By: Joe Strupp Associated Press Managing Editors (APME), which last year helped spark stories in dozens of newspapers on federal earmarks by offering data and tools for research, is at it again: This time, the focus is on the proliferation of local programs using federal stimulus money.
APME, partnering with the Associated Press and the Sunlight Foundation, is compiling data from the federal government on the ongoing and future stimulus programs. APME will provide such data, along with story ideas on how to localize it.
"Today we begin a long range database project, with Webinar training commencing next week, to help you gauge the effectiveness of the federal stimulus program in your market -- whether jobs are being created, how much of the nearly $800 billion is being disbursed at home and to whom those payments are going," APME Foundation President David Ledford wrote in a letter to AP members announcing the program. "The notion is to use federal data to fuel local stories. And if newspapers nationwide use old-fashioned gumshoe reporting to augment the many data sets released during the coming year, our collective efforts will bring meaningful perspective to one of the most important stories of our time."
The first area of focus is transportation, with APME offering a database of information on 5,853 different programs nationwide. Future areas of focus will include: infrastructure, law enforcement, the environment, housing, energy, health care, military construction, education, and state and local funding.
The program also plans to hold free Webinars beginning Tuesday on how to use the data and localize such issues. They are slated for:
Tuesday, July 21, 9 a.m. EDT and noon EDT; and Wednesday, July 22, 3 p.m. EDT and 6 p.m. EDT.
Links to each are below:
Tuesday, 9 a.m. -
Click here.
Tuesday, Noon -
Click here.
Wednesday, 3 p.m. -
Click here.
Wednesday, 6 p.m. -
Click here.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here