Your interest in bugdet simulations like the Budget Balancer is well placed. I’m quite familiar with MPR’s project and they get huge props for being willing to share the code.

Two caveats hold me back from applying this tool to NH’s situation. First, budget crises have an odd trajectory in this state; they seem to morph, wax and wane in unpredictable ways. The significance of that is that the effort it takes to customize a budget simulation can be undercut if the deficit falls off the news curve. The utilization of the web tool does not match up with the investment required to create it.

The second issue is implicit in my first concern. It takes a fair bit of work to customize the Budget Balancer. One could say that the reporting is required in any event but the packaging of that reporting is different.

At the end of the day, it isn’t clear that this is the best use of newsroom resources.

Jon

In the interests of furthering the discussion let me share something on an ancillary technique that I have been exploring as a newsroom tool — a way to give citizens a budget “game” to help them make choices — tax hikes, budget cuts, if so cut what to what effect.

I found an interesting template at Minnesota Public Radio. But maybe you have interest/ability? What I append below is an email from Jennifer Haugh, at Minn PR who I had contacted in my SF Chronicle persona. She put me in touch with the fellow below, who said they were willing to open source their base software, but I had to back off because I had no standing to do anything with his offer in time for the budget cycle in California (plus it wasn’t my beat so I was a UFO on this). Anyhow, maybe you can use this idea and in any event I was getting ready to share this with Sree Sreenivasan at an alumni event at CSJ later this week so why not offer it up now. Here is the info for the Minn PR thing:

We have something called the Budget Balancer, which we have implemented for our state legislative budgets for the past several
biennia. Soon we’ll be launching a federal Budget Balancer as part of our Election 08 series of online tools and features. Here’s the
Minnesota version from 2007:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/2007/03/budget_balancer/

If you have additional questions about how the Budget Balancer works, the man for you is Andrew Haeg (ahaeg@mpr.org or 651-290-1314). I hope
this is helpful.

Best wishes,
Jen Haugh

As the project editor, I often told residents of Exeter, NH, the focus community, that I was not interested in their opinions or their conclusions; what I wanted was snapshots of how the candidates and their campaigns struck them and their neighbors.

I encouraged them to be observers of themselves, their community and the candidates. At the same time, I also told them to be transparent about their own values and worldview.

When they did this, the real value emerged — for them as well as for me as a journalist. There are many ways for traditional news organizations to work hand-in-hand with the audience. The particular approach of Primary Place is one that turns to a community as a focus group, a very large focus group that conducts itself in the middle of the swirl of daily life.

The news organization forms a partnership with that community in a specific shared task that has obvious value to a wider audience. The news organization must invest considerable time in building trust in the community and helping residents adapt to their new role as observers.

This approach requires a different style of public writing that lies somewhere between objective reporting and persuasive op-ed columns. Both the news organization and the residents need to figure out what that style sounds like as they go through this process.

When it works, and most of the time it did not in Primary Place, the newsroom gains fabulous insights and the residents see themselves and the issues they face in a different light. Done properly, this approach transforms both parties.