FJP Community Network Grant Winner: The Arizona Republic

Build a data-driven and audience informed voter guide for underserved groups that is interactive and responsive to their top concerns.

$25,000

Our project is a unique voter guide for the 2020 election. Our goal is for this guide to counter political jargon that turns many people off of political news, by bridging the gap between politics and what’s at stake in readers’ lives. Voter guides traditionally serve the public as a whole. This guide is a focused citizen’s agenda to help us hone our reporting in an important election year. They will be informed by community liaisons and listening sessions, an important step for us to gain trust with communities we haven't served well.

Initially, we will use audience data and census data to identify 5-7 underserved groups who represent the community we serve. They will primarily represent communities we haven’t prioritized in the past.

Each group will have a liaison from the appropriate community group. With our liaison, we’ll set up listening sessions to help us avoid the assumption that we as a newsroom know what is best for everyone. These sessions will help us create a list of issues important to each group.

These guides will work like a “choose your own adventure”: Users can click which group they identify with, and be shown issues that could affect them. Each issue will be explained on a page and lists candidates' stances.

This guide will begin our relationship with underserved communities by offering them a resource that caters to them. Rebuilding that bridge will help us gain the trust needed for them to view us as a product that serves them.

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