Ballotopedia

[Sherman A1]

Came across this site when researching some Missouri State Ballot issues for our upcoming August 5th election. Don't know if others have seen it or might find it useful, but I did in the case of a couple of proposed amendments to our state constitution.

http://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page

[edgineered]

1. I don't like it. (title edited)

Last edited Mon Jul 28, 2014, 05:32 AM - Edit history (1)

First clicked on Florida where their summary has this statement:

Home to the longest coastline in the continental U.S., the state of Florida is consistently plagued by the threat of hurricanes.

Next clicked on their about button and read this:

Ballotpedia is an online encyclopedia about American politics and elections.

Their words 'consistently plagued' make me think it may be a bit biased.

[Sherman A1]

2. I found it to be fairly well balanced

on the amendments and issues, presenting both sides and listing major supporters and detractors. You may be absolutely correct, but it may also vary on the quality of input it receives. Nevertheless, worked for me.

[edgineered]

3. With a staff of 34

it is no small project, I did read the entirety of the about page. One person not understanding the dynamics of his word choices shouldn't be what the site gets judged by.

In my first reply I did the same thing, could have said like instead of trust?

[merrily]

4. What wording do you think would be more accurate and/or less biased?

[edgineered]

5. Maybe -

Florida is one of many states with Atlantic storms? I don't know, it just put me off to read consistently plagued.

[merrily]

7. That does not convey the bit about threat of storms, which is

more persistent that the storms themselves.

Is it that you feel Florida was singled out? But, wasn't the article about Florida? And don't the storms tend to hit Florida more ofen, and more severely, than say, South Carolina or Massachusetts?

[edgineered]

8. On a national or

state by state level the hurricanes are viewed differently. Here in SW Florida just the thought of another storm is enough to make you cringe. When hearing about a blizzard there isn't the same effect.

Consistently plagued plays like a fear trigger in these areas. People like myself don't particularly care to hear about things concerning their politics from those who cannot understand that we have hurricane plans and resources in place to deal with natural occurrences. My reaction is to look for a more local reference.

Certainly the website would rather not exclude entire geo-political regions, and if Florida is any example losing other demographics are at risk.

[merrily]

9. "Consistently plagued" means that the threat is frequent. It doesn't

also mean that Floridians are consistently terrified or unprepared.

I think every region at least has theoretical plans to deal with with natural occurrences. That doesn't mean they don't cause damage, though, or that anyone is comfortable with the prospect of frequent blizzards (which happen a lot less often than they used to), tornadoes or mudslides.

I agree there is some reason to be wary of sources that allow almost anyone to post. However, as I posted in my reply to the OP, they can also be very useful, at least as as a starting point.

[merrily]

6. Thank you for passing that on.

I find sites like that useful in getting an overview. Once you get that, you can always google anything that seems controversial and/or dubious.