| This study examines editorial page involvement in public (or civic) journalism projects and efforts. A mail survey was distributed to members of the National Conference of Editorial Writers. The questionnaire focused on determining the extent to which knowledge of and involvement in public journalism influence editorial writers' attitudes toward the movement. The research questions addressed include: How much do editorial writers know about public journalism and how accurate is that knowledge? To what extent do they agree or disagree with the basic concepts identified with public journalism philosophy? Have editorial departments participated in any public journalism projects and, if so, what have those projects involved and how successful have they been? A statistical method called principal components analysis (PCA) and bivariate analysis, including analysis of variance (ANOVA), were used to analyze the results and identify relationships among variables. Data showed that most respondents support the goals of public journalism, despite the fact that many of them are skeptical of the public journalism "movement" itself. In addition, they believe the priorities of public journalism correspond with those of editorial departments, but express concern that pursuing these goals may compromise the objectivity of newsroom staff. These findings suggest that misperceptions about the philosophy may present the most significant obstacle to acceptance of public journalism. At the same time, they suggest that there is support for a more active editorial presence in public journalism projects. In fact, giving the editorial department primary control over public journalism initiatives may actually reduce opposition in some cases. Newsroom staffers who are concerned with maintaining the proper reportorial distance from a subject may feel less threatened by a project that involves the newsroom but is nominally an editorial department undertaking. In turn, this approach may ease the feeling among some editorial writers that public journalism projects are encroaching on their turf. |
