Think Tank of Awesomeness

And I’m back!

It was a very busy but incredibly productive four days in Los Angeles. The good news is that it sounds like I’m on the right track with Project Goldfish. People agree there is a need for the type of reporting I want to do. It was encouraging to see other people get excited about an idea that I have spent so much time putting together.

The three aspects of Project Goldfish are:

1. Original reporting on city government and its policy decisions
2. An online community to foster discussions on those policies
3. An aggregation of public documents that give readers access to ordinances, motions, letters, reports

With that structure in mind, here are some of the highlights from my interviews last week:

Overwhelming support for the aggregation of public documents:

There are two major benefits to providing a one-stop shop of documents – it can empower readers to get involved and feel connected to their city government and it can be a useful tool to businesses and groups that need to stay up-to-date on legislation.

Strong support for live-streaming and live-blogging events such as town hall meetings:

It’s difficult for reporters to write stories on town hall meetings. The meetings are typically in the evening and run past newspaper and television deadlines. Plus, you usually have to sit there for two or three hours to get anything that is useable. But, that doesn’t mean town hall meetings aren’t important – they are. With Project Goldfish, I propose live streaming these meetings onto the web site while a reporter live blogs the public comments. At the end of the evening, the video could be edited down to a two minute highlight reel. This has the added benefit of giving readers the opportunity to watch and listen to meetings that take place halfway across town.

Politicians are always looking for a way to get out their message and would be interested in a weekly, half-hour video chat:

I’ve mentioned this on here before but I would love to spend a half an hour a week with a newsmaker via a video chat. Readers could send in questions (maybe even Skype in questions) to find out what is going on in that council district, neighborhood council or city department. It is a way of making City Hall real and accessible.

Angelenos are unable to identify with their council members and would benefit from knowing about their backgrounds, personalities and power within council

Before launching the site, I need to decide Project Goldfish’s personality and tone:

There was general agreement from theses interviews that the site needs to have some sort of an edge to capture readers’ attention. One of my interviewees gave me the same advice he received from Warren Christopher – CRUSADE. He said I should find angry, young reporters and unleash them. Hmm, I think that is a little too extreme for my taste (I’m all for anger but it has to be directed and it has to be productive). Though the reporting will be fair and accurate, I do agree that Project Goldfish needs to start from a point of view. How do I see City Hall?

Civic-minded Angelenos are a vastly underserved audience

Material could be sold to the Los Angeles Times and Daily News through a financial partnership similar to the Chicago News Cooperative’s relationship with The New York Times

Editorial and business decisions must be made in silos

With these thoughts in mind, I'm updating my business plan and imaging how I'll incorporate everything into the website. I’m hard at work. Really, see:

Coffee! Papers! Pens! Work! Work! Work!