Introducing a Blog for the ProPublica Reporting Network
I’m happy to announce that we now have a blog for the more than 1000 members of our ProPublica Reporting Network, an initiative we launched just a little more than a month ago.
The blog is intended as workspace for the Reporting Network, which organizes readers and guides them to “commit acts of journalism,” as it’s put by Marc Cooper, my former colleague from our days running the citizen journalism site OffTheBus. First up? The Reporting Network is setting its sights on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the stimulus. It’s a whopping $787 billion bill, one of the largest spending bills in U.S. history. Our first undertaking is the Adopt a Stimulus Project. The premise is simple—by building a network of monitors we can track progress made across the country. All you need to do is commit to watchdogging a local bridge or road construction effort.
Here we’ll report our findings and discuss our work. We’ll also link to resources we develop, and incorporate reporting and community tools. Occasionally I’ll profile collaborative reporting projects run by other news organizations or bloggers, like NPR’s “Health Care Lobbyists on the Hill.” Like the rest of ProPublica’s work, everything you find on here is licensed through Creative Commons. That means you can republish anything and everything, as long as you properly cite us.
Not everything will get discussed in real time. This is a collaborative investigative reporting project. Our larger goal is to hold power accountable—making sure that those entrusted with public office and responsibility do not abuse public trust. If disclosing information or ideas jeopardizes the integrity of our investigation, we’ll keep quiet.
Now, if you’re one of the more than 200 people who have adopted a local stimulus project, I’ve got updates… Stay tuned for blog posts reviewing the results thus far.
You can reach me at amanda AT propublica.org.
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1 comments
MrMark
July 4, 2009, 3:47 p.m.
Crowdsourcing coverage of the stimulus is a great idea. So I took a look at stimulus projects where I live in Los Angeles County. Looking over the transportation stimulus funds data provided by ProPublica, it is evident that roadwork is the big winner in Los Angeles County – three-quarters of all projects are for pavement improvement or construction yet they soak up a whopping 90% of the county’s stimulus funds. Ninety percent!
Other worthy needs in Los Angeles County are given short shrift. Three bicycle-related and three safety-related transportation projects are funded (2.5% of total funds). Indeed automobile traffic control initiatives are 6% of projects by funding, but pedestrians go wanting: only two sidewalk projects are included totaling to a fraction of one percent of funding. And only one public transit-related initiative is included among the 103 Los Angeles county projects (for signal coordination). In a county with a high proportion of transit users and pedestrians this is paltry indeed!
Unless the objective is to simply shovel funds out the door, road projects are perhaps not the most productive investments; they are slow to get moving due to permitting and contracting. The slo-mo economic effect of the Obama stimulus has been noted by economists who point out that road projects are difficult to get from the boards to completion quickly.
California is a large state and as such is a top recipient of stimulus funds. Los Angeles county (at 10 million people) is our largest local government and home to 27% of the state’s population. Yet we receive 31% of stimulus funds. And evidently, we’re a bit myopic in focusing almost exclusively on road improvement when a long list of worthy, pedestrian-oriented initiatives go begging. Indeed bike lanes are afforded only landscaping under this stimulus plan in Los Angeles County.
Thanks for making the data available and for encouraging a bit of amateur gumshoe work to make it meaningful!
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