The Local was born out of a need. There are not enough local outlets for deeply researched and reported stories about our communities. Stories that go beyond anecdote and look to larger patterns can reveal the facts behind policies and practices that change our lives. Often a larger pattern starts with a story: something happened to someone. Does it happen to many people? Only people in one area? Or only people who have or don't have a certain thing? Data can help answer those questions.
Our mission is to tell stories using data sets to inform the local community and policymakers. We reveal how structural forces impact individual lives, so that people in the community can identify solutions and build on strengths.
We aim to grow over the next year in order to provide training to young journalists, storytellers, and designers who represent their communities so that they can report on issues vital to them.
While many journalists and bloggers are doing excellent work capturing the daily ebb and flow of the good and bad about our city, few have time to step back and analyze larger patterns buried in the stream of information captured by government agencies, research institutions, and average citizens. The Local sees the story in information.