Civic Journalism: Six Case Studies
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.
"Voice of the Voter"

"It wasn't ours. It was theirs," Brewer said. "We didn't take the database. We didn't even take our pencils. We had nothing."

KRON and KQED continued plugging along with election coverage. KRON brought in the Chronicle's Yoachum for its "Voice of the Voter Guide to Decision '94" program. KQED, which had prepared another series of half-hour special reports on major issues, ran a sixth half-hour November 4 as an preview for the November 8 election. Each of the KQED specials aired twice in the late afternoon and was preceded by a Forum discussion in the morning; the specials were distributed via satellite to other California public radio stations.

Despite their efforts, "Voice of the Voter" was overshadowed by the strike and the horse race. By November 14, when the strikers returned to work after a bitter two weeks on the picket line, "Voice of the Voter" was yesterday's news.

Did the project accomplish anything?

Chronicle executive editor Wilson isn't sure. "We added something. I'm not sure we added enough or that we added it successfully. We were better at getting voices of the public in the paper in ways we had not done before. It's hard to assess the value of that."

KRON's Owen called the failure to reach beyond a select few staffers "a personal frustration of mine." But, she said, "Realizing that we struck a chord, not only with our viewers but also with the candidates, has made an impact in both our shops."

"How do you measure success?" asked KQED's Eisele. "Did we do more issues-oriented political coverage? Did we help educate more people? Did we influence the way people voted? Did we want to?"

One measure could be volume. KQED produced approximately 25 hours of programming during "Voice of the Voter." Some of the programming would have been a part of traditional election coverage, but the bulk resulted from participation in the NPR-Poynter Election Project.

Another measure was the thousands of readers, listeners, and viewers who participated by attending forums, watching or listening to the broadcasts, and commenting through letters, calls, and e-mail.

The Chronicle published nearly 100 stories under the "Voice of the Voter" banner; its greatest success may have been the voter-registration drive.

KRON succeeded by keeping a focus on issues despite the fevered pitch of California politics.

The easiest success to quantify was the partnership itself. No one could foresee the chemistry that, in Yoachum's words, just "clicked." Wary of the collaboration at first, she was thrilled by the results. "To realize you could work with them and not be co-opted or not co-opt them. I had never realized that you could partner with other elements of the media like that."

Eisele agreed. "We had more visibility and more influence because we were a partnership. But one of the most gratifying elements was watching the way it evolved, the way it grew as we came up with ideas and employed them."

The designers of the NPR-Poynter Election Project wanted journalists to realize the potential in covering elections as partners. The San Francisco partners did just that.

More than a year after "Voice of the Voter" began, they are examining ways to continue the partnership and to integrate some of the elements into other kinds of coverage, including the mayor's race and the 1996 presidential campaign.

"I want people in the industry to know this thing has legs," Brewer said. He also wants them to know it takes commitment. "There's a very strong commitment of person power that has to be given. Community-oriented journalism takes a lot of extra time and dedication, particularly if you have a tight budget or staffing problems. You can't just go in, hold a confab, and beat it."

Yoachum's attitude continues to evolve. "I still maintain it's a crock to say we're in a partnership with our readers. There are lots of reasons why people come to us, not the least of which is we provide a service. I think community journalism carries some inherent risks. Clearly we have to do something differently, but that can't be a sellout."

Can that be done?

"I can't believe I'm going to say this--I would be disappointed if we don't continue it in some fashion. We struck a chord."