When Community Residents Commit ‘Random Acts of Journalism’
Dec. 1, 2007 Nieman ReportsIn rural Dutton, Montana, 80 people showed up last fall, wooed by a notion of starting a local news site for this newspaperless town of 375 people. Months later, the community celebrated the launch of the Dutton Country Courier, DuttonCC.org.
Construct Your Community’s Info-Structure
Nov. 13, 2007 Newspaper Association of AmericaIn 2005, Lisa Williams launched a hyperlocal news site for her newfound community of Watertown, Mass. Writing with wry, self-deprecating humor, she called it h2otown.info and it was an instant hit.
Citizens Media: Has It Reached a Tipping Point?
Nov. 1, 2005 Articles | Nieman ReportsNew media initiatives emerge when citizens feel ‘shortchanged, bereft or angered by their available media choices.’
Civic Journalism—Growing and Evolving
Mar. 1, 2005 Articles | Nieman ReportsCivic journalism is growing and evolving rapidly because it makes a deliberate attempt to reach out to citizens. Civic journalism can take the form of town meetings–“real” or “electronic”–or watching CSPAN, going on-line or attending focus groups.
Reporting on Race: Building a New Definition of ‘News’
Sep. 1, 2003 Articles | Nieman ReportsA report on race reporting by civic journalists highlights some common approaches.
Ten of the Many Things I’ve Learned Since Abscam
Sep. 1, 2002 Articles | Survival Guide For Women EditorsAs a federal court reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, I got a tip one Friday that something big was going to happen that would “involve the Halls of Congress.”
Civic Journalism
Sep. 1, 2000 Articles | National Civic ReviewIn its first effort at inventing a new relationship between the newsroom and the Internet, New Hampshire Public Radio came up with an elegantly logical idea. It created an on-line Tax Calculator that last year helped state residents actually compute the cost of different tax reform measures to their own pocketbooks.
Civic Journalism: How the Media Engages Citizens in Public Discourse
Jun. 24, 1996 Articles | Nation’s Cities WeeklyIn Charlotte, N.C., more than 1,000 citizens have responded to lists of critical needs in nine of the city’s most crime-ridden neighborhoods. The newspaper collected the lists from neighborhood residents as part of what became its award-series, “Talking Back Our Neighborhoods.”