Peifer and Partain evaluate the effectiveness of a ‘citizen forum’ transparency initiative
According to research published by associate professor Jason Peifer and Laura Partain, PhD’21, of The Ohio State University, most U.S. citizens have a weak sense of connection to news organizations.
“Citizen forums: Examining a journalistic transparency initiative’s capacity to foster understanding, connection, and trust” was published in Journalism Practice and was designed to address such disconnects with the media. The project involved conducting two-day long events in two U.S. Midwestern towns – Bedford and Bloomington, Indiana – where surveys and focus group interviews were held to examine the extent to which such citizen forum programming can serve to promote understanding of journalism, facilitate a sense of connection with local journalism, and bolster/sustain news trust more generally.
Ultimately, this multi-pronged case study offers evidence of positive outcomes relative to citizen forums promoting “engaged journalism,” though not without caveats and challenges.
This research paper is based on public engagement initiative funded by IU’s Public Arts and Humanities Project.