There’s a new study out on how we Americans get our local news, and the findings show that “word of mouth” ranks second among all sources after local TV news. This has important implications for how communities go about informing themselves, engaging people, and, ultimately solving public challenges.

Source: Yiftah

In one way, this finding is not surprising. Back in the mid 1990s, the Harwood Institute did a study on how and why people engage on public concerns, entitled “Meaningful Chaos.” What we found then (and which is echoed in this latest study done by the Pew Research Center and Knight Foundation), is that people use numerous information sources, piecing them together in an attempt to paint a picture of what’s happening in the world around them. And to do so, they rely on no one single news source – instead, people actively and intentionally draw on a collection of them.

In piecing together this picture, people are in search of three things: coherence, meaning, and a sense of possibility. These are each basic human yearnings – desires that each of us are seeking to satisfy as we make our way through life. At issue is how well different organizations and groups help people to do this.

To understand these sources and their interplay, the Knight Foundation has been doing great work on what they call “information ecologies” – the web of information sources people tap into and use in daily community life. On October 17, the Aspen Institute (with support from Knight) will release a new white paper I wrote on how to assess local information environments. Click here if you want to receive a copy. I’ll be writing future posts about the key insights and findings in the days ahead.

But, for now, I want to underscore this one finding about “word of mouth” and its implications for the various efforts to “mobilize” Americans around particular issues, such as education.

Many of these efforts are laudable. But the importance of “word of mouth” is a reminder to those organizations and groups seeking to mobilize people that simply pushing out top-down, heavily messaged, highly packaged campaigns will not work. They run the risk of smelling like (and being!) public relations hyperbole, in which national or even local organizations are seen as trying to amass individuals in support of their organizational agenda.

Whether it’s the Occupy Wall Street demonstration, or the Tea Party, people are sending a clear message that they want to be heard, they want to engage on things that matter to them, and in ways that enable them to take action together. Word of mouth is at the center of these activities, and at the center of people’s lives. Our task now is to engage people in ways that tap into that and honor it.

What informational resource/s work well in your community. Does the answer lie in your local news, social clubs, or places of worship? What role does word of mouth play in your day-to-day? Perhaps some prefer another method of garnering reliable information to proceed in better decision-making for the community. We’d be interested to hear some of your thoughts and ideas on what mobilizes you, so please send them our way.

A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people\’92s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We\’92re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.

State of the Re:Union intern Brit McGinnis shares a product of her inspiration from a SOTRU tradition in “Letters to the City.” You can read the “Letters to the City” by visiting our Website (click here): under “Radio Episodes” you can choose which episode you would like to find out more about. Once you choose an episode, the “Letters to the City” will be available for your viewing pleasure on the right side of the page.

Dear Oregon,

Source: Cacophony The "Made in Oregon" sign located at the western end of the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon.

This is really a sad farewell for me, due to my leaving you to take on an internship in Ireland, a country across the sea and much different than yourself. I will miss you, Oregon — you’re such a chill state to hang with! You’re one of the mild-tempered middle children of the Union, the nature-loving, sweater-wearing, sweet-tooth-possessing daughter born on Valentine’s Day.

I first came to know you in the depths of winter (during a record-breaking snowfall, to boot). I was a little girl from California who had never seen snow, and I was boggled by it. The world looked exactly like the black and white postcards I had seen at Christmastime, and the snow-made air was clean and pure. My brothers and I had to gather firewood to feed the burning hearth, and knocked icicles off the roof to munch on with the neighbor kids.

Farewell Bend Park, in Bend, Oregon

But your landscape changed dramatically once summer came around, and goodness knows I loved you for it. The air was clean and arid, especially around the lava fields. The local people retained their famous friendliness throughout the change of seasons, and my family adopted the state as our new home.

Now that I’m older, I see you through different eyes. I can appreciate your  urban wisdom, the street smarts you contain under your scruffy exterior. You are so beloved by your people, who work hard to retain your natural beauty.

People have sometimes tried to make you feel like you aren’t cool, that you are too backwoodsy or don’t have enough big cities. But you just smile to yourself, Oregon, because you know the truth. You’re as awesome as they come. You’re the perfect pit stop between Los Angeles and Seattle, and musicians love to be taken in by your chill, music connoisseur peeps in Eugene or Portland (even Bend sometimes!).

Source: B.D.'s World A replica of one of the original covered wagons that travelled to Oregon in the 1800s.

You are so multifaceted, Oregon. It’s one of the things I love most about you. Farmland, beaches, volcanoes, forests— you’ve got it all. Both the High Desert and the Silicon Forest reside within you. You’re a jill-of-all-trades, with plenty of wonderful things to offer.

I love you, Oregon. You took me in as a scrappy kid from the desert and gave me a home. You also gave me a new heritage, one of pioneers, adventurers and scientists. I will no doubt miss your toughness, confidence, and all-American creativity when I venture from your shores.

Always,

Brit

P.S. There is indeed an Oregonian accent! To achieve it, begin by speaking slowly. Emphasize all “o” sounds, stretch out your “n”s, and make your t- and k-sounds extra harsh. And never forget, it’s “OR-UH-GUN”- not “OAR-EE-GONE.”

State of the Re:Union’s intern Melissa Lee gives us an insight into what some people of a small town in Washington State are doing to keep their community going.

Here’s something you don’t usually hear when entering a hardware store: “We’ve got some pie over there, help yourself.”

That’s exactly what I heard when I stepped into the Waitsburg Hardware & Mercantile in Waitsburg, WA.  And there was pie indeed.  It was blueberry rhubarb and it was delicious.  There was also coffee to go along with it.  I happened to stumble into the hardware store on what is known to the locals as “pie day,” which is not so much a set day of the week, but occurs whenever someone from the community decides to bring in pie for anyone who might stop by to enjoy.

“We have some very good pie and cake makers, and sometimes we have biscuits and gravy; we have all kinds of food in here,” said John Stellwagen.  He and his wife, Marilyn, own the place since they bought the business in 2005, and it was then that it became a center where people come together.  “People want to fix something, they bring it in.  We have people that make smoked cheeses and bring them in and sometimes we barbeque, so it just gets you through the day.” According to the Web site the hardware store is “A place where the community gathers to pass the time of day and catch up on the local news.”

Waitsburg Hardware & Mercantile

I spent about a half hour in the store and in that time saw at least 10 people come in, sit down, eat some pie and chat.  Many people seemed to know each other, but I also overheard introductions being made.  Stellwagen told me it all started one fall when Waitsburg Hardware decided to hold an apple pie baking contest.  Members of the community brought in their finest but the result was a draw, everyone coming in first place.  A run-off was planned, a second round of pie eating ensued and “pie day” was born.

“We had all these people bringing in these pies and we could never quite make up our mind, so we had to have another run-off, but really it was just a huge excuse to have pie. We never did choose anyone, but we had a pie a day for weeks,” explained Stellwagen.

“Sometimes people stop in two or three times a day,” a patron who was working on his second piece of the blueberry rhubarb treat told me.

The pie and coffee wasn’t the only evidence I saw that this store serves as much more than a place to buy nails and a hammer.  Marilyn Stellwagen also runs the Black Dog Rescue Program, which finds homes for abandoned cats and dogs, placing around 250 needy animals in the past two years.  And locals have a place to strut their stuff on a community bulletin board, displaying pictures of area members and the fish they have caught, complete with labels showing names and sizes.

I had just gone in to buy some batteries, but I left with a lot more; a sense that community can form wherever there is pie and a welcoming population.  Before I walked out the door, Stellwagen told me to come back sometime soon, and I will.  I hope I happen upon biscuits and gravy day, but for now, I know where I can find some pie; sitting right next to the screwdrivers, just how I like it.

Would these type of events work in a larger town or a metropolis, or is this something that can only be utilized by smaller hamlets? Do you know of more unique tactics to get the community involved? We would love to hear about it.

The word “reform” has become ubiquitous in its meaning and uses over the past few years. It is a hot-button topic, and perhaps its meaning has diminished. State of the Re:Union’s contributor Peter Block gives a refresher course on how to reform the notion of “reform.” (Because there are a few poignant points, SOTRU will present an excerpt from his post. To read Peter’s post in its entirety, click here.)

I would like to whisper a quiet caution to those of us who are investing in institutional or structural reform efforts. There is an intensifying stream of efforts to reform our institutions. In the U.S. there is government reform, education reform, healthcare reform, economic reform, food reform and environmental reform efforts. A growth industry to be sure.

Unfortunately, most of these reform efforts will change very little of consequence. Reform means to change the nature or order of things, to end something that is not working and replace it with something that does. Most of our current efforts have little to do with reform. They are at best efforts to make things a little better, a little less expensive, and at worst they are punitive strategies masquerading under the banner of reform.

The meaning of serious reform.

If we were serious about reform, there are four conditions that need to exist:

1. Serious reform means that there is a fundamental shift in the nature of relationships among the players. For example there would be a change in the relationship between teacher and student in education, doctor and patient in health care, politician and citizen in government, farmer and family in the food world.

2. This shift in relationship begins with a shift in who is authorized to speak, whose voice counts. If the voice of the educator, medical professional or elected official drives the reform and the voice of the student, patient or citizen is not amplified, then nothing has really changed.

3. When we re-authorize whose voice counts, there is a shift in where control resides. This means that real transformation calls forth from the student and patient and citizen more power than they had before, whether they want it or not. Power is distributed, not centralized. Consistency and efficiency are sacrificed for local ownership.

4. Shifting control leads to new forms of engagement. The players whom the system is designed to serve (students, patients and citizens) are now the center of the action. We pay close attention to how they come together. They meet to create relationships with one another. They value one another’s speaking. They realize they have the real power to create the future they have in mind for themselves. These effects are determined by the way we come together, not by new policy, program or expert design.

Source: VIC CVUT

Education reform applies to the other reform movements afoot.

Serious economic reform will create ways to build a stronger relationship among local businesses, home-based entrepreneurs, citizens buying less and buying local.

Serious health care reform will recognize that health is dependent on the network of relationships around us. We now know how to be healthy, we just need support from each other.

Government reform will have all of us deciding that we are citizens producing a good life for ourselves, not consumers wanting more services. Politicians will lose power and redefine their role as super-conveners of the process described above.

What this calls us to remember is that it is in the nature of students, parents, neighbors and citizens to lead the fundamental shifts that we all seek. The essential reform is to break the dependency we have on professionals, experts and consumption to provide satisfaction. As this occurs, our gift to the professionals is to give them and their systems something to follow.

What has reform come to mean to you? Has it been used so often that it has lost its meaning? What do you find to be the definition of reform? We want to know how reform works in your life, so write and tell us about your thoughts and comments.

Peter Block co-authored the book “The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods.” He is a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops to build the skills outlined in his books. He is the author of Flawless Consulting, Stewardship, The Answer to How Is Yes, and Community. He is the recipient of numerous awards, most recently the Organization Development Network’s 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award.

This week’s School Spotlight features a school that was mentioned in our recently released Cleveland, OH: Entrepreneurs at Work episode. The Near West Intergenerational School (NWIS)  is a new charter school that was born of parents’ aspirations to obtain a better community and future for their children. (To hear this podcast segment, click Here.)

Source: The Near Intergenerational School

Modeled after a highly regarded school in Cleveland, NWIS is currently in its first year of operation as a publicly funded charter school, offering children in grades K-4 an opportunity to be involved in a better education right now. While there is availability in public schools around them, those schools didn’t exactly tout high expectations of students’ developmental achievements. And the schools that did have waiting lists that are ridiculously long. Instead of forsaking their neighborhood in search of a better school zone, these parents, and later founders, opted to create a school dedicated to the heart of their community’s future.

A brief explanation of the reinforcing reasons for starting NWIS resides in the Founders’ Statement found on Website. It states that school was “founded by a group of neighborhood parents who desire a school rooted in and reflective of the physical and social fabric of the local community it serves.” Its goal is to  provide quality, free and accessible education to all children. The school intends to serve the children and families of that community, but not exclusively to that area. The founders want it to serve “as a cornerstone for continued community development, economic and neighborhood stability, and a gathering place for lifelong learners.”

According to an article from Cleveland.com, “Many of the parents are young professionals. At a time when Cleveland is emptying out, they are dedicated to urban life and have found a pocket where it thrives with historic houses and clusters of shops and restaurants.” You can read more about the school in the article here.

While opening a school is not the obvious or even right choice for others facing a similar situation, it is a working solution for this community of Cleveland parents. However, as wonderful of an accomplishment as this is, the school will need support to survive the rounds of voting and scrutiny it will encounter from city officials, sponsors and residents since it is publicly funded.

To that point, NWIS and its founders are the very reason that there will be money staying in and promoting growth in this Cleveland neighborhood area. Of course this situation begets controversy. Some wonder if this is an appropriate answer to the educational dilemma. The families whose lives have been positively affected through NWIS would say “yes.”

Is this a feasible solution for your community? Or is there another approach that could offer a better solution? Do you think your family or community would benefit from a program like this, or do you think public schools and the communities they serve would benefit from a different approach? We don’t have a one-size-fits-all answer, so we want to hear from you.

All Hands on Deck

There’s been a lot of bad news coming out of Sacramento lately: homelessness, the foreclosure rate, unemployment, political gridlock in a state crippled by the recession.  Add to that a stubborn case of politics fatigue, and you’ve got a lot of reasons to write off this city.  But we trekked to California’s beleaguered state capital to peek behind the national headlines and find out who keeps this city running—day in, day out—despite all that’s going wrong.  And we left with the realization that people in Sacramento are remaking the American city, in surprising and deeply moving ways.

For instance, after severe budget cuts jeopardize Sacramento’s biggest and best-loved park, a fifth grader masterminds a solution to help save it.

We follow the emotional ups and downs of die-hard fans as the threat to move their beloved basketball team, the Sacramento Kings, unites them as a community with one voice and cause. Also, Explore Sacramento’s tent city, and the people working to find innovative solutions to assist in resolving this crisis spanning many years. Al will give you a guided tour of all of these things involving facets of survival and community helping to bridge a divided community.

To find out more how the story unfolds, listen to the full episode of Sacramento, CA: All Hands on Deck.