This piece is part of our spring Documenters Showcase—a content series spotlighting the stories, impact, and growing network of people and organizations around the U.S. shaping participatory media and turning civic information into community power as part of City Bureau’s Documenters Network. Check out our most recent Showcase story, “A Million Reasons: Celebrating a Major Milestone in the Documenters Network.”
A new study compares Grand Rapids Documenters’ notes with official city meeting minutes, showing how our approach to note taking is actively making local government more accessible, transparent, and community-focused.
By Maria Dikcis
Documenters attend a City Planning Commission Meeting at Grand Rapids City Hall. (Photo: Shannon Tanis)
What if the best record of your city’s decisions wasn’t written by government officials, but by your neighbors? That’s the exact question Nina Kelly, a scholar at Wayne State University in Detroit, was hoping to answer.
Kelly recently published a study titled “Bridging the Civic Information Gap” in the Journal of Civic Information, which takes a closer look at how Documenters monitor public meetings in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As it turns out, who takes the notes really matters. By comparing official minutes from 46 public meetings to notes taken by Grand Rapids Documenters, Kelly’s research uncovers some powerful insights.
Here are 5 things this study taught us about why community-powered documentation of public meetings makes a difference:
1. Shorter, Simpler Notes Make Public Meetings Easier to Follow
Official meeting minutes–a formal summary of actions and decisions made in government meetings–are essential public records. However, they can often be lengthy and filled with jargon that makes it difficult for everyday residents to navigate. In comparison, Documenters’ notes are nearly 5,000 words shorter on average than official minutes, and they also scored slightly better for readability. By simplifying complex terms and focusing on the key points raised in meetings, Documenters’ notes make it easier for everyday people to understand what’s happening in their local government without feeling overwhelmed.
2. Documenters’ Notes Ensure Public Comments Are Part of the Public Record
Have you ever wondered if your comments are formally noted at a city meeting? According to the study, official city minutes often don’t capture what residents say during public comment, if they mention it at all. In one sample, none of the City Commission minutes included what the public attendees said. This is an incomplete record of these critical opportunities for public voice. Documenters, on the other hand, included at least a summary of who spoke and what they had to say. Some even gave a play-by-play of every comment. This kind of detail not only helps the people who comment feel seen and heard, but it also helps others better understand the complexities of what’s happening during public comment periods.
3. Documenters Add Rich Context with Hyperlinks and Multimedia
Official minutes cover only the information shared in a meeting and can often be pretty dry. Documenters capture what’s presented in a clear way and add contextual information to help readers better understand the issues at hand. Their notes are required (when available) to include links to meeting videos, government websites, news articles, and relevant businesses or nonprofits. Documenters sometimes even record and share audio for meetings that don’t have an official video–something that’s too often missing from government websites. All these features make Documenters’ notes easier to understand and act on.
4. Documenters’ Notes Follow a Clear and Consistent Template
While official minutes can vary wildly from agency to agency or depending on what kind of meeting it is, Documenters use a consistent format for every meeting. Each set of notes starts with key info–such as who, what, where, and when–and adheres to a common structure that makes it easier for readers to follow along. This consistency means that notes are more searchable and shareable, and people can quickly access the information they’re looking for whether they’re regulars or new to the process.
5. Fewer Clicks Means Finding Notes Faster
Let’s be honest. If it takes a dozen clicks to find what happened at a city meeting, most people are going to give up. The study highlights just how much easier it is to access Documenters’ notes compared to official minutes. Whether you start on the Grand Rapids Community Media Center website, The Rapidian, or The Current (The Rapidian’s weekly email newsletter), you’re usually just one or two clicks away from getting to the full meeting notes. Teams also write helpful summaries of meetings that are even more accessible through site homepages and newsletters. That kind of people-friendly design matters because it lowers the barrier for those who are curious about what’s happening in their local government but struggle to navigate city websites and official records.
Why The Person Taking Notes Matters
As local newsrooms are shrinking and trustworthy civic information can be hard to find, how we document public meetings becomes even more important. This study concludes that the best notes don’t always come from government insiders. Through Documenters training and support, our neighbors are often more equipped to connect the dots between policy decisions and the lives of local residents. In a world that’s overflowing with clickbait and information overload, having access to clear, consistent, and community-centered documentation is a tool for building trust and stronger civic engagement. When Documenters show up to public meetings, they aren’t just taking notes. They’re making information more accessible for everyone, telling stories, and supporting their communities with practical resources.
Grand Rapids and Philadelphia Documenters in front of G-Town Radio on a peer exchange visit in Philadelphia. (Photo: Sabrina Edwards, Grand Rapids Community Media Center)
What’s Next for Grand Rapids Documenters?
The Grand Rapids Documenters team is continuing to build on the momentum of this work, finding new pathways to make public information more clear, accessible, and accountable to the community. Here are a few key initiatives they’re currently leading:
Removing barriers to understanding public meetings: Teams at the Grand Rapids Community Media Center and The Rapidian are actively developing ways to make public meeting coverage more understandable for broader audiences and reduce barriers to civic participation. Inspired by Kelly’s study, they’re investing in training for Documenters and exploring how new technologies–such as the writing tool Hemingway Editor–can improve the clarity and readability of public meeting notes.
Equipping Documenters to write articles that serve and inform their community: The Grand Rapids Documenters program recently ran their very first special assignment, which resulted in a Documenter publishing an article in The Rapidian focused on the ins and outs of recycling and why it matters. Special assignments such as these equip Documenters with the tools and skills to turn their civic knowledge into community service and address issues that matter to their neighbors.
Investigating the demographic makeup of the Grand Rapids Corridor Improvement Authority: After observing gender disparity on the board and concerning patterns of men speaking over women, the team is launching a special project for Documenters to examine who holds power in local decision-making spaces through a gender and demographic lens. This effort will help to shed light on issues related to equity and inclusion in city leadership.
To learn more about City Bureau’s growing Documenters Network and how to get involved, check out Documenters.org.
