City Bureau is helping journalism one Documenter at a time, but the work is mounting.
The organization has trained about 4,000 people and distributed $1 million toward government accountability. That work is then made available to audiences who would otherwise not know what their local officials are doing.
The Chicago-based journalism lab helped build a network of people who are paid to attend public meetings, document what happens and send the basics to news organizations. The concept is being rolled out across the U.S. to help newsrooms track government decisions.
City Bureau launched the concept in Chicago in September 2016.
“It was created originally to document conferences,” said Sonam Vashi, director of the Documenters program. “There was a conference going on — and this was before all the Otters (transcription app) and AIs of the world — and folks wanted to have good documentation to ensure the conference was accessible to everybody. So, they did this one project to recruit 42 storytellers across Chicago to document that conference, which was really cool. Folks were paid to do it. And that ethos turned into the Documenters program at City Bureau.”
The bureau trained about 1,000 people to focus on Chicago’s South and West Side neighborhoods to learn more about public meetings and local government. The idea caught on as a way for news organizations to fill in gaps in coverage that may have been dropped as full-time journalists became fewer in number.
According to City Bureau’s website, the Documenters Network has trained more than 4,000 people across 24 communities in 16 states to document government meetings. Communities in Oklahoma and Oregon joined the Documenters Network in May.
The program trains and pays community members to cover meetings and take notes. The documenters can provide written reports, social media posts, photos, audio and video. City Bureau maintains the civic infrastructure for sites across the U.S. The program uses forms where the Documenters can document decisions made but also provide questions they have about a particular topic at the meeting, which can spark follow-up stories for experienced journalists.
“We have follow-up questions in every Documenters notes template,” Vashi said. “So we asked the Documenter, ‘Great, you went to the public meeting. Now, what questions do you have?’ And those follow-up questions end up being such great fodder for stories. Documenters are not in any way replacements for reporters who have a lot of training, context and knowledge building, but they are reporters’ friends for sure.”
City Bureau developed scrapers to collect public meeting times and agendas to make the most out of the program. That information is entered into a meeting database, so anyone trained as a Documenter can apply for an assignment in their community. Once the Documenter files the information, it is reviewed by an editor.
City Bureau can turn content into newsletters that go to subscribers. In 2022, City Bureau received a $10 million investment via the Stronger Democracy Award, allowing the program to be rolled out nationwide. City Bureau recently reached the threshold of $1 million dedicated to the program in various communities.
“We are at a period of intentional, moderated growth,” Vashi said. “We’re not trying to grow the program exponentially, but we are trying to … build a really strong foundation.”
Vashi said anyone can be a Documenter. College students often make good candidates, especially if they are interested in journalism or government.
Vashi said a colleague dubbed the program a “civic side hustle.” Ultimately, it’s a great program to help news organizations get more eyes and ears on public bodies. It allows individuals to make a little money on the side, and it helps dispel misinformation often shared on social media.
The City Bureau continues to push forward with new ideas, developing a prototype to test and validate different AI-fueled ideas using Documenters’ notes.
Vashi noted that Documenters are covering thousands of meetings that were not covered before.
“That’s a lot of information,” she said. “That's a lot of excellent, detailed information about how this country works.”
Bob Miller has spent over 25 years in local newsrooms, including 12 years as an executive editor with Rust Communications. Bob also produces an independent true crime investigative podcast called The Lawless Files.
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