The Census Bureau has a homework assignment for state and county officials: make sure your constituents know it's important to fill out the 2020 census, Michael Grass reports for Route Fifty, which is aimed in large measure at such officials. "We would add rural news media to that list," said Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, publisher of The Rural Blog.
That's because some areas will likely be undercounted and will therefore lose federal funding that's awarded based on population. Those includes areas that are predominantly rural, tribal, and/or Spanish-speaking. The problem will likely be made worse since the bureau will try to get most people to fill out the census online; fewer people in those hard-to-count areas have access to high-speed internet, or internet service at all.
At the recent International City/County Management Association's annual meeting, bureau representative Philip Lutz told attendees that people often view federal efforts to stress the importance of the census with suspicion, and that local leaders can much better understand how to communicate with their people. "Lutz highlighted past successes of using local barbershops and beauty salons as venues to promote the census" and shared other suggestions, such as "hosting interfaith breakfasts and weekend events; incorporating census information in newsletters, social media posts, podcasts, mailings and websites; and helping recruit census workers when positions become available," Grass reports.
That's because some areas will likely be undercounted and will therefore lose federal funding that's awarded based on population. Those includes areas that are predominantly rural, tribal, and/or Spanish-speaking. The problem will likely be made worse since the bureau will try to get most people to fill out the census online; fewer people in those hard-to-count areas have access to high-speed internet, or internet service at all.
At the recent International City/County Management Association's annual meeting, bureau representative Philip Lutz told attendees that people often view federal efforts to stress the importance of the census with suspicion, and that local leaders can much better understand how to communicate with their people. "Lutz highlighted past successes of using local barbershops and beauty salons as venues to promote the census" and shared other suggestions, such as "hosting interfaith breakfasts and weekend events; incorporating census information in newsletters, social media posts, podcasts, mailings and websites; and helping recruit census workers when positions become available," Grass reports.
No comments:
Post a Comment