PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS — Late last month, a few days before the news broke that there would be no indictment in the Michael Brown case, Matt Sullivan reached out to Tony Messenger.
Sullivan is the editorial page editor for The Guardian‘s US bureau; Messenger is his counterpart at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In August, after Brown’s shooting death at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson, MO, ignited massive protests and became a national story, they had spearheaded a collaboration between their publications, asking readers to submit stories of racial profiling by police.
Now, Sullivan and Messenger, along with the rest of the world, were waiting on a grand jury decision that seemed inevitable—and seemed certain to spark more protests.
“I said, ‘This moment is just going to suck,’” Sullivan recalls.
They began to discuss ways to counter the wave of negativity that was sure to follow the announcement—and counter the perception that journalists in Ferguson were interested only in “riot porn.”
The result would be #FergusonNext, a new, “solution-based” collaboration that asks readers for ideas to address the conditions behind grievances in Ferguson and across the country. Users can send in “#Ferguson solutions”–for reform of the police, courts, government or education; combating segregation; or economic empowerment–on the project microsite or via social media.
The editors then select reader responses for display on the microsite. A sampling:
“End stop-and-frisk.”
“Universal access to high quality early childhood education would be a great start, preventing many educational gaps before they begin.”
“Ferguson and places that have quasi-autonomy should be consolidated. There should be a unified central police force, fire department and public works agency.”
“I remember as a county supervisor implementing community policing back in the 70’s. It should be standard practice nationwide.” (A submission from Sen. Barbara Boxer of California.)
“Incorporate training around privilege, particularly white privilege, for (white) first-year college students—at orientation.”
“Reparations.”
The Guardian US and Post-Dispatch opinion pages are joined in the project by an eclectic group of other news organizations: Ebony.com, the activist news site Colorlines, and two smaller St. Louis papers, the African-American weekly St. Louis American and the alt-weekly Riverfront Times. “We welcome these other publications in joining in the work we have been doing for more than 80 years,” said Chris King, managing editor of the American. “They all have value in the effort.”
If the project sounds “a little hopey-changey”–well, it is, Sullivan acknowledged during a recent interview. It’s also a bit of a work in progress. The plans for exactly what to do with all those reader submissions, and how each of the news organizations will participate in the project, are still being worked out.
The Guardian is providing IT infrastructure for the project using its Swarmize data-journalism platform and has begun posting #FergusonNext-themed columns, as has the Riverfront Times. Messenger says a live chat is in the works at the Post-Dispatch website. Other than that, the news organizations are represented by links to their Ferguson-related content on the microsite.
“It’s evolving,” Sullivan said. He hopes to take some of the most constructive proposals and then “reach out to experts” for insight on whether and how they might be enacted.
From the editors’ perspective, one of the virtues of the project is its potential to connect the publications to the vibrant online discussion about Ferguson, especially among younger, more diverse audiences. “This is a movement driven largely by young people of color,” Sullivan says. “You’ve got to have people on the ground.”
Perhaps as a result, the #FergusonNext microsite has a distinctly, if mildly, activist character. It prominently features the slogan “No justice, no peace, what now?” along with a link to “Donate to the Brown Siblings Memorial Fund” at the top. Says Messenger: “We wanted it to be a site that people who are participating in the protests feel comfortable coming to.”
Still, Sullivan insists that this is a journalistic, not an activist, enterprise. Messenger says #FergusonNext fits with his “solution-focused” editorial philosophy; he is also quick to emphasize that only the Post-Dispatch editorial page, not the paper as a whole, is participating. His editorials, Messenger says, have consistently taken the position that the Ferguson protesters have valid grievances, and so starting from the premise that justice has not been served is in keeping with what has been the paper’s stance since August.
The outreach to the protest movement is an interesting move for the Post-Dispatch, which has won awards and acclaim for its Ferguson coverage but has itself been the target of protests. The daily has also, in at least one instance, faced criticism of a sort from a #FergusonNext partner publication.
As Messenger sees it, as St. Louis and the nation grapple with the problem of uniting divided, polarized communities, joining forces with rival local papers sets a good example. “What better way to model that behavior than collaborate with publications that often are at odds with each other?” he said.
It might seem quixotic that a group of news organizations can cut through the anger, the noise, and the discord of Ferguson to bring about practical policy solutions. But Sullivan and Messenger are optimistic about their “hopey-changey” project, even as the plan of attack is being worked out.
“I don’t know if we’re going to march into Eric Holder’s office and say, ‘Here’s some ideas,’” Sullivan says.
But he hasn’t ruled it out, either. As he says: “It’s important for media organizations to try to effect change.”
Deron Lee is CJR’s correspondent for Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. A writer and copy editor who has spent nine years with the National Journal Group, he has also contributed to The Hotline and the Lawrence Journal-World. He lives in the Kansas City area. Follow him on Twitter at @deron_lee.