If the fact-check frenzy of 2012 presidential campaign proved anything, it's that political statements will never again go unscrutinized.
Jumping ahead of the content-data curve,
ElectNext is launching the Political Baseball Card. The "card" -- a widget that appears at the bottom of online political news articles -- offers three types of information on relevant politicians: biographical facts, legislative record and data on who's financing their campaign. The company has developed relationships with forty of the top national news outlets, including the
Economist, the
Washington Post, Comcast and NBC. They recently launched the Political Baseball Card on
Philly.com,
PoliticsPA and
PolicyMic.
"Data's really become an important part of news coverage," says ElectNext's Dave Zega. "We're leveraging data as a content component -- as a way to really get people data that's relevant and engaging right at the moment they need it."
Since launching in 2011, ElectNext has built the country’s largest political data repository by partnering with watchdog organizations including the
Sunlight Foundation, the
Center for Responsive Politics,
GovTrack and
Follow the Money.
While these organizations give vital insights into federal policy makers, local politics can be more abstruse. According to Zega, ElectNext works with individual municipalities to gather records on city council members and other politicians. They started in Philly and are in the process of establishing partnerships in New York City. In the coming years, they hope to represent the one hundred largest U.S. cities.
ElectNext closed their latest funding round with $1.3 million in investment and seeks a Rails developer.
Source: Dave Zega, ElectNext
Writer: Dana Henry