Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

As election season heats up, Democracywise is there to observe and report

Monday, October 8, 2012, By News Staff
Share
Newhouse School of Public Communications

Political reporting students track local campaigns on digital news site

Story by Newhouse student Meera Jagannathan

If you’re unsure of where to cast your vote in this year’s local elections, look to Democracywise.

democracywiseThe digital news project, produced by political reporting students at the Newhouse School, is a comprehensive resource for voters—including a database of candidates, voter registration information and a wealth of articles meant to deepen community members’ understanding of the issues. Charlotte Grimes, Knight Chair in Political Reporting m the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, serves as editor and her 16 students are the reporters.

“It is a real, honest-to-God journalism operation,” says Grimes. “We are our own newsroom.”

Since 2007, Democracywise (democracywise.syr.edu) has reported on congressional, state senate, state assembly and county court races, to name a few. This year, each student is following one candidate through the campaign season, culminating in election night coverage.

Grimes stresses that Democracywise is for everyone, “not just for political junkies.”

“Many people don’t pay attention to politics,” she says. “So they’re just now really tuning into all of this.”

Something for everyone

Katya Rivera, a senior majoring in broadcast and digital journalism and political science, is following State Assembly candidate Al Stirpe’s campaign. She says Democracywise has already helped improve her writing.

“I’m focusing now on writing instead of thinking, ‘Is this camera going to work correctly?’” she says. “And that’s going to make me a better reporter for TV down the road.”

Some students, like senior newspaper journalism major Stephanie Bouvia, have a more personal stake in the project. Bouvia, who also serves as web staff for the site, is covering Dan Maffei’s congressional campaign.

“I’m from here, so it affects me directly,” she says. “It’s something that I’ve been following for a really long time.”

Working overtime

To prepare her students’ work for publication, Grimes puts in a little extra time. Eight a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, to be exact.

“I want my students to be as good as they can possibly be, and I want to help them in any way I can,” she says. Her students, in turn, appear to be in awe.

“She just seems like she’s working nonstop,” says Jon Harris, a senior magazine and political science major covering congressional candidate Ann Marie Buerkle’s campaign. “I don’t know how she does it and keeps her sanity, but she does.”

Harris adds that Grimes likes to joke about how her former students who now work at local television stations sometimes use printouts from the Democracywise site. “I think that’s a quiet victory for her,” he says.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • ‘ADA Live!’ Focuses on Protection and Advocacy Systems for People with Disabilities
    Sunday, February 28, 2021, By News Staff
  • Hilda A. Frimpong Becomes the First Black Student to Lead Syracuse Law Review
    Saturday, February 27, 2021, By Robert Conrad
  • Important Update for Flexible Spending Accounts
    Friday, February 26, 2021, By News Staff
  • Message From Dean of Students Marianne Thomson
    Friday, February 26, 2021, By News Staff
  • CAS in Intercollegiate Athletic Advising and Support Addresses Unique Needs of College Student-Athletes
    Thursday, February 25, 2021, By Jennifer Russo

More In Media, Law & Policy

Hilda A. Frimpong Becomes the First Black Student to Lead Syracuse Law Review

Second-year College of Law student Hilda A. Frimpong has been elected by her peers as the next editor in chief of Syracuse Law Review. When she assumes her duties for Volume 72 (2021-22), Frimpong will be the first Black student…

‘8 Tips for Grad Students for Planning in 2021’

Timur Hammond, assistant professor of geography and the environment in the Maxwell School, wrote an op-ed for Inside Higher Ed titled “8 Tips for Grad Students for Planning in 2021.” Hammond also serves as a faculty liaison for the Future…

‘What’s the Point of Impeachment? ‘To Lay Down a Marker for History’’

Thomas Keck, the Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics and professor of political science in the Maxwell School, wrote an op-ed for Syracuse.com titled “What’s the point of impeachment? ‘To lay down a marker for history.’” Keck,…

Faricy Explores Public Perceptions of Welfare via the US Tax Code

In their new book, “The Other Side of the Coin: Public Opinion toward Social Tax Expenditures” (Russell Sage Foundation, 2021), Syracuse University professor Christopher Faricy and Bucknell University professor Christopher Ellis examine how public opinion differs between two types of…

‘Improving the Security Situation Between US-Mexico’

Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history and the Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations in the Maxwell School, authored an op-ed for The Hill titled “Improving the security situation between US-Mexico.” McCormick is an expert on U.S.-Mexico…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.