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  • Voter Turnout in New York City Was Cratering; Then Came 2018

    June 20, 2020 |

    Gotham Gazette |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    Record high voter turnout in New York's 2018 primaries was due in part to grassroots groups effectively harnessing voters’ anger towards the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), a group of State Senate Democrats who caucused with Republicans. A coalition of over 45 organizations held protests, ran phone banks, and sent out materials to encourage voters to turn out against the IDC, and it worked. Challengers beat incumbent IDC candidates in several primaries, eventually winning seats in Congress. Despite record-high turnout, it still only averaged 29% in districts where IDC candidates were challenged.

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  • What's Happened To Hawaii's Police Shootings Review Board? Audio icon

    June 17, 2020 |

    Honolulu Civil Beat |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Hawaii

    The groundswell for greater accountability in police shootings has barely caused a ripple in Hawaii, where the state’s Law Enforcement Officer Independent Review board has finished only one case in its first three years of existence and has suspended meetings during the pandemic. With one of its two citizen member slots vacant on an otherwise law-enforcement-heavy board, the panel fails a basic tenet of accountability by severely limiting public access to the cases it’s considering and its deliberations, says one critic.

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  • What voting by mail looks like when it works

    June 12, 2020 |

    The Washington Post |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Colorado

    Vote-by-mail in Colorado makes voting easier. Citizens are automatically registered to vote by the DMV when they get a license. Voter data is updated monthly by the post office to increase voter roll accuracy. Voters get an email or text when their ballot is sent out and unique bar codes allow ballots to be tracked with a Postal Service app. Ballots can be returned by mail, with postage covered if needed, or at an official drop-off location and signatures on the back of the envelope are matched to DMV records. For transparency, voters can watch officials process ballots in person or on a live stream.

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  • Democracy isn't working: five ideas that are already helping to fix the problem

    June 10, 2020 |

    The Correspondent |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: Kenya

    Communities around the world are increasing citizen participation in political decision-making in innovative ways. Participatory budgets allow locals to decide how cities spend money and in some Kenyan cities this has successfully engaged marginalized communities. Citizens’ Initiative Reviews in Oregon and Representative Population Samples in Brazil have allowed the public to weigh in on important policies. In Taiwan, citizen-led digital participation platforms helped to control the coronavirus and avoid major shutdowns. These alternatives require funding and public trust, both of which can be hard to get.

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  • A Job for Elves

    June 09, 2020 |

    Are We Europe |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Lithuania

    The coronavirus pandemic has invigorated organizations working in the Baltics to counter disinformation, particularly from Russia, by flagging suspicious accounts, fake news, and hate speech. For example, Covid-19 led hundreds of Lithuanian medics to a group called the Elves to flag disinformation about the virus and related government responses. The groups partner with and receive funding from local and international sources, including Facebook and the Google News Innovation Fund. Some question whether highlighting stories, websites, and user accounts as fake might actually help to disseminate them further.

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  • I Cover Cops as an Investigative Reporter. Here Are Five Ways You Can Start Holding Your Department Accountable.

    June 04, 2020 |

    ProPublica |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New Jersey

    Citizen watchdogs can hold local police accountable by using the tactics of investigative reporters that have successfully exposed systemic problems and sparked reforms. One reporter shares five approaches he’s used to hold up policies and practices to scrutiny, some of which led to positive change. He provides a how-to on learning the existing policies, obtaining public records, engaging influencers in honest dialog, presenting verified evidence in a fair format, and seeking allies to pressure for reform.

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  • Students on lockdown create a global guide to coronavirus conspiracy theories, fake cures, and other whopping lies

    May 26, 2020 |

    Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Princeton, New Jersey

    Princeton University's Empirical Studies of Conflict Project launched a tracking effort to document COVID-19 disinformation worldwide. Created by a network of students tapping into fact-checking sites and other social media and internet sources, the data set taking shape (and, with more than 800 entries in its first three months, already accessible online) serves as a resource for researchers, historians, journalists, and the public in the battle against rumors, conspiracy theories, fake cures, propaganda, and other disinformation surrounding the pandemic.

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  • Tackling Rape Culture and Sexual Violence Amid Societal and Systemic Limitations in Nigeria

    May 18, 2020 |

    Ventures Africa |

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    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: Nigeria

    Stand To End Rape (STER) is a youth-led Nigerian NGO that works with sexual and gender abuse survivors by providing services, including psychosocial support and advocacy to address cultural norms of victim-blaming, shaming, and skepticism that keep sexual assault survivors from getting help. 173 cases were reported to STER in 2019 and they provided legal support to 55 individuals from those cases. STER also works with the Women at Risk International Foundation for medical care and a 24-hour confidential helpline that took 230 calls in the last 2 years, an important but small fraction of national cases.

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  • Philadelphia Based Artists Fill the Walls With Hope, and Public Safety Know-How

    May 13, 2020 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    In Philadelphia, a project called Fill the Walls With Hope has come together, pairing public art with hyper-local information. The initiative, which has collaborated with various local organizations, came together as a response to COVID-19 and the need to get out timely, factual public safety messaging. Run by volunteers, the project pays local, participating artists, and has been working with local news outlets to help creatively engage residents.

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  • Using a Mobile Phone Survey to Investigate South Sudan's Conflict

    May 11, 2020 |

    Global Investigative Journalism Network |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: South Sudan

    To tell the stories of victims of forced displacement, property destruction, and occupation in South Sudan, a team of journalists devised a phone survey to gauge the extent of the problem. By surveying hard-to-reach people in refugee camps, one of many barriers to traditional reporting due to the government's repressive tactics, the reporters pinpointed areas where people had been forced off their land, many by government soldiers. The survey was recorded in six languages and was made statistically valid by consulting outside experts and transparently disclosing its limitations.

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