Yesterday, a series of tweets by Derek Willis, data journalist and a proper journalist-coder with the New York Times, caught my eye. I met Derek when he worked for the Washington Post as a database editor, and a lot of his work for the New York Times has been focused on “political and election-related applications and APIs”. For an example of that work, you should check out the Times’ Congress APIs, which allow you to access data about votes, bills, and biographical information for members of Congress. That’s a long way of saying that he’s deeply committed to enhancing the transparency of the US government.
The tweets that caught my eye were about engaging people in their democracy and not simply feeding their anger about government.
Yes, understanding gov is difficult, but it requires an active citizenship. System doesn't work well without it. 1/2
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) November 2, 2013
Can't just say, hey please leak stuff so we know what to be angry about. People need to actually be involved, to vote, to learn about gov.
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) November 2, 2013
Expecting a representative gov without understanding it is beyond nutty. A lot of these "dirty secrets" are not really secrets but req attn.
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) November 2, 2013
Frustrating to the point of madness sometimes? Sure. But that's a far cry from "broken", and we should think about using apocalyptic terms.
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) November 2, 2013
Truly don't understand coverage that asks ppl to hate the system they have and also to save it. Why would they?
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) November 2, 2013
Coverage that calls on people to hate the ‘system’ while also exhorting them to take action to save it makes no sense. A recent poll in the US shows that a negative ‘pox on both their houses’ view of both political parties has taken hold. Republican pollster Bill McInturff was quoted by NPR as saying:
These events have deeply unsettled people and diminished the public confidence required of a great nation.
NPR links to the full results of the poll.
US voters have long needed more political choices, but I share Derek’s concerns about coverage that only drives people to disengage with the democratic process. Corrosively cynical coverage that leaves people feeling powerless will just lead to a sense of civic nihilism. Journalism has to question governments, but it also needs to engage people in creating the change they want.