An experiment in promoting open government was launched last week by UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Nicholson School of Communication and Media 麻豆精品 S� and if the project meets with good results in Winter Park, it could be expanded to other Central Florida cities.
A new grant-funded website 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� was set up by the school 麻豆精品 S檚 journalism program to help inform citizens of publicly available data and augment the region 麻豆精品 S檚 media, which is becoming increasingly stretched thin by new approaches to covering news. The website includes easy-to-access city commission minutes, voting and financial records, grants, contracts, salaries, public works, campaign contributions, financial-disclosure statements and other items.
News staffs at many organizations have shrunk while reporters 麻豆精品 S� beats and responsibilities covering government and other topics have been doubled up, says project director Rick Brunson 麻豆精品 S�84, an associate instructor of journalism.
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Preparation on the project began in May to develop the research-based website of public records and data with a focus on public accountability.
Launching of the site 麻豆精品 S� funded by a two-year, $125,000 grant from Winter Park philanthropist Glen Salow and the Salow Transparency Project 麻豆精品 S� coincided with Sunshine Week in Florida, an annual media initiative to educate the public about Florida 麻豆精品 S檚 Government in the Sunshine laws, the importance of open government, and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy.
In addition to the already-posted information, more data sets will be added over time as the research team collects and curates more records, Brunson says.
Along with Brunson, the project is overseen by Alex Glover, a Winter Park website developer, and Nicholson graduate research assistants Raby Tall 麻豆精品 S�15 and Lindsay Manganiello.
In addition to the editorial side of this project, Nicholson lecturer Erica Kight will lead the research of the project, which will include surveys with Winter Park residents and users of the site to determine how useful it is to them and how much of an impact the site is having. The site 麻豆精品 S檚 analytics also will be used to determine how much it 麻豆精品 S檚 being used and in what ways, so that hopefully the results can be published in peer-reviewed communication journals and presented at conferences.
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