This project – using the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, as a case study model – examines the question of how media coverage of a current issue in the news relates to public interest in the issue and its relevance to their own lives.
Many Americans turned to Google to learn about the Flint water crisis. An analysis of aggregated searches over time illustrates how, in today’s digital environment, public interest shifts as a story unfolds.
The number of journalism projects funded through Kickstarter has grown over time, totaling more than 650 projects and nearly $6.3 million by mid-September 2015.