Newspaper editors assert that their civic journalism increased public deliberation, civic problem solving, volunteerism and changed public policy, wrote Professor Lewis A. Friedland and doctoral student Sandy Nichols, of the Center for Communication and Democracy.
The study, “Measuring Civic Journalism’s Progress,” analyzed 651 projects published between 1994 and 2002 and collected by the Pew Center for Civic Journalism. It traced the development of civic journalism, the innovation of techniques and the impact of the practices. The findings point to a dynamic, evolving movement that has become fairly widespread — it’s been practiced in 220 cities in all but three states.
Seventy-five percent of the projects were undertaken by regional newspapers with circulations of 250,000 or less; 45 percent were published by papers with circulations of 100,000 or less. Forty-five percent were published by major metro newspapers.
Shift to Explanatory Stories
A key finding was that 96 percent of the civic journalism projects used an “explanatory” story frame to cover public issues instead of a more traditional “conflict” frame, which often reports two opposing viewpoints.
“The clear shift to explanatory frames is perhaps one of civic journalism’s most important achievements,” the study concluded.
About 85 percent of the projects provided space for citizen perspectives. “The findings in this category are among the most unequivocal and important in our research,” the study noted. “Civic journalism clearly extended the reach of journalism, incorporating new voices of citizens that simply would not have been otherwise heard.”
The study recorded problem-solving frames in 63 percent of the projects; 78 percent of the cases reported on possible solutions.
Community Impact
The evidence of community impact is based on news organizations’ own reports about their work, which, Friedland and Nichols cautioned, can be biased toward the good. Their analysis, however, found evidence of multiple positive outcomes in communities. According to the authors:
- 53 percent of the projects — 297 with sufficient evidence to evaluate — improved the community’s public deliberative process, either directly, by convening events, or indirectly, by providing the impetus and tools for citizens themselves to organize events.
- 43 percent of the projects were used by other organizations, including other media outlets or schools.
- 40 percent of the cases — 209 projects with sufficient evidence — improved citizens’ skills, including informing voters or helping people actively change community life.
- 40 percent — 192 projects with sufficient evidence — generated positive reader response.
- 37 percent — 179 cases with sufficient evidence — reported the project directly influenced a change in public policy.
- 26 percent — 126 projects — influenced the formation of new organizations, including non-profit community groups.