Why local news can change the world… but doesn’t.
by Brian Reich | 2 Sep 2009, 8:19am
Henry (my 21-month old son) and I spent part of the afternoon on Tuesday playing at Bushnell Park in Hartford, CT. We don’t spend a lot of time in Hartford, but we are staying in nearby Manchester, CT with my in-laws for a few weeks while we wait to move in to our new apartment in New York City. So, my mother-in-law suggested we venture downtown to ride the park’s vintage 1914 carousel. Why not, right?
We weren’t able to ride the carousel - it is only available Thursday - Sunday in the fall, and apparently the new fall hours started on September 1st - so we opted for the next best/closest attraction, a playscape. As playscapes go (and I am a self-styled expert now, of course) this one was pretty nice. Lots of room to run around, structures to climb, slides to slide. There are padded floors in case you fall. And all around the play area are cement statues of turtles and frogs (which spit water) for kids to explore.
The playscape area, along with the park itself is pretty dirty and depressing, even on a bright sunny afternoon. There are plastic bags and empty water bottles on the ground. There weren’t very many people hanging around. In fact, my mother-in-law, who works nearby and eats her lunch by the fountain adjacent to the playscape, noted that the half-dozen kids who were playing when we arrived were the first kids she had ever seen in the area on a weekday.
Anyway, when we arrived, I noticed some graffiti written on one of the elements - a tic-tac-toe board. I didn’t pay much attention, and frankly wasn’t surprised — it is not uncommon to see graffiti written on a playground structure. This graffiti happened to be profane, which isn’t all that common, but I didn’t give it much thought. Then, a few minutes later, while Henry introduced himself to the cement turtle on the far side of the playground, a local news crew arrived. Apparently a viewer, visiting the playground with his 3-year old daughter, had alerted the local news about the graffiti and they decided to do a story. My mother-in-law and I were both asked to interview.
The reporter asked three, maybe four, very basic questions and I did my best to give a good sound-bite, while also making a larger point. Here is the quote that appeared in the online story:
“It certainly reflects badly on Hartford. This is a place you think you can raise kids and bring kids. You see something like this though and you start to wonder,” said Brian Reich of Hartford.
You watch the story, which was the lead on the 11 O’clock news, below:
First, I just want to note that I do not live in Hartford. The story listed me as a resident, but that is not true. Further, until yesterday, I had not given any thought to the upkeep up Bushnell Park. I lived in Fairfield County for a few years growing up, and have done political work in Connecticut which has brought me to Hartford somewhat regularly over the years. I agreed to interview for the story because when you have kids and they are running around on a local playscape, you start to view this type of issue as important, and form an opinion. I also submitted to the interview because, well, I was asked… if you put a camera in front of me, I can’t help but make a comment. That is just part of my nature (grin).
Second, the City of Hartford, which is already struggling, could probably have done without this completely avoidable hit to its reputation. Like a lot of municipalities, in Connecticut and across the nation, Hartford has lost jobs during the recession, along with tourism dollars. The state capitol has never had the best reputation, and on top of everything else, has an ongoing political scandal (the mayor was indicted for corruption, and new charges are expected to be filed this week as well) to deal with right now. Having the top story on the news reinforce all the negative stereotypes that already exist about the city - that the local government isn’t doing its job, that the city isn’t safe, or welcoming, piles on further. I tried to make this point in my comments to the reporter, both on and off camera, but those comments didn’t make the cut.
Finally, what frustrates me more than the fact that a nice local park has been defiled with graffiti, is the fact that the attention the media gives to the issue likely won’t change anything. Hartford’s local government knows that it isn’t keeping the city as clean as possible, but it can’t solve every problem - especially in tough economic times. The Bushnell Park Foundation is fully aware that plastic bags and empty water bottles litter the areas that they manage, not to mention the fact that graffiti abounds not just on this playscape, but it doesn’t have the resources to do anything about it right now either. Local residents who frequent the playground, not to mention tourists like me, aren’t surprised when graffiti appears on a local playscape, or when it doesn’t immediately get removed — but we don’t bring a spray bottle or a spare garbage bag to help make things better either. And if, somehow, the outrage generated by this story on the news were to prompt a quick response, it would almost certainly be in response to the story, and the desire to avoid future public shame, and not because cleaning up the park is the highest priority for all involved.
I believe the local media, which tops its broadcast with this story and claims the moral high-ground in a way by calling out the failures of the local officials, bears some responsibility as well. With the interviews completed and sufficient b-roll collected, the reporter and her cameraman packed up, walked back to their truck, and left the graffiti there to be cleaned up by someone else. Ater broadcasting the story, the local news station didn’t offer tips to local residents on how to clean up graffiti. And the best the local government and park officials could offer was an apology, with an asterisk, that tough economic times result in tough choices.
Everyone failed, but for the moment, let me focus on the media. You see, the media believes that to increase awareness of this (tiny, but obviously meaningful) blight on the city’s image, it has helped the community and fulfilled its civic responsibility. It has not. Awareness is not enough. The media must act if it wants to completely fulfill its responsibility to the local community.
Telling the story is not sufficient. Changing the story, or helping to change the story, would be a big step in the right direction. I don’t expect local media to become the leading civic activists in Hartford, or any other municipality, but recognizing and understanding the role that media plays in people’s lives would be a good starting point. Media drives awareness and helps to educate people on their relationship to the issues that impact our society. Once that awareness is raised, the media should be supporting action, not just highlighting when the actions that are being taken - by government, local institutions, or citizens - isn’t enough. That is what viewers want and expect - to be shown how to make a difference, to be supported in their quest to have an impact. Viewers want their media to help them change society. And until the local media does provide that help, people will continue to tune out and their frustration will continue to grow. We can do better.
I wrote a paper (opens as a PDF) earlier this year for iFOCOS, a think tank, about how technology and the internet were changing the relationship between government, the public, and the media. Here is an excerpt that I think is relevant here:
Local news operations are supposed to be information hubs for the communities they serve. And when they play that role, the audience responds and the community prospers. Of late,however, the local news seems to be focusing less on the stories that require unique attention and community focus and more on the sensationalistic (car crashes, crimes and fires) or functional (weather and traffic). In the age of digital media, it isn’t enough to simply exist; local news must inform, educate, and help spur us to action.
People want a place, digital or otherwise, where they can gather and learn about the community in which they are a part, a place where they can get in touch with the issues. News organizations can host and foster that community with the tools available to them online. The Obama campaign turned the Internet into a gateway for millions of Americans to participate in the political process, and now the President and his team fully expects that base of support to continue on their own, acting locally, to bring about change in our communities. At all levels, but especially on the local community level, the media should be a part of the community, taking direction from individuals about what issues are important and what changes must be made. Where the local news organizations can’t find resources to cover an issue, they should ask the community to contribute. Instead of going alone, they should collaborate to demand action.
Can every citizen be a reporter? Can news organizations be organs of change? Can our government truly welcome the participation of its constituents and maintain the focus necessary to lead? Are we prepared to take on the massive challenge of getting our government moving again? Are we truly interested in opening up our democracy to those who make it strong, at the risk of also needing to include those who might undermine it with their actions? Did the public ever really trust the government or the media? Will they ever, even when they are a part of the process that shapes how our country is managed?
…
The most trusted institutions in the We Media age, whether they are familiar big media brands or new upstart competitors, will be those that engage in, celebrate and strengthen civic life. Journalists, digital communities, special interest groups and independent storytellers will continue to compete for time, attention and influence in the We Media culture. Whether they behave as neutral watchdogs or partisan activists, the most influential of these voices and institutions inside and outside of government will be those that empower individuals to apply what they know to improve their lives, their communities, and the world. One measure of this empowerment will be the ability to influence government and its policies. Another will be trust – whether the public continues to believe that the president is acting with their best interests in mind, whether they are willing to commit their time and effort to help advance his agenda. We Media is the public – and the public’s increased interest and participation in covering the president, supporting his agenda, challenging his claims and holding him accountable to his commitments, will reflect a rising tide of passion and purpose within the swelling ranks of We Media.
In some cases, the local media does live up to the expectations that local viewers have — and takes an active role in addressing the issues that impact the community. But for the most part, media believes its role is to simply report, and argues that by doing just that, it deserves the attention and support needed to sustain operations. We know better today, as viewers and as citizens. We have power and opportunity, thanks in part to the access to information and community that now exists as a result of the influence of technology and the internet, to address these issues ourselves. As a result, media needs to change its role, and how it does its job. To help them, we all have to shift our thinking, and our behavior. When we do, things will begin to change for the better.
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: Bushnell Park CT graffiti Hartford media social change WeMedia
