Legislation
Yesterday evening I was watching Spider-Noir. Worth a watch, by the way. Nicolas Cage absolutely has that character dialed in.
While I was watching, our analytics kept lighting up. On a Sunday night.
A few visitors from Springfield on the state network were spending time reading some of our bill analyses and watchdog articles. Our F’nAround team laughed about it, shrugged, and went back to the show.
Then this morning, while drinking coffee, I noticed legislators were actively voting on and moving legislation, some bills advancing, some not.
The interesting part wasn’t the votes.
It was realizing that, at the same time legislation was being debated and voted on, people working around that process were taking the time to read research from a small independent watchdog site.
What started as a doctoral capstone project has grown into a platform averaging roughly 400,000 visits a month.
Does that mean it changes votes? No idea.
Does it mean we’re making an impact? That’s for others to decide.
But it’s encouraging to know that some people are willing to read perspectives outside their own networks, review source material, and consider additional analysis before making decisions.
For a project that started as an academic capstone that got me my doctorate, that’s not a bad place to be. Read what they read for yourselves: