where we work
The Carter Center partnered in 2006 with the University of Calgary and the Canadian Foundation for the Americas to develop breakthrough media maps, designed to increase transparency in finance reform and democracy-building efforts.
Throughout the Western Hemisphere, media play an increasingly important role in transmitting information about elections and candidates. The outcomes of electoral races may be altered by financial disparities, especially where media ownership is concentrated and owners offer price discounts to their preferred candidates. Yet there is comparatively little information about the media available to citizens; media mapping is a step to ensuring an informed electorate.
Breakthrough interactive and Web-based maps detailing media coverage during national elections were unveiled in January 2006 by The Carter Center, the University of Calgary, and the Canadian Foundation for the Americas. The technology provides visual context to the lines of influence the news media have in shaping the campaign finance environment.
Developed using geographic information systems technology, the maps are designed to increase transparency in campaign finance reform and democracy-building efforts by illustrating where media are located, how far they broadcast, who owns them, and what the demographic profile is of the electoral constituencies they reach.
Please sign up below for important news about the work of The Carter Center and special event invitations.
