I’m in a few classes this semester for which I read several academic articles each week from fields ranging from behavioral economics to anthropology. More often than not, I’m frustrated by their lack of practicality and ability to be applied for the real world*. The silver lining to my blood pressure-raising annoyance, though, is that I now appreciate the fact that journalism works with real people on concrete issues astronomically more than I did previously. And technology is helping us do this job more effectively every day.
One great example that I recently came across is this pothole mapping tool/smart phone application from the Des Moines Register. Think about it: how frustrating is it to ram your car into a crater-sized pothole that you didn’t see until it was too late? The smart phone app allows Iowans to turn their frustration into collective knowledge instantly.
Potholes are color coded according to their severity, and recently filled holes are marked as well.
More than just providing practical information, the Des Moines potholes map keeps the local government accountable. It also gives credit when credit is due—potholes filled within the past week show up in gray on the map.
Newspapers need to find ways to become indispensable to their target audience. Providing practical information that you can act upon is a great first step.
*For example, this sentence is from Paulo Freire’s book Pedagogy of the Oppressed on problem posing education, his solution for how to educate the lower classes: “It epitomizes the special characteristic of consciousness: being conscious of, not only as intent on objects but as turned in upon itself in a Jasperian ‘split’—consciouness as consciousness of consciousness” (79). Yes, I stopped reading halfway through, too.
