Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Laws We Can Actually Understand

    April 20, 2021 |

    The Philadelphia Citizen |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: India

    Law Rewired, run by law students and an advisory board of legal scholars, translates complex laws and landmark court decisions into plain language so people can understand them. Real-world examples, easy to read bullet-points, videos, and a glossary of legal terms make the legal explanations more widely accessible. Summaries also explain why a law was enacted, when it can be applied, and any amendments that were added to it. The materials are available for free online and via social media and the organization answers 10 to 25 questions from readers every month about a variety of legal issues.

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  • Could a Citizens' Assembly Help Fix Your Democracy?

    April 19, 2021 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: France

    France is among a growing number of countries piloting "citizens assemblies," in which a randomly-selected sample of citizens is tasked with reviewing and recommending potential responses to a pressing societal issue. The country's assembly on climate change resulted in more than 100 proposals for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, but because they were nonbinding, only about 40 percent of the recommendations were forwarded to parliament.

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  • How Madison County Residents Successfully Lobbied Legislators Over Pollution Concerns

    April 09, 2021 |

    Grady Newsource |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Colbert, Georgia

    After Georgian residents raised concerns about a pollutant that was being emitted by a nearby biomass plant, they banded together to pass legislation that effectively put an end to the practice. These concerned residents founded the Madison County Clean Power Coalition to raise awareness of the effects of creosote burning, which, when breathed in, has shown to increase the risk of lung and heart disease. Their lobbying efforts resulted in the governor signing into law a ban on burning creosote-treated wood.

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  • Once jailed, these women now hold courts accountable — with help from students, retirees and Fiona Apple

    April 09, 2021 |

    The Washington Post |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Upper Marlboro, Maryland

    Court Watch PG acts as a traditional court watch program for Maryland's Prince George's County, but with a twist: the two formerly incarcerated women running it turned adversity, in the form of the pandemic's shutdown of trials, into opportunity in the form of a nationwide crew of volunteers watching over Zoom. The watchers attend bond hearings, where people jailed on pending charges try to gain pretrial release. After observing thousands of hearings, Court Watch PG has exposed flaws in the system, which it pushes to reform through the more than 100 "accountability letters" it has sent justice officials.

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  • Educators seek to spark systemic change by teaching Tulsa Race Massacre curriculum in Oklahoma public schools

    April 07, 2021 |

    OU Daily |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Oklahoma

    It took almost 100 years to expand education curriculum in Oklahoma to make significantly expand teaching about the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. Although the social studies standards in Oklahoma are updated every six years, they are now paired with a social studies framework in 2020 to serve as a “living document.” The state is also providing updated resources for teachers to incorporate these lessons in their curriculum for third to 12th grade classrooms.

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  • A teen's death by suicide with her father's gun divides a small Missouri town

    April 07, 2021 |

    The Kansas City Star |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Sedalia, Missouri

    Seven teen suicides in one county over a two-year span prompted residents whose lives were touched by suicide to form DeFeet, an educational and advocacy group devoted to the message that suicide is preventable. Thanks in part to its trainings, public speakers, support groups, public education campaigns, and advocacy for gun safety, local schools now screen all students for suicide risk starting in middle school. A local health clinic now screens all patients and credits DeFeet, named for its annual 5K memorial walk, with creating "an environment where we are not as afraid to talk about suicide."

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  • How One Atlanta News Station Is Fighting Against Fake News

    April 07, 2021 |

    Grady Newsource |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Georgia

    11Alive, a Georgia news station, runs a program called "Verify" that helps residents get accurate information and slow the spread of disinformation. Viewers submit a form online or via an app to request any piece of information be debunked or verified. If deemed a verifiable request, a 13-member team of reporters, editors, and producers investigate it by reaching out to experts and other sources. Since disinformation spreads quickly, “Verify” uses Google Analytics and search engine optimization (SEO) to get the most exposure and gain traction when a verification article is posted.

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  • Citizen-Led Initiative Battles Dangerous ‘Infodemic'

    April 06, 2021 |

    Global Press Journal |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Mexico

    Verificovid was started by a group of friends to combat pandemic-related misinformation in Mexico. They work with a group of government doctors to identify, track, investigate, and disprove misinformation. The group posts infographics with updated COVID-19 statistics on social media – mainly Whatsapp and Telegram – and offers medical tips via short audio messages and texts. They prioritize fast-moving misinformation that could cause the most harm and, along with sharing the truth, they investigate the origin of the misinformation and teach the public how to identify and stop fake news.

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  • 'Virtual rangers' help South African reserve keep poachers away

    March 29, 2021 |

    Reuters |

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    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: South Africa, Johannesburg

    Over 55,000 people have become “virtual rangers,” helping to protect South Africa’s Balule Nature Reserve from poachers. Officials at the reserve teamed up with Samsung and Africam to increase the ability to keep watch over the park, which is home to some of the most vulnerable animals to poaching, including rhinoceros, leopards, and elephants. Camera phones, held in protective cases, are mounted around the reserve and stream images to “virtual rangers” worldwide who have already reported hearing gunshots, which could indicate the possibility of poachers, and seeing trapped animals needing rescue.

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  • How scientists scrambled to stop Donald Trump's EPA from wiping out climate data

    March 08, 2021 |

    The Verge |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

    The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative, with the help of scientists, academics, and other volunteers, preserved EPA data and information that the Trump administration sought to erase. They held “guerrilla archiving” events to identify and save data, manually backing it up when necessary. They made data more accessible by creating congressional district “report cards” showing where environmental law violations occurred. To preserve institutional knowledge, they published interviews with 60 federal scientists who left the agency. In total, over 200 TB of data was archived in less than a year.

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