Advancing government transparency and accountability
PRI President and CEO Alisa Miller describes how PRI's involvement in the State Integrity Investigation helped increase public awareness and engagement around government accountability.
A joint project of the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International, the State Integrity Investigation combined investigative reporting with social media to expose risk factors in state government. Through exhaustive data-driven analysis of each state's laws and practices by journalists, "report cards" were generated for each state, grading their governments on risk factors in areas like campaign finance, legislative accountability, budgeting, redistricting and others. The report cards were then shared with the public who, through social media channels, shared the results with their networks and local government officials.
In a recent blog post, PRI President and CEO Alisa Miller outlined the project, PRI's role and how the State Integrity Investigation has made an impact in furthering transparency and accountability in state government.
"Results are still coming in but we believe this partnership is accomplishing something special," Miller posted. "Since the corruption risk report cards for all 50 states were published on March 19th, more than 1,250 stories have been generated reaching over 15 million people*. Approximately two dozen public radio stations have been leaders in covering the investigation findings in their states and diving deeper by telling follow-up stories. Many local newspapers also wrote stories and op-eds. And CNN, ABC News and even The New York Times got into the act. Many expressed concern over the extent of the lackluster grades that a majority of states received.
But perhaps even more important, elected officials in seven states have referenced the State Integrity Investigation as evidence for needed reforms. And three states -- Delaware, Iowa and Maine -- have already enacted new laws that will increase transparency and cut the risk of corruption in state government."
*Includes the circulation numbers for all the newspapers that had an article and the total audience for TV, radio news shows that had a story.
Read Alisa Miller's full blog post.
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