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August 12, 2005
Getting local...
Yesterday evening I attended a meeting at the Springfield News-Leader to form a citizens advisory panel for education coverage. My interest in serving on this panel springs from, obviously, my professional interest in journalism (and my academic charge to serve the profession and community) and my belief that education is a particularly important local issue that affects all citizens socially, politically, and economically. Further, the contact point of the neighborhood school is also a contact point for local, state, national, and international policy (for example). Education is a glocal concern.
The News-Leader is apparently starting several such panels to help make local coverage more relevant, or, as the mission statement I received last night says, "make readers smarter." At first I was a bit taken aback by this mission because I contend that readers are already smarter than journalists about what's going on in the community. But the mission actually identifies something more closely resembling Kovach and Rosenstiel's articulation that journalism should help make democracy work.
We panel members will have a group blog to discuss coverage among ourselves and the reporters and editors involved in education coverage. This is a good idea. Unfortunately, the blog will not be public. I challenged this policy, gently suggesting that the public might gain from our conversations. But the editors in charge said they wanted to make sure we panel members would feel free to discuss the issues. That makes me smile in mild amusement. They know that blogs are becoming an important, interactive conversation between the public and the press (part of the metaphor shift). But they don't yet understand them. That's okay. I'm pleased to see my local paper making this important first step. And I'm glad to be participating.
Posted by acline at August 12, 2005 12:06 PM | | Spotlight