This was not soft or boosterish journalism. Often it faced opponents in the community and even in the newsroom. Sometimes it didn't work out the way the journalists thought it would. Often it took turns that no one expected. Always, it made a difference in the community.
People read it, they got involved and they helped make their world a better place.
And the journalists felt like . . . There is no simple formula for answering that question. Civic journalism is practiced differently in every community it serves. What these projects have in common is that they did not stop at simply unloading a lot of information on their readers and considering the job done. That was only the start.