Colorado newsrooms seeking to increase civic engagement and the public’s role in public accountability are invited to join this working group that will meet monthly to advance two complementary initiatives in 2023.
The League of Women Voters – in partnership with Open Media Foundation, City Bureau’s Documenters program, CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation, and other partners in Larimer County – is preparing to launch the Colorado Citizen Observers pilot project (CCOPP) to train residents to document and share notes from public meetings. How can this new content stream be most useful, if developed and curated in partnership with local newsrooms? Through monthly working group meetings, Colorado newsrooms can help project leaders design a scalable program that could have wide reach and impact among a range of communities.
In addition, CPA is partnering with Earn Your Press Pass to offer complimentary use of a robust, web-based program that newsrooms can use to train residents how to become community reporters. Monthly working group meetings will also provide time for newsrooms implementing this program, or considering implementation, to discuss questions and lessons learned.