The Citistates Group

Assembling in January in Memphis a group of “journalists, educators, and media reformers from print, broadcast and new media, both mainstream and independent,” came together to look at the critical “intersection of journalism and media reform.” Neal Peirce and Farley Peters were there with them — they had a mission.

We firmly believe that a critical chunk of decisions in today’s world will be made at the metropolitan (we say “citistate”) level. Regions are the critical action arenas of the 21st century — the organic economies, natural watersheds, media catch basins, commute-sheds, workforce and education networks of our time. Regions are the platform that empower communities to achieve sustainability.

Now we’re seeing the emergence of the “new media” which seems to focus heavily on individuals, their opinions, and a brand of neighborhood-oriented, often hyper-local journalism. Which raises the problem — reporting on developments of regionwide issues doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s radar screen! How can quality, informed journalism about metro-region wide trends, developments, perils, opportunities, gain significant audiences in this new media era? How can we go beyond legacy media to use of new media, more citizen voice and participation in regional debates?

One idea: we call it the “Regional Jolt.”
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PEIRCE - How will the world of American and global citistates look 5 or 10 years from now? What’s coming next?

Here are five themes I’ve suggested to Associates of the Citistates Group for discussions during our summer gathering this year. We will post some of our Associates responses in the next weblog.

(1.) Climate change. Concerns about global warming have escalated rapidly with new scientific projections, melting conditions in the Arctic and Antarctic, the recent Gore film, etc. If we assume this threat is real, how do regions prepare now? Or as King County (Wash.) Executive Ron Sims asks — assuming it’s 2050 — looking back, what should a region have been planning, choosing as action in 2006? (I also discussed the topic in a recent column).

A subtheme: In an increasingly hurricane-threatened world, in the wake of the Katrina debacle, how can/should regions plan for major natural disasters (and/or terrorist attacks, pandemics), and how should they relate to state and national governments in that effort?
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The Citistates team’s 18 years of regional analysis (and provocation) are featured in the “Community Builders” section of the prestigious Urban Land magazine (May 2006).

In her request to interview the Citistates team, independent writer and author Desiree French explained, “Community builders are people who have made a tremendous difference in communities by helping to spark revitalization efforts or influencing positive growth. Specifically, ULI says the work Mr. Peirce and Mr. Johnson have done documenting the plight of our nation’s urban areas has had a significant impact on the way they have evolved”.