Big thanks to Emily and Lisa for listing The Civic Commons as a resource. Above, we talk about new models of journalism that can be more participatory. A couple of examples are a recent forum we did on natural gas development and fracking (http://theciviccommons.com/conversations/charting-the-future-of-fracking) and another forum on the Cleveland, Ohio, plan for transforming public schools (http://theciviccommons.com/conversations/the-future-of-cleveland-schools-transformation-and-response). Another great example was an online political debate we sponsored for candidates in the local county prosecutor's race (http://theciviccommons.com/conversations/candidates-forum-for-the-cuyahoga-county-prosecuting-attorney-democratic-primary--2).

One of the exciting facets of our work is that the same tools that can be directed toward these kind of journalistic purposes can also be harnessed by elected officeholders seeking public input (http://theciviccommons.com/conversations/how-heck-should-we-fund-public-education) or individual citizens seeking to spark change in their community (http://theciviccommons.com/conversations/school-facilities-planning-true-sustainability-or-lip-service--2).