Franklin Center Announces Sponsorship of We the People Convention

Release:

Columbus – The Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a nonprofit journalism organization, is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the “We the People Convention” on June 29-30 in Columbus, Ohio- where hundreds of Ohioans will hear from James O’Keefe, citizen journalist and founder of Project Veritas.

O’Keefe, guest of the Franklin Center, will be speaking on Friday afternoon about "How Online Video is Changing the Political Landscape,” and tell the story of how his videos exposed and defunded the Association for Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN).

O’Keefe will be joined by award-winning journalist Trent Seibert, founder and editor of Texas Watchdog, who will present on investigative reporting techniques, and also Mary Ellen Beatty, Director of Citizen Outreach at the Franklin Center. These training sessions are part of the Franklin Center’s Citizen Watchdog program designed to teach citizens the tools and skills necessary to better hold their local governments accountable.

“At the Franklin Center, we are dedicated to preserving democracy through government transparency and accountability,” said Mary Ellen Beatty, Director of Citizen Outreach at the Franklin Center. “We are excited to be joining the We the People Convention this year to train concerned citizens to report waste, fraud, and abuse in their local Ohio communities.”

We the People Convention President, Tom Zawistowski, said “The addition of the Franklin Center as a sponsor of the We the People Convention this year provides a significant improvement in our content. Attendees will be able to get education and training in the areas of social media and new media that are defining our movement and how we communicate with each other and with our elected officials. Our attendees will flock to the investigative reporting and opposition research breakouts, as well as the online video and social media training.”