New York Times Polling Place Photo Project

The American political process is fascinating. Every few years, thousands of people head to their local polling places to have their voices heard. These polling places can be anywhere—a school, a church, a retirement home, any relatively large space that agrees to host this most important democratic ritual. Most people only see a few polling places in their lifetime, one for everywhere they live as an adult.

The New York Times, in partnership with AIGA, the American professional organization for design, seeks to change this. With their Polling Place Photo Project, they are urging voters from across the country to submit photos and descriptions of their voting experience to create “a visual record of how voting happens in America: where it occurs, what the process looks like, how people act, and, ultimately, how the voting experience can be designed to be easier, less confusing and more rewarding”.

• As part of their submissions, voters describe everything about their experience, from personal voting habits, to lines at the polls to ballot type. How will all of this information help fulfill the Times‘ goal of making “the voting experience…easier, less confusing, and more rewarding”?

New York Times Polling Place Photo Project

Pakistan and The Internet Part 1: The New York Times

Pakistan has been in the news quite a bit recently, and for those looking in the right places, a lot of this news has dealt with the internet and citizen journalism. I’m going to address two relevant stories in my next two posts: a New York Times effort to work with citizen journalists, and an attempt by the Pakistani government to silence the same critical individuals.

In November, the Times put out “a call for eyewitness photos, video, and text from Pakistan.” This request was intended to help the Times report on opposition protests being blocked by the Pakistani government. Users were encouraged to submit personal accounts as comments and to contact the Times with photo and video submissions. While there were a few videos linked in the comments, most responses seemed to come in text form, whether they were personal accounts or critiques of the Times’ coverage.

• Was this intended journalistic partnership successful for all parties involved?
• What does the most common response medium (text) say about the kinds of stories being told and the people telling them?

Come back soon for the Pakistan-YouTube debacle.

“A Call for Eyewitness Photos, Video and Text From Pakistan”