The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications has launched an online voter guide (http://c3.thevoterguide.org/v/nebraska12/build.do) to help Nebraskans learn more about the candidates running in statewide races.
The voter guide is just one of many activities students have been working on this semester as part of Election 2012. And on Nov. 6, the college is planning an extensive night of converged election coverage, when more than 100 students in radio, television, online and print journalism will be contributing.
The online voter guide is available on two of the college’s news websites: NewsNetNebraska (http://www.newsnetnebraska.org), which publishes the work of students in the college’s capstone course, and Mosaic, (http://www.nemosaic.org), a website that features student stories for and about Lincoln’s refugee communities.
The voter guide uses technology developed by e.thePeople, a non-profit organization that provides news outlets or civic groups with a geo-location widget to allow voters to enter their addresses and receive information about candidates they can vote for. Voters who use the system can compare candidates and then print out or email a sample ballot to take with them to the polls. The Denver Post, Boston Globe and the League of Women Voters use e.thePeople technology.
Students in four journalism classes helped contribute the questions asked of candidates in the races, which included those for president, Congress, state Legislature, NU board of Regents and the state Board of Education.
NewsNetNebraska is a student-produced news service of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
CONTACTS:
Barney McCoy, NewsNetNebraska, associate professor broadcasting, bmccoy2@unl.edu, 402-472-3047
Michelle Hassler, NewsNetNebraska, lecturer and recruiting coordinator, mhassler3@unl.edu, 402-472-7050
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/r3i