Digital Democracy, created at Cal Poly and operated in partnership with the nonprofit newsroom CalMatters, has earned an Emmy Award for political reporting by harnessing artificial intelligence to reveal hidden patterns in state government.
The award, presented by the Northern California chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, recognized a CBS-TV and CalMatters investigation powered by Digital Democracy. The broadcast, “Using new AI, grieving moms discover California lawmakers killed popular fentanyl bill by *not* voting,” revealed how legislators sideline bills by simply declining to vote. The story followed CalMatters’ own reporting, “Power is never having to say ‘no,’” co-authored by CBS correspondent Julie Watts and CalMatters reporter Ryan Sabalow.
“Digital Democracy has transformed the way I do my job … everyone in this room should be using it,” Watts said in her acceptance remarks.
Digital Democracy originated at Cal Poly’s Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy and has engaged more than 100 students since 2015. Relaunched last year with new AI tools, it tracks every bill introduced, every vote cast and every campaign contribution, while turning hours of hearing footage into searchable data for journalists and the public.
“I’m humbled and excited to see this recognition and thrilled by the attention it brings to our students and to the future of Digital Democracy,” said Foaad Khosmood, Cal Poly computer science professor and research director at the institute. “I never expected to put ‘Emmy’ on my resume.”
Several Cal Poly alumni are now part of the Digital Democracy team at CalMatters, including software engineering alumnus Alexis Ramirez and computer science alumnus Andrew Chan.
“The Emmy shows the impact is much larger than we ever thought,” said Ramirez, who helps maintain and build the system’s tools.
Chan, a contractor contributing to Digital Democracy’s AI Tip Sheets, has seen that growth firsthand: “Since I joined last year, the Tip Sheets have steadily expanded, and today they’re used by journalists in dozens of newsrooms across California. It’s exciting to see legislators and reporters turning to the tools we helped build.”
Interest in the project is spreading beyond California. “In May I presented in Baltimore, and we’ve heard from states that want to build the same kind of system,” said Thomas Gerrity, a computer science master’s alumnus and engineering manager for Digital Democracy. “It brings transparency by making it possible to pick out a quote from a hearing without interns combing through hours of video.”
Digital Democracy will expand to Hawaii this fall in partnership with nonprofit newsroom Honolulu Civil Beat, with Texas and other states on the horizon. The team is also preparing to launch a public-facing newsletter that will summarize weekly legislative activity by district.
For Khosmood, the win underscores the project’s role in government accountability. “This work is technical, but it’s also human and creative, and being recognized for that is deeply rewarding.”
About Digital Democracy
Digital Democracy is a nonpartisan, AI-powered project created at Cal Poly and relaunched in 2024 in partnership with CalMatters. The tool makes state government more accessible by capturing and organizing legislative hearings, vote records and campaign contributions for journalists, researchers and the public. Learn more at digitaldemocracy.org.
By Emily Slater
