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In summary
The Toner Awards, presented by the Newhouse School, recognize the best in political reporting and are named for Robin Toner ’76, the first woman to hold the position of national political correspondent for The New York Times.
CalMatters’ political accountability journalism, powered by the ground-breaking Digital Democracy Project, is finalist for the Toner Award for Excellence in Local Political Reporting. The Toner Awards highlight and strengthen quality, fact-based political reporting – work that illuminates the electoral process, exposes the politics of politics and engages the public in democracy.
The local political reporting category was won by the Chicago Tribune; other finalists included the Chicago Tribune for another story package, The Indianapolis Star, The Texas Tribune and the (Albany) Times Union.
The CalMatters award is for a series of political stories using CalMatters’ innovative developments Digital democracy platform, a custom-built project that uses AI to add transparency and accountability to California’s secretive legislative process, tracking every bill introduced, every vote taken, every dollar donated and every word spoken at public hearings. It is free to the public and is based on the ethical, transparent use of AI to enable accountable reporting that upholds the highest journalistic ethics.
The finalist honor goes to the CalMatters Digital Democracy and Politics team, including: CalMatters Political Reporter Ryan Sabalow, Digital Democracy Engineering Manager Thomas Gerrity, Forbes Professor of Computer Engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Foaad Khosmood, CalMatters Co-Founder and former Senior Editor Dave Lesher, Digital Democracy Transcription Manager Hans Poschmann, and CalMatters Political Editor Juliette Williams.
In 2025, the Digital Democracy Project powered Sabalow’s series of political accountability articles, including journalism that:
Digital Democracy’s database is constantly reviewed and refined by editors to ensure it accurately reflects what we see in the legislature. The Digital Democracy website is accessible, free of charge, to every member of society who wants to learn more about how California politics is made. Tip sheets identifying potential story ideas are provided as a free service to participating newsrooms.
In an era where public trust in government and the media is increasingly fragile—and the world is grappling with how to use AI responsibly—CalMatters’ digital democracy initiative has strengthened civic engagement and empowered California and its journalists with tools to independently investigate state government.