Community Journalism 2006 Abstracts
Community Journalism Interest Group
Weekly Dilemmas: A Study of Community Journalism, Connections, and Ethics in Small Towns • Lisa Coble-Krings, Kansas • Small-town journalists are able to connect with their communities by practicing community journalism. This form of journalism is explained by examining community ties and the potential problems close connections can cause for small-town journalists. The data used in this study was gathered during visits to five weekly newspapers and from interviews with journalists and non-journalists. Conclusions developed from this study show how small-town journalists answer ethical questions and how community members feel about their newspapers.
The Historical Mission and Evolution of the Capital Outlook Newspaper • Yanela Gordon, Florida A&M • This study explores the history and mission of the Capital Outlook, Tallahassee’s only African-American owned newspaper. Established in 1975, the Capital Outlook has existed under five-periods of ownership. For thirty years, the newspaper has been a voice of victory and vision for African Americans living in Florida, especially within the North Florida region. The Capital Outlook has distinguished itself having been awarded, three times, the A. Philip Randolph Messenger Award, known as the Black Pulitzer.
No Union in Humboldt, Kansas: Readers’ Perceptions of Loss When a Community Loses Its Newspaper • J. Steven Smethers, Bonnie Bressers, Amber Willard, Linda Harvey and Gloria Freeland, Kansas State • This study seeks to gauge perception of loss among newspaper readers in Humboldt, Kansas, in the aftermath of losing their community newspaper, the Humboldt Union. Variables relating to newspaper use and the degree to which readers miss certain features in the Union are examined, along with perceptions about the role of the newspaper in the community and the effectiveness of other area media outlets in filling the communications void left by the Union’s demise.
The Rumble in the Dark: Regional Newspaper Coverage of the West Virginia Buffalo Creek Mine Disaster of 1972 • Rita Colistra, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • The flood caused by the Buffalo Creek coal mine disaster was one of the worst on record in West Virginia history. This paper examines news coverage of the disaster by two regional newspapers with historically different stances on the coal industry and unions.
Toward a measure of community journalism • Wilson Lowrey, Amanda Brozana and Jean Mackay, Alabama • This paper represents a first step toward an index measure of community journalism. Academic literature over the last 10 years that focuses on the relationship between news media and community were systematically explored. Definitions of “community” and of “community journalism” from the literature were organized, and models of community and community journalism are proposed.
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