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(Editor's note: Allan R. Andrews is an executive news editor for Stars and Stripes newspaper in Washington, D.C., and an AEJMC member. He can be contacted at allan.andrews@reporters.net) WASHINGTON -- Amid calls by critics, scholars and practitioners to reform journalism, the most vocal evangelists are preaching "civic" or "community" or "public" journalism. Emphasis on so-called civic journalism permeated many sessions at the convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication this month in Baltimore. The repeated question: "Which public, whose interests?" Academics and professional journalists are urging colleagues to "get more in touch with readers" by producing the kinds of stories that communities want and need. A highlight of this approach was presented at AEJMC by Jeannine Guttman, editor of the Portland (Maine) Press Herald. She used her newspaper's investigative piece on alcoholism in Maine as a showcase for the civic journalism approach. After the story documented the statewide abuse of alcohol, Guttman said, several community organizations approached the newspaper and asked it to join a task force to combat the problem. Guttman said her newspaper's decision to buck tradition and agree to this request resulted in a growing sense of trust and credibility between the newspaper and the community. "It opened areas of communication that had been closed before," Guttman said. "The newspaper used to say, 'You've got a problem, we'll see you around,' but this gave the newspaper a chance to contribute to a solution," she said. The newspaper became one of 12 members of a statewide task force to devise programs for combating alcoholism. Guttman said the Press Herald became the forum for "conversations" that would never have taken place before. Guttman noted one criticism often leveled at such efforts is that newspapers create events and then cover them. She warned that editors must constantly guard against such situations. What it comes down to, she said, is "trusting the public." Similar stories were presented at other sessions in Baltimore by editors of the Pottsville (Pa.) Republican and the Bradenton (Fla.) Herald. Many of these initiatives have been funded by grants from the Pew Center for Civic Journalism, which has posted online an introduction to its program and to civic journalism in general. The thrust of the AEJMC convention presentations, as expressed by Portland's Guttman, was that "the public can be trusted" to understand what's news. Journalists have shunned their role as citizens of the community, the editors agreed, calling civic journalism a way to get back to what's basic and good in journalism. One voice of dissent, that of Prof. Doug Underwood of the University of Washington, argued that much of what goes under the "civic journalism" label is merely marketing-driven coverage and reporting. Underwood said none of the stories he saw being touted as hallmarks of civic journalism -- including Portland's examination of alcoholism -- exhibited the "courageous coverage" often produced by strong editorial vision. Underwood urged editors and reporters to be extremely wary of the creeping influence of "market factors" in their coverage. Such factors, he claimed, often define coverage by lurking under the umbrella of "civic journalism." Such approaches ultimately undermine the independence of the editorial office, Underwood argued. Much that passes for "investigative journalism," he added, is similarly driven by market considerations rather than social, political or ethical injustices in the community. Underwood called much civic journalism "boring and poll-driven," and he argued that it often produced efforts that are skeptical of institutions and almost "anti-government." |