In partnership with COLab and the Colorado Sun, Colorado Media Project presents #FollowtheMoneyCO, an initiative to help journalists statewide track and report on money in politics this election season.
Sandra Fish, a 20+year veteran of campaign finance data-gathering and analysis, serves as a centralized resource for all Colorado newsrooms and members of the public to access data and information about money and messages in politics.
By joining #FollowtheMoneyCO, Colorado newsrooms will receive:
Day-of-filing campaign finance data, parsed and organized by Fish, shared via Google sheet with basic numbers that reporters can use to develop their own stories. (See this congressional sheet as an example.)
Webinars and moderated Slack channel with tips and training on how reporters can use campaign finance data in their reporting on the 2020 elections to find trends and localize stories.
Day (or two) after filing-day stories from Fish and Colorado Sun editors, on state-level, broad trends and observations. Stories shared via StoryShare are free to use by any participating newsroom, with a footer recognizing your participation in the project.
Enterprise stories from Fish and the Sun with suggestions for localization:
Presidential donors from Colorado
Small-dollar donors from Colorado
Spending on Colorado businesses at the federal level (maybe state-level separately)
Messages in campaigns via Follow the Message submissions
To join this FREE network, please take five minutes to complete this form. Newsrooms can join on a rolling basis; Fish is already compiling resources that we hope you will find immediately valuable.
If you have additional questions, email Fish.