Introducing a Journalist’s Guide to Covering Congressional Casework
Congressional offices are being inundated with constituents asking for help navigating stalled and frozen grants, rescinded immigration status, federal employment disputes, tariff impacts, and more. Known as Congressional casework, this vital form of oversight and constituent services can inform media coverage of government-related issues affecting the public. To help journalists better understand and report on this public-to-federal government feedback loop, Anne Meeker, deputy director at POPVOX Foundation and a former Congressional director of constituent services, created a definitive explainer: A Journalist’s Guide to Covering Congressional Casework.
The guide explains with examples how casework is:
Where district-based Congressional staffers serve as mediators between constituents and federal agencies when standard customer service channels fail.
A check on the Executive branch, resolving bureaucratic errors and making sure constituents receive the benefits or services they are legally entitled to.
An economic asset to a district by helping constituents recover delayed benefits and resolve problems during major policy changes.
A lead generator for stories that shine a light on the human impact of federal policymaking.
A Journalist’s Guide to Covering Congressional Casework covers:
The basics of casework;
How crises like natural disasters, government shutdowns, the Afghanistan military withdrawal, international conflicts, and COVID impact casework and the ability for Congress to respond to constituent needs;
Guidance on key trends, events, and what to ask when covering casework; and
How to vet a pitch from a lawmaker’s office on a casework story.
Read or download A Journalist’s Guide to Covering Congressional Casework here.
To supplement the guide, Meeker is hosting an AMA-style training on Tuesday, March 4 from 2-3 PM ET in conversation with Gabriela Schneider, POPVOX Foundation’s senior communications advisor. This training is designed for journalists covering Congress and the federal government who want to deepen their reporting toolkit. Register today!
