Civic Tech Field Guide

The Trenton Journal

Trenton, NJ

The Trenton Journal empowers and inspires residents living in and around Trenton, N.J., by filling in the information gaps through stories and solutions-based journalism.

Radio Indigena’s mission is to unite and empower California's Indigenous migrant communities by delivering high-quality programming in Indigenous languages. Radio Indigena is committed to fostering equality, peace, democracy, and social justice while breaking down barriers of literacy and language.

The River Reporter

Narrowsburg, NY

The River Reporter provides accurate and important community news and sponsors local forums and creative conversations, events, and initiatives (in collaboration with local organizations) to enhance the quality of life and increase civic engagement in the communities of the Upper Delaware River Valley

Swift County Monitor-News

Benson, MN

Swift County Monitor-News provides its community with the news citizens require for informed participation in a representative democracy.

Pine Knot News

Cloquet, MN

Pine Knot News provides verified coverage of the news, issues, sports, events, and faces of Carlton County, Minnesota, to help create an engaged and educated citizenry while also fulfilling a watchdog role for the area.

The Mesquite

San Antonio, TX

The Mesquite is a student-run media outlet for students to report on developmental and civic issues in the economically underserved areas of San Antonio, including rural areas surrounding the start-up campus of Texas A&M University–San Antonio. Its intent is to showcase the best work of its undergraduate students and to experiment with new directions in journalism education.

Burlington Beacon

Burlington, IA

Guided by the motto “Local People, Local News,” the Burlington Beacon provides the community of Burlington, Iowa, and the surrounding area with reliable and timely news that truly reflects the lives and concerns of its readers. Each story is written by a local resident who has a deep understanding of and appreciation for the community and the editorial policies are driven by this knowledge rather than by corporate interests.

Aurora Sentinel Community Media

Aurora, CO

Aurora Sentinel Community Media provides factual, trusted, nonpartisan news, investigations, and features about the Aurora region and its diverse community. The nonprofit corporation was created to grow a robust, thriving news organization with the capacity to cover the issues and interests of the greater community of Aurora.

Ouray County Plaindealer

Ridgway, CO

The Ouray County Plaindealer is the only trusted source of local news in a rural Colorado mountain community of roughly 5,000 residents. The Plaindealer’s journalists seek truth and report it, with the goal of informing the community with fact-based, nonpartisan articles. While maintaining high standards for accuracy and fairness, the Plaindealer produces quality journalism for the community, which would be a news desert without it.

Houston Herald

Houston, MO

Established in 1878, the Houston Herald is the award-winning county seat weekly newspaper serving Texas County. In 2024, the Herald was judged one of the state’s top newspapers in its class in the Missouri Better Newspaper Contest.

ITASCA COMMUNITY TELEVISION (ICTV)

Grand Rapids, MN

ICTV connects, informs, and empowers the community of Grand Rapids, Minn., through diverse media.

Montclair Local Nonprofit News

Montclair, NJ

Montclair Local Nonprofit News is an independent local news organization founded in 2017 with the mission to spark dialogue, objectively inform, and build community in Montclair through independent, in-depth, factual reporting on local issues and events such as schools, elected officials, institutions, businesses, restaurants, and culture.

JMPro Community Media

Swannanoa, NC

JMPRO Community Media shares essential news and information, builds community connections, and celebrates local immigrant culture through a multichannel distribution strategy—including community radio, printed bulletins, and live reporting—as well as community reporter training. JMPRO Community Media bridges the digital divide, builds journalism and storytelling skills, and develops community leaders in underserved communities in Western North Carolina.

Radio Catskill

Liberty, NY

WJFF Radio Catskill is an independent community voice of the Catskills and Northeast Pennsylvania, connecting listeners through locally focused and globally aware programming to inform, entertain, and inspire its communities and promote understanding among people of diverse social, cultural, economic, and political backgrounds.

El Informador Newspaper

Mount Pleasant, SC

El Informador Newspaper informs, engages, and empowers the Latino community in South Carolina through journalism that is trustworthy, accurate, culturally resonant, and impactful.

Project Optimist

Saint Michael, MN

Project Optimist engages residents of greater Minnesota to help them collaborate across common divides, tackle seemingly intractable problems, and grow more optimistic about the future of their communities, region, and world by tapping Minnesota’s creative and independent talent to produce solution-focused stories and local art to inform and inspire.

Michael I. Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism at Indiana University

Bloomington, IN

The Michael I. Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism is dedicated to educating students in investigative reporting techniques and creating provocative, original journalism for the public in Indiana and beyond. As a working newsroom, it strives to protect the vulnerable, expose wrongdoing, and act as a watchdog in Indiana and nationally.

BirminghamWatch

Birmingham, AL

BirminghamWatch serves the civic good of Birmingham and Alabama by supporting journalism that makes a positive impact and encourages citizen engagement with fair, factual, unflinching, and focused news.

QCity Metro

Charlotte, NC

QCity Metro produces news, content, and events that are culturally, politically, and economically relevant to Black communities in Charlotte, N.C.

Door County Knock

Egg Harbor, WI

Door County Knock advances the truth, centers, and drives understanding of critical issues that affect Door County residents’ lives. It also holds powerful institutions accountable to the people, including by investigating betrayals of public trust and other abuses of power.

CivicLex

Lexington, KY

CivicLex is a nonprofit organization that is strengthening the civic health of Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky.

Lorton Media Group

Tulsa, OK

The Frontier produces fearless independent journalism with impact and moral force. It holds those in power accountable, gives a voice to the powerless, and tells stories that matter to Oklahomans.

Grice Connect

Statesboro, GA

Grice Connect delivers timely and relevant news to the residents of Statesboro/Bulloch County, Ga., fostering connection and building social capital within the community. It provides comprehensive coverage of local events, issues, and stories that matter.

Planet Detroit

Detroit

Planet Detroit produces quality climate, equity, health, and environment journalism in the public interest that centers grassroots voices, holds power accountable, spotlights solutions, and serves the community.

The Boston Korea

Boston

The Boston Korea serves the Korean American community in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Since its establishment in 2005, it has been a pivotal source of news and information, dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of this community.

Te Lo Cuento News Kansas City - St Joseph

Saint Joseph, MO

Te Lo Cuento News Kansas City-St. Joseph empowers the Spanish-speaking community in the central United States by providing high-quality, reliable news and information in Spanish that is free from sensationalism. It is dedicated to addressing the unique needs and concerns of the Hispanic community, ensuring it remains well-informed about local, national, and international events.

Lab Cultural Ciudadano (LABNL)

Monterrey

Somos un espacio público de producción cultural abierta en dónde todas y todos podemos colaborar, experimentar y prototipar proyectos para el bien común.

Climate change psychological distress is associated with increased collective climate action in the U.S.

"Importantly, people experiencing distress are more likely to engage in collective action on climate change or express a willingness to do so, even when controlling for several correlates of environmental behavior"

Policy Tracker (Tech Policy Press)

Tech Policy Press is tracking laws and regulations, along with government investigations and litigation, that will shape the rules and accountability for tech companies.

캠페인즈에 뱃지가 생겼어요! (Campaign badges)

43, Susaek-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Gamification features on the Parti Campaigns platform

Party Data Trust

43, Susaek-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea

데이터트러스트는 공익 단체, 공공 기관, 시민, 연구자 등 다양한 주체들이 함께 공익 데이터를 생산, 관리, 공유하는 데이터 거버넌스 체계를 만듭니다. (DataTrust creates a data governance system in which various entities, including public interest organizations, public institutions, citizens, and researchers, work together to produce, manage, and share public interest data)

Bad Matt

Burlington, VT

A "protest plugin" that allows Wordpress administrators to set their Stripe plug-in's to credit referral payments to their own accounts.

The Sunday Show

The Sunday Show is the weekly (and sometimes more often) podcast from Tech Policy Press.

Working for an MP (w4mp)

Parliament Square, London, UK

The Working for an MP website is a resource for anyone working for a British Member of Parliament or with an interest in how Parliament works.

TechPolicy.Press Newsletter

Join our newsletter on issues and ideas at the intersection of tech & democracy.

Economic Change Unit

London

The Economic Change Unit (ECU) campaigns to change the way the economy works so that everyone has the freedom and security to

Decent work and economic growth

w4mpjobs

London

Welcome to w4mpjobs, funded by the House of Commons to provide career development opportunities for those working for MPs and those who are looking for a job with an MP or in other areas of political activity.

Tech Policy Press

A nonprofit media and community venture intended to provoke new ideas, debate and discussion at the intersection of technology and democracy.

Fellowship for Maintainers

Germany (Deutschland) 🇩🇪

A pilot program to pay maintainers of critical open source technologies.

Fillout

Forms that do it all

commercial

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SpaceX

Missouri S&T Public Interest Technology University Network chapter

Missouri

As an academic community that believes in technology’s potential to have a positive impact on public life, Missouri S&T is honored to be recognized as a member of the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN).

Public Interest Tech

Farcaster

A decentralized social network built on Ethereum

Rural Infrastructure Challenge Summit

Missouri

The Rural Infrastructure Challenge Summit is an in-person mentoring event and workshop to inspire the next-generation of solvers in rural communities.

rural

Ubuntu AI Working Group

This is a collective of dedicated individuals and organizations committed to fostering ethical AI practices, encouraging research, and addressing the societal implications of AI across Africa and largely the Global South.