Description

Coverage of local government has been one of the casualties of the re-ordering of the media ecosystem. Resource-strapped local newspapers and TV stations may be able to cover the mayor but not the myriad agencies boards, commissions, and committees that wield immense power over schools, parks, buildings, businesses, streets, transit systems, etc. Luce grantee City Bureau developed the Documenters program to recruit and train citizens to report on the meetings in which consequential decisions are made by these public entities. Documenters are now working in Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Detroit, among others. Detroit’s Outlier Media operates the Documenters program there. They cover scores of public meetings each month and publish a weekly e-newsletter for subscribers. Documenters also work on special projects, like a voters’ guide. Luce funding would enable Outlier to make the two coordinators of the program full-time and to develop new educational resources, providing better support to citizen journalists.
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