Journalists live in a cocoon that has nothing to do with the real world. Ironically, this conference was all about folks who wanted to run their OWN community newspapers. People admit they're not reading and watching. Then, as you all read, on Monday another Times-Mirror poll shows a gaping cultural divide between journalists and the public. Long before this study came out, journalists began recognizing that they were not connecting very well to their readers and viewers.
Civic journalism is one attempt to address that.
I can't promise you that civic journalism will fix all the problems. But for editors and news directors who are trying it, they are getting some encouraging results. OK, a definition. Civic journalists strive to go beyond their dog-eared Rolodexes filled with the phone numbers of elected officials and experts willing to render their verdicts on the issue du jour. Instead, they try to tap into the wisdom of the American people, giving citizens a bigger voice in describing the forces that affect their lives.