T
he canton’s local media, particularly the ones who keep communities informed on local government affairs and related activities, is essentially nonexistent. Information reaches the canton’s residents by chat texts, images or video posts on social media sites, primarily Whatapp, Facebook and YouTube, among a few others. The mayor’s office, the municipal council, and the district councils all use social media to reach their constituents, but as can be expected, this forces the citizenry to find information online if notified to do so. This is not an easy task for all.
So, this is a good spot to plug PiedraGrande.org, an independent website that in Spanish I hope will help promote communication between community members and their elected representatives. The idea—if there’s enough positive feedback—is to offer a regularly delivered email newsletter to a community of subscribers.
While all local government meetings are streamed live and then stored for all to see, they’re not always easy to understand and often lead to partisan bickering instead of constructive solutions, or so the comments sections show.
If a local government’s organizational structure includes a public information and/or communications staff, then clear, concise narratives could replace the release of confusing textual documentation, PowerPoint presentations, and long, meandering statements on video. It’s hard enough for journalists to make sense of such material, let alone the general public.
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