GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A new program looks to train and pay people in Grand Rapids to report on local government meetings.
The Grand Rapids Documenters teaches residents how to keep tabs on the city’s elected leaders. They then attend meetings, especially ones that may otherwise go unnoticed, take notes, and publish them online for anyone to read.
The program launched this month. The Rapidian, powered by the Grand Rapids Community Media Center, will oversee it.
“We are trying to empower and give tools and resources,” said Allison Donahue, Grand Rapids Documenters program manager.
Donahue, who is also a journalist, explains that every day in cities across the country, government officials hold meetings, but it’s often difficult for local reporters to cover them all due to a number of factors like other stories and limited staff.
She is concerned how that issue could impact democracy, since leaders decide on crucial topics at the meetings.
“If we don't have people looking out for our community, and making sure that there are good people in office, who are doing the right thing, and making the right decisions, and reflecting the voices and stories of our community, I worry about what that will mean for Grand Rapids,” said Donahue.
Donahue hopes Grand Rapids Documenters eases her concerns. Participants can earn up to $17 an hour.
“It’s almost easier because of social media to be informed on issues that are happening halfway across the world, and not know anything about something that's happening halfway down your block,” said Donahue. “I think people are starting to feel that and they want to know what their leaders and their decision makers in their city are doing.”
The Documenters was started in 2018 by City Bureau, a journalism lab in Chicago. It’s now in 10 other cities across the country, including Grand Rapids.
Max Resnick serves as the network’s director of services. He says The Documenters gets people involved, bolsters the work of newsrooms, and increases transparency in communities.
According to Resnick, Fresno Documenters revealed how a local budget subcommittee in California improperly gathered for years.
“Local reporting staff heard from Documenters that this meeting was regularly [held] behind closed doors,” said Resnick. “They're now following up to make sure that committee follows the state's Open Meetings Act, and so that millions of dollars of decisions about local budgets are available for residents to be able to keep an eye on.”
Resnick says more than 2,000 Documenters have been trained and more than 8,000 meetings have been attended. The goal is to continue expanding the program.
A recruitment event for Grand Rapids Documenters will be held Wednesday, Aug. 23 at Creston Brewery from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Another will be held at the GR Center for Community Transformation on Wednesday, Sept. 20 from 6:30 p.m-8:30 p.m. Anyone interested in becoming a Documenter is invited to attend.
For more information on Grand Rapids Documenters, click here.
