9 Comments

1. J.J. Alcantara
   05.31.09

   Civic journalism is a way for journalists to make their stories/videos more appealing to “real” people. Basic civic journalism concepts break down the community into five layers — official, pseudo-official, third places, incidental and private. Many journalists find sources in the extremes, official and private, but by going through the in-betweens, particularly pseudo-official and third places, it could add more depth to one’s story.

   For my particular assignment, the Israeli folk dancing class was a “third place.” It was a place where several different types of people meet to socialize and congregate for one particular thing — dancing. People there don’t necessarily meet to talk about issues affecting their community, but given a social situation, some conversations may come up. During my short time there, the few people who were in attendance talked about several different topics.

   To include yourself into a community’s “third place,” you have to make sure not to change its normal structure. You can’t just go in there and start asking questions. You have to get to know the people and involve yourself before you start firing questions.

2. Imani Jackson
   05.31.09

   Oftentimes journalists insert themselves and their personal experiences into their work. While that adds color and personality to the media, reflections can upstage the people who are affected by not only the world in which we live, but the messages that journalists perpetuate.

   Civic journalism seeks to give voice to the voiceless by operating from a middle ground. It’s not about solely numbers, nor is this form of journalism about solely people in positions of power.

   A civic journalist would focus more on the people who live with the ramifications of others decisions, instead of continuously running p.r. ready quotes from the most well-versed rhetoricians.

   It was easier to incorporate civic journalism into my first soundslide project, which revolved around Israeli dance sessions, and the power of the Jewish community, especially when using dance.

   The second soundlslide was more difficult to capture. I went to an icecream shop and tried to display family interactions and the ambience of the shop, without altering it.

   I could have asked more questions about why the families bond over icecream and how often the relax together, but I noticed that their behavior changed as they focused more on the microphone and cameras than on their time together.

   In the future I will ask more questions, pick more diverse locations and seek the most natural subjects.

3. Ashley Reid
   05.31.09

   Civic Journalism is a concept that helps journalist perform their jobs better in communities. If journalists went into the communities to listen and observe everyone from Mrs. Jackson on the corner, to the pastor at the local church, or the owner of the local grocery store, more issues would be revealed and deeper stories could be written.

   I have used civic journalism before, not realizing it was a concept journalist are supposed to use. My first front page story developed because of civic journalism which allowed me to choose a subject that touched students, professors, administration, and the community.

   In the soundslide assignment, Tiff and I observed the area first and found a little girl who stuck out, which eventually led us to a family to base our story on.

   In civic journalism you have to scope out your environment to get a clear understanding of how it functions, its issues, and the people in it. When you do that, you will find its real issues.

4. Tiffany Williams
   05.31.09

   Civic journalism requires journalists to tap into the lives of the individuals who make up the community. Instead of solely relying on officials as sources, journalists should also talk with the people affected by those officials’ decisions.

   For Ashley and my soundslide, we tried to incorporate civic journalism as best we could by talking directly with the families at the park. Because this was a third place, we did not simply come in and start snapping pictures; rather, we walked around and talked to people first. We gave them an opportunity to see who we were, and we allowed ourselves to see who they were.

   Getting to know the families first made the assignment much easier. The people were more willing to talk with us, they were friendly and they understood we were there to do a job. Unlike officials, who are trained to talk to reporters, these people were not obligated to talk to us or prepared to talk us. However, they did because we made sure to get to know them first. We did not treat them like subjects. We talked to them as if we were friends, and I think they respected that.

   We were able to effectively do our job as well as give them a voice: a voice often muffled and overlooked by reporters.

5. Danielle Cintron
   05.31.09

   People, this is what civic journalism is about. Relating to the everyday problems and festivities of society. It’s more about writing or telling stories that people in your community really are concerned about. Whether that be a local school, water pump stations or a local restaurant.

   For my group’s sound slides project, we covered the local blues festival in centennial park. This event has previously been hosted and put together by the city. However, this year a private entity hosted the festival. Still, waves of blues fans came out to hear the music. Bobby Bland was the big name of the concert and most of the crowd was there to see him perform.

   After talking about civic journalism in class, my group and I found that this was just an example of a community coming together to share in their love of music. People make the most interesting stories. Speaking with several different community members, as people and not just as an assignment, helped to really make this story colorful and interesting. No one we spoke to had rehearsed lines like most officials do. It was just them being themselves and nothing more. This is what a community wants to see more of.

6. Janelle Stokes
   05.31.09

   Civic journalism made my video assignment on the Nashville Jazz Workshop emotional, captivating, and most importantly real.

   According to civic journalism, we found Darlene Shadden, a jazz vocalist, within a “third place” (an environment where the public congregates in an informal manner).

   On this assignment, I had the opportunity to interview Darlene who was elated at being able to perform and share her love for music at the workshop.

   She immediately became the focus of our assignment, and we went from covering a building to reporting a personal story which is a major component of civic journalism. We shifted the focus of our story by concentrating on an individual’s role and experience in a particular setting or building.

   Darlene’s recollection of her experiences made me feel like I was in a “private” setting due to her emotional accounts of tough times, success, and finding her way back to her first love–music.

   I walked away knowing more about Darlene than I ever expected to know, and am grateful for that. I am thankful that I got to see her in an environment where she felt comfortable enough to not be distracted by the equipment that my partner and I were using to capture her.

   At various points throughout the evening, I felt like an audience member and not a reporter. This connected me emotionally to the subject and I was able to tell the story in a deep, candid, and appropriate manner.

7. Brieun Scott
   05.31.09

   Civic journalism is used as a way to include the middle ground by talking to individuals of the community. This is often one of the most effective ways to tell a story because readers gain the perspective of the community and how certain decision actions, issues, etc. could affect a community.

   When gathering information for our sound slide, Danielle, Carmen and I spoke to individuals of the community about how they felt about a particular event and what they thought. This was essential to our story because it was community-based event and it explained why this event was important in the community.

   From the interviews, we got a sense of community and family involvement from the individuals that may not have been captured had we spoke to an official, or someone less connected to the community.

8. Vickey D. Williams
   05.31.09

   Civic journalism is a way that journalists tap into the community’s civic life. There are five layers and each layer works differently. In civic journalism, the journalist needs to talk with the people, get to know them, engage them and attempt to get a better understanding of their lives, what they care about and how these concerns affect and relate to their everyday life in their community. As a journalist you have to understand each layer and find out which layer works for what communities.

   We allowed the people to dominate the conversation and this helped us to get a better understanding of the community and how it worked. I saw some connections in our assignment that we learned in class. By talking to the people and interacting we were able to get a better feel of the people, their community and how things affect them.

9. Madoree Pipkins
   06.02.09

   Civil journalism cuts through all the “fluff” and gets real information from “real people”. The different layers of civic journalism allows a broad range of ideas and viewpoints from other perspectives than the “norm”.

   It is important to know your surroundings at all times. People can easily get offended by nothing at all besides your presence. It is important to recognize this and embrace it the best way possible.

   The story of a civic journalist will hardly ever be the same twice. There is always a new way to say something and a new person to talk to. When covering issues that truly affect the community it is vital to talk to as many people as possible that will deal with the particular issue or change.

   For example, a new law is passed. A question i would ask myself is does it matter? And if so, who does it matter to? Then it would be time to take the proper steps to find out how they feel about it.