VGT will provide newspapers with powerful tools to cover 75,669 state and local elections to be decided in 2004.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (January 5, 2004): Voter Guide Toolkit (VGT) will give online editors a new set of tools to create issue-oriented, local election coverage in 2004. Web-based VGT lets newspapers easily create online voter guides—filled with information about candidates and issues—in just weeks and present the information on co-branded web-sites hosted on e-thePeople.org servers.
Newspapers can use VGT to collect data on candidates electronically and present that information in an online voter guide or in print. By allowing candidates to input data about their campaigns themselves, VGT gives candidates a chance to frame the issues in their own words, while saving time for reporters. Voters visiting a paper's guide can find races by ZIP-code, compare candidates side-by-side and record their preferences on a personalized ballot.
Upgrades planned for 2004 include an advanced print export system, direct mail support, as well as improved candidate response pages and bulk editing tools.
"As more voters go online for election information, VGT helps news sites affordably provide the high-quality, local content readers need to make informed voting decisions," said Scott Reents, President of e-thePeople.org. "Helping voters make informed decisions during elections is one of the most important missions a newspaper undertakes. We look forward to helping them provide this valuable civic service to voters through out 2004."
Past VGT users include the Philadelphia Inquirer, Orange County Register, Cincinnati Enquirer, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. In 2003 more than 1333 candidates responded to questionnaires from VGT and 32,589 voters visited VGT guides.
e-thePeople.org aims to offer one hundred local voter guides this year and is seeking newspapers, television and radio stations interested providing their users with election content VGT powered guides are already planned for sites run by the Dallas Morning News and local television stations throughout West Virginia.
Media organizations interested in using Voter Guide Toolkit can contact:
Scott Reents
President
aguy@e-thepeople.org
646-536-9305
To learn more about Voter Guide Toolkit, visit our website at:
http://www.thevoterguide.org
