iPhone apps let citizens reach out to city hall

The Signal
Santa Clara, Calif., is the latest city to launch a self-service iPhone app allowing residents to report everything from potholes to graffiti directly to someone who can get the problem fixed. Boston launched a similar program late last year, following on the success of a similar, unaffiliated app from SeeClickFix.com. Quoted in The Signal, Santa Clara Mayor Laurene Weste said, “There is a clear demand and expectation among our residents to be able report issues to the city whenever or wherever they prefer via their iPhones.” Reporting on broken street lamps would not seem an obvious role for a local news organization, but as municipalities continue to focus on digital and mobile strategies, many previously reliable newspaper franchises, such as police logs, could be disintermediated by consumers accessing the information directly at the source.