Become a Sponsor

A Proven Civic Engagement-Citizen Journalism Program

Partner organizations: 

The Reader in partnership Chicago-based City Bureau and oversight from the Omaha Institute for Nonprofit Journalism

Part of:

Documenters.org Network | Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Fresno, Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia

Goal:

Turn the knowledge and relationships of local residents into an information resource for media, community organizers and civic actors working toward community-based solutions, while providing necessary oversight of government meetings, also addressing:

What We're Helping Solve

• Gaps in Essential Local Coverage: No local media has the resources to cover public meetings front-to-back, limiting informed civic participation and leaving openings for bad actors.
• Misinformation: Documenters record and amplify the deliberations that lead to government decision-making, reducing the uncertainty where misinformation thrives in our social environment.
• Civic Engagement: Information is power. The more communities understand civics, the more engaged they can become, helping reduce nonprofit burdens imposed by an inattentive public sector.
• Media Literacy: By training citizens on the core fundamentals of documenting public meetings, the local reporting process is demystified and communities learn the what media can do, and what it can’t.

Help Us Build Democracy and Hold Government Accountable

Underwrite the hiring, training & documenting of our most important public meetings – workshops of our democracy