voter initiative, newsroom journalists were not broadly familiar with the ideas of citizen deliberation; general bewilderment met Heldman's initial presentation of the "Public Agenda Page" concept in late 1993. Now that other coverage is reflecting more citizen voices, newsroom reaction varies drastically. At one extreme, the editors who organized elections coverage and the voter project are highly energized about the new approaches. At the other, negative reaction falls into two broad categories, Heldman said. First, "If you put too much faith in people, you're going to get seriously wounded by it," and second, "Quoting the public in a serious way is not very interesting because people are yahoos." The newsroom does seem united around the idea that the public should play a larger, more effective role in processing policy questions that affect Florida's future. Moreover, most understand the newspaper's place as a leader. "If we are going to do anything that will save this state, we must do it. It's our duty," said Associate Editorial Page Editor Dave Bruns. "...I think it's the responsibility of the newspaper to provide a community with a reflection of itself and to provide not only a voice but a forum for all the people who live here." Elements incorporated into regular newsroom routines and/or culture:
On the heels of Tallahassee's successful 1992 election coverage and voter project, public journalism techniques are taking hold in the newsroom. Already, stories are developed and coverage is planned around the concepts of citizen's voices and news pieces that help citizens through the deliberative process. For examples, reporters are more frequently assigned to public hearings; stories may not develop directly from the meetings, but reporters are advised to listen for the currents of public opinion. Less emphasis is being given to writing stories after all meetings of public bodies; reporters are increasingly expected to be more sensitive to the development of an issues, rather than reporting every notch of new activity. In the community:
Partners from all quarters are enthusiastic about the Public Agenda project. There is a common understanding about the difficulty of achieving effective deliberation in a state capital town where consensus is regularly blocked. Heldman describes it as "a town of snarling advocates, with more lawyers, lobbyists and college professors per capita than anywhere in Florida." Overall lessons - successes and failures:
Three crucial elements distinguish this experiment and its potential: deliberation, cooperation and long-term commitment. The goal is not simply to spotlight public issues, to create a closer link between the media and the community it serves, or to teach civics. It is to provoke effective deliberation on issues of importance to the future of the city and the state; to do so, careful attention to the way citizens understand and process issues is essential. The character of town forums and community roundtables is a crucial component. Their development, like most other elements of the initiative, require close cooperation among the participants. "We wonder about keeping such a massive project on track, given the large number of players we have enlisted, most of whom haven't worked together on anything of this magnitude," Heldman's memo states. Finally, the long-term success of the project will depend on its becoming more than a one-time project, with concepts of citizen involvement incorporated not only into news routines, but also into the fabric of Tallahassee's community life. This raises an interesting question: How does a newspaper best play the role of catalyst in re-energizing democratic institutions? Case study written by Lisa Austin, Assistant Director of the Project on Public Life and the Press, March, July & November 1994. Sources: Democrat interviews, interim reports by Lou Heldman to the Pew Center for Civic Journalism. 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 Public Agenda
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