On August 5th the scene was set. The goal was to raise $2,500 by the end of the month. The money would be used to hire independent journalists to fact-check the political advertising for the upcoming SF election.

We have an editorial strategy all laid out (see below). And the finish line is in plain view. We have collected  $2,142. That is close to 86% of the funding!!!!!

$2,200 or 88% of the funding!!!!

All we need is to find another 12 residents willing to donate $25 each (smaller/larger donations welcome). We have 10 more days to reach this goal. If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, thought it was a good idea but didn’t want to take the 10 minutes to get out your credit card and pledge $10 – now would be the time to do that.

Join our efforts by pledging here. Learn more about our efforts here.

If we reach our goal then together, a group of citizens would have collectively commissioned a journalist to help them make informed decisions before going to the voting booths. How cool is that!!!!

Here’s the editorial outline – with more details at our wiki page.

Scope of coverage:

The reporting will be nonpartisan – “This is not an advocacy project.”

When we identify advertising that merits being factchecked we will:

• Identify what the ad is in favor of or opposed to, and give a concise overview of the issue in question
• Identify who’s paying the bills — and go deep on this. Clarify ideological and business connections, what they stand to gain personally, financially and politically from electoral success.
• Fact check each assertion in the ad.
• Differentiate the emotional appeals vs. the factual appeals in each ad.
• Identify the particular type of messaging, i.e., what are they trying to appeal to in the voters? Populism/”People like us”? Outrage? Hope? Etc.
• Adjunct topics: The ballot. What does it take to get on the ballot? How do the “pro” and “con” parties get picked for the arguments in the ballot? How does one register one’s own opinon on a ballot? Take a voter-empowerment perspective on this, almost a “DIY/How-To” approach.

Ideally We Will Have Public Participation

• Develop a “tactical” approach — boost the interactivity of it by enabling “audience” to suggest ads they’ve received for fact-checking.
• Provide online space for public input, as well as checklist of crucial data needed to go after a particular ad.
• Develop further appeals for participation via KALW weekly broadcasts.

Organizational Partners

• Confirmed: Spot.Us, The Public Press, Newsdesk.org, KALW
• Possible: CIR, KUSF-F

I also don’t want to leave out another fundraising effort for reporting on cement kilns in Northern California by reporter Chris Amico, which only needs 12 more people to donate $10 each. Although this doesn’t have a set deadline, I know Chris would like to start working on it as soon as possible.

Related posts:

1. WE DID IT!!!! S.F. Election Campaign a Success!
2. Seattle Election Truthiness Campaign?
3. SF Election Truthiness: First Article – Invasion of the Policy Pushers
4. Support Fact-Checking in San Francisco's Election
5. What Do You Want to Know about the SF Election?