LA2050 Storytelling Hub

Our organization itself is a story of turning inspiration into impact. When a couple of Californians decided four years ago that the people of the state didn’t have enough information about the ways they’re governed and how the state works, they were inspired to launch CALmatters. Today, our organization has grown to 22 people. We do stories every day that influence new legislation, hold those who govern us accountable, and help Californians understand vital issues that affect their health, education, finances and environment so they can become more engaged with their own democracy.

For a very recent example of the ways we're working to boost our impact, listen to our new podcast “Force of Law” that’s providing a behind-the-scenes look at how police-shooting laws may change and giving Californians a chance to understand and engage in the issue.

Government responsiveness to residents’ needs

Participation in neighborhood councils

Voting rates

Central LA

East LA

San Gabriel Valley

San Fernando Valley

South LA

Westside

South Bay

Antelope Valley

Because this work touches the other LA2050 initiatives, we'll coordinate closely with the LA2050 team. We'll adjust the plan as needed so that it works well for the program. But here's how we would approach it:

BASIC OPERATION

* We'll build our team, starting with a lead editor and a reporter at CALmatters in Los Angeles and a reporter at La Opinión. We'll also bring in Los Angeles journalism students skilled in multimedia storytelling.

* We'll research each LA2050 initiative to determine the intersections with government and policy areas we cover and assign the reporters to do stories that provide background and understanding of the legislative and regulatory issues related to each initiative's work. The purpose here is to raise awareness of the challenges and help people become more engaged in seeking solutions. Much of this will be done by the reporters on this project, while some will be done by other reporters at CALmatters and La Opinión who have specific topic expertise.

* We'll assign the student journalists to partner with the initiatives, identify the best ways to do personal storytelling around each one, develop plans for that storytelling and help to make it happen.

* We'll edit and publish all of the content as it becomes available. In addition to publishing it through CALmatters and LaOpinión, we can offer it to the LA2050 site and to the groups running the initiatives. We'll also share it with our media partners to increase the reach.

POPULATION SERVED

This content will be available to everyone, but it'll be especially useful to at least four groups: The people running the initiatives, the people they're serving, the elected officials who are willing to help address these issues, and the activist Californians who care about these issues and will get involved when they read our stories. While the topics are in Los Angeles County and that's the primary service area, the fact that the content will be available statewide may help draw attention to needed legislative and policy changes.

TIMELINE

It will take about four weeks to hire the team and make the initial assignments, and another couple weeks to get the first stories done. So we expect to begin publishing toward the end of the second month and keep up a steady cadence of content through the full year.

HOW THIS HELPS L.A. BE THE BEST PLACE TO CONNECT

Our work will build connections by telling the stories of the groups running the initiatives and the people being served. Those stories will help their fellow Angelenos understand them and find ways to connect with them. Those connections can in turn lead to everything from increased financial support to volunteers, resources, jobs for clients and much more. We also hope this effort leads Angelenos to connect and unite over their shared desire to play a more active civic role in their governance, which in turn makes for a stronger democracy.