Blog

CU-CitizenAccess.org is a grant-funded news and social network site focused on economic and social issues in central Illinois.

Since January, CU-CitizenAccess.org has occupied a spot in the newsroom at WILL - a nice row of desks inside a cubicle in a noisy part of the newsroom where a steady stream of reporter chatter filters over the partitions all day long.

In the two years since our inception, we’ve reported dozens of in-depth stories on the issues with visualizations such as maps, interactive graphics and charts as well as audio and video.

Through this work we strive to meet our overall goal - offering the underserved and overlooked residents in our communities a public voice and a place to tell their stories.

And we weren’t alone.

WILL reporters and CU-CitizenAccess.org reporters do what they do best - report on a story or issue in a manner most natural to them - whether its broadcast reports, maps, graphics, charts, videos or online text.

WILL’s dedication to the community and open-arms approach to the goals of CU-CitizenAccess.org made for a natural transition from reporting stories alone to reporting them together.

It’s a strong, effective way to cover these types of stories under lean economic times, by combining our skills and knowledge and pooling our resources. We’re doing it together. And this way, our communities have an even bigger benefit - they get a louder voice and a larger place to tell their stories.

So, thank you WILL. We look forward doing great work together.