MyTwoCensus

MyTwoCensus
MyTwoCensus' logo
Formation	February 2009
Type	political
Purpose/focus	Monitor 2010 U.S. Census
Headquarters	San Francisco, California, United States
Official languages	English
Founder	Stephen Robert Morse
Budget	$25,000
Website	http://www.mytwocensus.com/

MyTwoCensus is a non-partisan, political watchdog group for the 2010 U.S. Census, created in February 2009.^[1] It tracks topics such as the constitutionality of including illegal immigrants in the census.^[2]

History

The group was created by Stephen Robert Morse, a freelance journalist located in San Francisco, California, as a project to identify reasons why the 2010 U.S. Census would be a controversial process. Morse later applied and won a grant through The Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship program with the Phillips Foundation.^[3] The award allowed Morse to continue his pet project. Morse first developed the idea as he was on Craigslist, looking for an additional job in San Francisco, and noticed that US Census Bureau was looking to hire employees in the Bay Area at the rate of $22-$26 per hour.^[4] After further research, Morse and friend Evan Goldin created the group's website and blog, MyTwoCensus.com, in order to provide unofficial oversight for the U.S. Census Bureau.^[4] In March 2010, the site added a community message board operated through the social-networking site, Ning.

Activities

The MyTwoCensus website reports on the handling of the census^{[citation needed]}. MyTwoCensus is headed by two journalists: Morse and Goldin. Morse has said that he utilizes Google News, and attends census worker recruitment sessions in his reporting.^[5] In 2009, MyTwoCensus discovered that the U.S. Census Bureau had supposedly paid the delivery company FedEx several million dollars over time to mail documents that were not time-sensitive^{[citation needed]}. The group publicized the findings after a census worker wrote to the website questioning the bureau's use of "priority overnight delivery".^[6] The group has been critical of Census Bureau management, including Robert M. Groves the current Director of the United States Census Bureau, as well as both Republicans and Democrats for their handling of 2010 Census operations. MyTwoCensus is syndicated on BigGovernment.com^{[citation needed]} and has been mentioned in right-wing publications, such as that of conservative blogger Michelle Malkin.^[7] Though most MyTwoCensus reports are authored by Morse himself, other journalists, including Emily Babay and Emily Schultheis of The Daily Pennsylvanian and Laura Masnerus (formerly of The New York Times) have written for the site as well.^[8]

On November 17, 2011 Stephen Robert Morse announced the re-launch of MyTwoCensus activities with a focus on critiquing "politicians, media, society, pop culture, and more, in both the US and abroad."^[9]

References

1. ^ "BYU president encourages participation in census". Universe.byu.edu. 2010-02-22. http://universe.byu.edu/node/6253. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
2. ^ "Census Taker's Death Highlights Controversy". Newsweek.com. http://www.newsweek.com/id/216590/page/2. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
3. ^ "Overview of The Robert Novak Journalism Fellows since inception of the program". The Phillips Foundation. 2005-11-01. http://www.thephillipsfoundation.org/index.php?q=fellowship_profiles. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "College alum creates site to monitor 2010 census". The Daily Pennsylvanian. 2009-04-16. http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/node/59283. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
5. ^ Weir, David (2009-03-31). "MyTwoCensus and the Future of Journalism | BNET Media Blog | BNET". Industry.bnet.com. http://industry.bnet.com/media/10001524/mytwocensus-and-the-future-of-journalism/. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
6. ^ "Federal Eye - Eye Opener: More Census Woes". Voices.washingtonpost.com. 2009-06-09. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/06/eye_opener_more_census_woes.html?hpid=news-col-blog. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
7. ^ Malkin, Michelle (2010-02-05). "The Super-Sized Census Boondoggle". Michelle Malkin. http://michellemalkin.com/2010/02/05/the-super-sized-census-boondoggle/. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
8. ^ Rubin, Daniel (2009-05-03). "Philadelphia Inquirer". My Two Census. http://www.mytwocensus.com/tag/philadelphia-inquirer/. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
9. ^ http://www.mytwocensus.com/2011/11/17/revival-revival-mytwocensus-com-is-coming-back-to-life-in-a-new-form/

External links

• MyTwoCensus website