THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509240045
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: Cole C. Campbell, Editor
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Since Jan. 1, this notebook has been devoted to telling you about what we're working on at The Virginian-Pilot, with occasional meanderings into the broader swamps of newspapering, journalism and the workplace.
Today's edition is filled with examples of how some of our initiatives are maturing to the point of refocusing the local news report.
The first initiative: to view the world from your perspective as a citizen.
We're trying to take ``citizen'' at its broadest definition, a person with a stake in the community who takes responsibility for it.
In the past, we frequently ignored civic gatherings unless we knew a controversy was brewing. Now we're trying to pay more attention to these meetings as a crucial part of our civic infrastructure, as important to the vitality of Hampton Roads as water lines, school buildings and commerce.
Jon Glass spent Saturday at a community forum on education convened by Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, while staff writer Mike Knepler spent the day in Chesapeake at a grass-roots regional forum. Their reports appear in today's MetroNews section.
The second initiative: to move beyond conflict in covering controversies and trends.
Because citizens tire of endless confrontation, we want our contribution to public discourse to move away from an over-reliance on finger-pointing and name-calling toward a deeper understanding of underlying tensions and dynamics.
On today's Page One, staff writer Karen Weintraub reports that the Virginia Beach school district's $7.4 million deficit wasn't caused by one misstep or one person.
``But the relationship among key players seems to have allowed it to happen,'' she writes, later adding, ``the deficit already has left in its wake disillusionment, soul-searching, and the erosion of faith between leaders and the taxpayers who counted on them to spend their money well.''
Weintraub's report does not ignore the blame-placing that continues, but puts it in the broader context of relationships and processes in need of repair.
In the same way, today's MetroNews front examines voter participation not from the cliched fixation on apathy but from a deeper understanding of the factors that lead some citizens toward the polling booths. Staff writer Toni Whitt explores the differences with help from colleagues Lise Olsen, Karen Weintraub, Mac Daniel, Francie Latour, Tony Wharton and Alex Marshall.
The story compares turnout at Hodges Manor in Portsmouth with that of the Timberlake neighborhood in Virginia Beach. Both are mostly middle class, racially mixed and a blend of blue-collar and white-collar residents.
Hodges Manor averaged 68 percent turnout among its registered voters in the past three elections - the highest in South Hampton Roads - while Timberlake averaged 35 percent turnout, among the region's lowest.
``Those who study voting patterns say the disparity is not surprising,'' Whitt writes. ``It all boils down to people feeling an investment in their community and a desire to remain and improve it.''
She cites the work of John Brehm, a Duke University political scientist, who says that political participation rises with levels of civic participation.
The third initiative: to lower barriers to participation in the community.
That can be as simple as registering to vote - see Page B3 - or as complex as participating in ``Citizen Challenge: Education,'' described on Page B5.
This project begins this week with a town-hall forum at Virginia Wesleyan College's Hofheimer Theater; you can attend at 7 p.m. Tuesday or 7 p.m. Wednesday. In October, participants will meet weekly for seven weeks in study groups of 10 to 12 people, to explore their hopes for education.
The forum and the study groups are being organized by the nonpartisan Community Networking Association, with assistance from The Virginian-Pilot. You can still sign up to participate by calling Infoline at 640-5555 and pressing 3535.
The fourth initiative: to spotlight successes and solutions as well as failures and problems.
In MetroNews, staff writer Elizabeth Thiel tells the story of Lynn A. Ischep, 36, president of the Seabrooke Landing Civic League, who asked Chesapeake city officials if the league could give a facelift to a pump station in the neighborhood.
Ischep and the city turned the idea into the region's first - and so far only - adopt-a-pump-station program.
``It's something that with a little effort on both the city and the citizens' sides, we can make the city a better place to live,'' said Marvin W. Lewis, the city's wastewater pump station superintendent.
We want our work to help make Hampton Roads a better place to live, too. by CNB