• by Ray Schultz , 61 minutes ago

The Guardian, a British publication founded in 1821, is jumping into the American political scene with a project called Building Power. 

It sounds risky. But Building Power will combine in-depth reporting and data journalism to show how communities nationwide are organizing to protect democracy, civil rights and public health, The Guardian says in its announcement.  

The project will be funded, in part, by theguardian.org, an independent philanthropic organization focused on supporting independent journalism, and by such groups as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Marguerite Casey Foundation.  

The Guardian has been building a presence in the U.S. It has more than 100 editorial staffers in its news bureaus in New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles and serves 40 million American readers per month. It is celebrated for not having a paywall.  

Jessica Machado is serving as the editor of Building Power.

“There’s a profound hunger among our global audience for stories that cut through cynicism and show that collective action still matters,”  Machado says in a statement.“Building Power aims to surface stories of resilience and reinvention – not to romanticize them but to understand the real dynamics of power at play.”

Machado continues, “We’ll investigate how communities are finding new ways to protect one another, hold institutions accountable, and keep democratic values alive amid enormous pressure. Our goal is to ultimately inform, connect, and inspire readers who believe that change is still possible.” 

Building Power’s companion data project will track and visualize the deletion or alteration of public information including environmental and health data to records of law enforcement misconduct. 

“At a time when rights and freedoms once taken for granted are being rolled back, we think it’s vital to document how people are responding – not just in protest, but through organizing, coalition-building, and in acts of solidarity,” says Betsy Reed, US editor of the Guardian. “Building Power is about capturing the new civic energy we’re seeing across the country – the creativity, persistence, and hope – going beyond what’s broken to also illuminate how ordinary people are working to repair our democracy.”