The extensive coverage is not without its risks, editors admit. Nor has there been any collaboration in the project with local broadcasters to reach those who watch and listen but do not read. It's clear that this is a 'big' effort and people want a part of it. Ambitious reporters, especially, want to be involved. Johnson does detect improved reporting on education.
Stories reflect more thorough research and a greater depth of understanding.
He is careful to delineate the boundaries of newsroom involvement, as the Beyond 2000 project had created substantial concern and wariness about editorial activism. But there is continuing evidence of citizen readiness to enter into newsroom discussions which, he says, are sometimes so valuable that stories can be written right out of the conversations. Case study written by Lisa Austin, Assistant Director of the Project on Public Life and the Press, March 1994. Lisa is also a member of the CPN Journalism editorial team. He thinks it is gradually catching on with readers, although there is not a whole lot of community response.