They say this might make them less objective. But editors and news directors who have used civic journalism techniques talk of epiphanies, of the sense of connection. They say they will never return to the old ways of doing journalism. It's amazing what you learn when you talk to the public. For one thing they don't talk in terms of scorecards, who's winning who's losing, who's up in the polls, who's down.
Citizens talk about very basic things, often local things.
But they did it by first sending reporters out into some of the city's worst-hit neighborhoods. They talked to community leaders, they convened a town hall meeting, reporters spent the night in the community. And only then did they write their stories. Seven neighborhood profiles, to date. Seven different tales of how those residents view their problems.