| Topics: Civic Communication Wisconsin State Journal & Wisconsin Public Television, continued The State Journal has engaged in two civic journalism projects. "We the People" brought the paper and local PBS and CBS television stations together to develop issues forums on the 1992 election, hold mock legislative and national budget sessions, and conduct citizen "grand juries." The "City of Hope" project investigated the rise of urban problems, trying to get beyond surface alarm. Community leaders met with the paper's editor to review the findings and prepare to take action in response. Index Public Journalism and Social Capital: The Case of Madison, Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Journal & Wisconsin Public Television,"We the People"
Wisconsin State Journal,"City of Hope" Contents Wisconsin State Journal & Wisconsin Public Television,"We the People" We the People Beginning in April 1992 with a presidential candidates' forum featuring Clinton and Brown, the State Journal teamed up with the local PBS affiliate to develop televised issues forums with citizens from across the state, broadcast from multiple sites. Along with elections forums, the project also has featured citizens on a mock legislative panel, developing a property tax plan among themselves; a mock national budget session where citizens tackled the deficit; and citizen "grand juries" on gambling and health care reform. Forums are broadcast and covered as a live event by the paper. Between 50 and 300 people participate, selected from among citizens who send in coupons published in the State Journal and two other newspapers in the state. In March 1994, the Madison CBS affiliate joined the initiative, offering live broadcasts of the forum and promotions assistance. The initiative is now funded by $90,000 in grants from foundations in the state. 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. Wisconsin State Journal (newspaper)
1901 Fish Hatchery Rd.
P.O. Box 8056
Madison, WI 53713
(608) 252-6000 (phone)
(608) 252-6119 (fax) Ownership
Lee Enterprises Group (20 Midwest papers)
No. newsroom employees: 85 FTE Circulation
90,000 (daily)
170,000 (Sunday)
Circulation Area (population)
Primary area: Dane Co. (200,000) Initiative
We the People Dates
March 1992-ongoing Lead Editor
Tom Still Executive in charge
Frank Denton, editor When and how did this initiative get started?
In late 1991, top editors at the paper began discussing citizen involvement in public affairs after reading the Kettering Foundation report Citizens and Politics: The View from Main Street America. Around that time, the PBS affiliate contacted the editors about teaming up on an elections project. What are the goals of the initiative?
Initially, to take advantage of the joint primary dates in Wisconsin and Minnesota by sponsoring a candidates' forum, and to move the newspaper's election coverage away from the "horse race" and toward more issues coverage. At the same time and with subsequent meetings, to "address the fact that we have democracy without deliberation," Associate Editor Tom Still said. What does the initiative entail?
Forum participants are selected on the basis of accurate demographic representation of the state as a whole, drawn from citizens who return coupons. A satellite link joins together audiences from several sites statewide. (The largest number was five, for the presidential candidates forum in April 1992.) Logistical details are handled by the Wood Group, a local marketing research firm that also handles statewide polling for the paper. The newspaper and the PBS affiliate initially shared broadcast costs; subsequently, these have been covered by foundation funding secured cooperatively by the paper, the PBS affiliate and the Wood Group. Facilitators (project leaders at the paper and at the PBS station; and political science professors) prepare the audience for broadcast sessions by asking questions about issues of importance to audience members, then holding a series of votes and conversation to focus in on the most critical questions. In candidate forums, selected audience members posed the queries. In "grand juries," political leaders (members of Congress, statewide officials) detail the issue at hand and are cross-examined by audience members. In the national deficit forum, citizen participants explained their reactions to fiscal problems by discussing the difficulty of the budget-building exercise as they went along. For the most recent forum, on health care, the Wood Group conducted a statewide survey on the topic, published before and leading the focus of the forum itself. How many people are working on it?
Still leads the paper's planning efforts. A reporter or two covers the sessions; up to a half-dozen people are involved at Wisconsin Public Television, where the effort is lead by David Iverson. What does it look like in the newspaper?
Forums are covered like live news events. Initiative explanations appeared in editorial columns. Response to the Initiative In the newsroom:
Political reporters were initially wary. "There was resistance at first among folks who cover the campaign - they weren't sure what we were up to," Still said. But newsroom management takes a strong leadership position on involving citizens, trying to inject deliberation into issues coverage by conducting forums and by tracking news coverage. Elements incorporated into regular newsroom routines and/or culture:
Questions and considerations raised at forums are incorporated into ongoing coverage. For example, a U.S. Senate candidate raised a theoretical case to label an opponent soft on crime; following skeptical response in the forum audience, the newspaper coverage reflected citizen impatience with a focus on such theoretical scenarios instead of on voting records. In the community:
Two years into the initiative, the CBS affiliate (WISC-TV) approached the paper and Wisconsin Public TV about joining. Funders have sought out project participants to offer funding for the initiative. "They wouldn't spend the money if they thought we weren't reaching out and making an impact," Still said. Current funders are the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Association, the Wisconsin (electric) Power Foundation and the Miller Foundation, of Milwaukee brewing fame. Among political leaders:
"They don't like the lack of control," Still said. "But the old League of Women Voters cartel has broken down. They know we're a game that's going to be around awhile." Still wants to involve other newspapers around the state in the initiative, in partnership with local commercial television stations in those communities. He also wants to export the model to other Lee newspapers, which are primarily in small and middle-sized communities in midwestern states. Case study written by Lisa Austin, Assistant Director of the Project on Public Life and the Press, March 1994. Lisa is also a member of the CPN Journalism editorial team. Update Building on work at the Columbia Missourian in collaboration with the University of Missouri, the paper will launch an elections experiment with the PBS affiliate and the commercial "We the People" partner. A campaign will attempt to educate citizens on how to be good voters; subsequent polling will try to measure community reaction and the impact a joint media campaign has on attitudes about democracy. Beginning this summer, "democracy boxes" will run with policy stories, explaining what citizens can do to get involved in the issue. Editor Frank Denton envisions the pieces as "a way of trying to put in people's faces the importance of making a difference." The feature will tell people where meetings or rallies will be held, how to join political parties or contact key legislators, or, in a more complex example, how to report a water-pollution source to the state department of natural resources.
- LA, 6/94 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 Journalism and Social Capital: The Case of Madison, Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Journal & Wisconsin Public Television,"We the People"
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