A number of organizations — but mostly non-journalism sites — have come along to provide web sites to help us follow the twists and turns of the “stimulus” bills moving through the political system at all levels. “ShovelWatch,” from ProPublica, is one of the more interesting. Understand, though, that this isn't just for the public: the ProPublica journos can and will draw on this in months to come.
ShovelWatch is a joint project of the non-profit investigative outfit ProPublica, the morning news program The Takeaway and WNYC, New York’s flagship public radio station.
With investigative reporting, interactive features, and (not least) help from you, we’ll be tracking the stimulus bill dollars as they travel from Congress to your neighborhood. With your help, we’ll make sure that one of the biggest, fastest appropriations ever has a big, fast army to track whether it is well spent.
One note: This is only a first step. We’ll be building and improving the site quickly.
