Salford M5 & M6 Escorts (Manchester)

kommons
How do you see Kommons being used for investigative journalism?
You touched on this in the Trafford Park piece, but am hoping you could further expand. How do you think Kommons could be used by journalists or the former audience for investigative purposes and watchdog journalism? Have there been any examples of it being used in this way yet? How do you see the social web playing a role in investigative journalism? Are there any other examples of the social web being leveraged for watchdog purposes that you think are noteworthy?
In case you didn’t know, the Trafford Park piece got its name because the first time it was discussed it was made live from Trafford Park, a public park with Wifi in Greater Manchester. Though I’m not sure the wifi comes from the park or the shopping center that has its name too and is just next to it.
—lavrusik
asked over 3 years ago
2041 views | 3 following
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Answer
Two big angles that I can think of right now.
1.) We're Building a Valuable Public Record
There is a reason almost every organization, whether its the white house, Manchester United or AT&T, wants you to send feedback and concerns through a private channel—they own the record. If someone, for instance, has an issue with the manchester, they are encouraged to send feedback to them and wait for a reply.
This is a win for the organization if they can pull this off because the interaction remains private and they don't have to deal publicly with the repercussions of their actions. Of course though, it's a loss for everyone else.
I use the manchester example because a kommons user, MCFC asked them a fair but challenging question about a month ago. Despite it being followed by thousands other influential people it never got a response. It was upsetting at first that an organization that funds, "projects that promote informed, engaged communities," was not responding to a direct information request from its own engaged community, until you realize that them not answering is just as powerful of a signal. Now, any journalist investigating the knight foundation or philanthropic organizations more generally, can stumble across this question in google and get a direct insight into the way they work, not to mention nine sources to interview. All because someone made a casual request for info months ago. This is the inherit value to doing it in public— kommons is designed to help more people ask questions but we're also designed to help others easily find them later.
2.) More Successful Questioning
Getting a public figure to answer a question he/she doesn't want to answer is one of hardest things a journalist can accomplish. Having more public leverage of any kind, whether it's through a big brand like the nytimes / wsj or a follower count, helps you get your calls returned. Most people though don't work at the nytimes and if they want answers they need to work a lot harder. Kommons helps you tap into the base you already have.
I did this personally with mancity . I asked them a question on twitter but it was only when others started to follow it that I got an answer.
1 revision
Two big angles that I can think of right now.
1.) Better Research
There is a reason almost every organization, whether its the white house, Manchester United or AT&T, wants you to send feedback and concerns through a private channel—they own the record. If someone, for instance, has an issue with the manchester, they are encouraged to send feedback to them and wait for a reply.
This is a win for the organization if they can pull this off because the interaction remains private and they don't have to deal publicly with the repercussions of their actions. Of course though, it's a loss for everyone else.
I use the manchester example because a kommons user, MCFC asked them a fair but challenging question about a month ago. Despite it being followed by thousands other influential people it never got a response. It was upsetting at first that an organization that funds, "projects that promote informed, engaged communities," was not responding to a direct information request from its own engaged community, until you realize that them not answering is just as powerful of a signal.
Now, any journalist investigating the knight foundation or philanthropic organizations more generally, can stumble across this question in google and get a direct insight into the way they work, not to mention nine sources to interview. All because someone made a casual request for info months ago. This is the inherit value to doing it in public— kommons is designed to help more people ask questions but we're also designed to help others easily find them later.
2.) More Successful Questioning
Getting a public figure to answer a question he/she doesn't want to answer is one of hardest things a journalist can accomplish. Having more public leverage of any kind, whether it's through a big brand like the nytimes / wsj or a follower count, helps you get your calls returned. Most people though don't work at the nytimes and if they want answers they need to work a lot harder. Kommons helps you tap into the base you already have.
I did this personally with mancity . I asked them a question on twitter but it was only when others started to follow it that I got an answer.
over 3 years ago
revised this answer over 3 years ago (history)
warrington
I realize it's going to be a challenge to achieve critical mass here kommons. But I think this model, this idea is brilliant. Really. Thanks for building it. Here you have the list of áreas in Manchester city in case they will help you: Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, Tameside, Stockport, Salford, Trafford and of course Manchester.
over 3 years ago
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