| Newspapers have tried to use civic journalism to recapture readers and improve news coverage. Civic journalism has been defined as a "reform of professional norms with the aim of putting the public at the center of political coverage, not politicians, their handlers and other elites" (Loomis, 2002, 4). Proponents of civic journalism say it can improve news coverage of groups that media outlets sometimes ignore. But does civic journalism really improve news coverage of a smaller, often ignored segment of America---African Americans? This study, which interviewed 20 African Americans in Cleveland and Columbus Ohio, found that participants tended to like strong characters and personal stories in newspaper articles, which is a characteristic of civic journalism. More than half of participants saw value in polls, which are also often used in civic journalism projects. However, participants were split on whether The Plain Dealer and Columbus Dispatch do good jobs when covering the black community. |
