PRX's BallotVox and Campaign Audio
delivering the best in citizen coverage
A fantastic issue to have to address -- it can be easy sometimes to get lost online in the swarm of opinions about the 2008 US elections. Outgrowths of the Public Radio Exchange, BallotVox and Campaign Audio are working to point us all in the direction of independent and engaging citizen media centered on the issues, candidates, and on-the-ground implications of this year's election cycle.
Initially announced in January as part of a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Media Election Collaboration, these projects are hitting their stride in the aggregation of blogposts, podcasts, images, and videos from the non-professionals, the passionate, the perceptive. Rather than focusing upon the national dialogues covered by mainstream media, BallotVox and Campaign Audio, lead by their teams of curators, scour the Net to find the best it has to offer.From BallotVox's FAQ:
"We’re looking for voices that express many of public media’s core values. Rich detail, honesty, and engagement in public life are key. A healthy dose of humor and generosity doesn’t hurt either. BallotVox is nonpartisan, and we’ll do our best to highlight the full range of political opinions...We use del.icio.us to bookmark and tag everything we collect. Then we sort it for you by medium: on the Words page, the Videos page, the Pictures page, and the Audiopage. Then we blog about some of the selections on the main page. Some of our posts are pegged to the news; others are simply features about candidates or issues."
With finds like Jayel Aheram's photos and Brooke Pernice's music video, one can't help to wonder what else the projects will unearth.
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- Whether or not you caught PRX's announcement of the 2007 Zeitfunk award winners, do check out the virtual awards ceremony now online.
- Also not to be missed -- and just days away from its third birthday -- Generation PRX continues to grow, supporting, connecting, and distributing youth-produced radio.
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