Computers and the Internet have made covering many beats much easier, but they’ve brought perhaps the biggest changes to campaign finance coverage.
Tech-savvy political journalists regularly use spreadsheets and database software to sort and study raw donation data. But even the clueless clods among us have new, easy-to-use tools at our fingertips.
OpenSecrets.org, for example, is a site that every political reporter should get to know. The site, which contains an enormous amount of political donation data, all searchable, is run by The Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C., that tracks money in politics.
You can track money by individual donor or politician, by zip code or industry, by party or PAC. You can find out who’s been giving to companies in the news, such as WorldCom or Enron, in the site’s special issues reports. And you can find out what the most expensive races are, and how your local ones compare.
Campaign finance is a tricky subject. So if you’re having trouble figuring out how to maneuver your way through the maze of data, try the site’s tour, which tells you, step-by-step, how to:
• Track an industry: The site has more than 80 different industries profiled in its industries section, with political contributions going back a decade
• Check up on the candidates: The site has profiles of every congressional and Senate race in the country, as well as the presidential race
• Check out your own backyard: Where are the contributions coming from in your area, and which political candidates are they going to.
