How-to Guide for Asking Questions:

How do I ask a question that will be answered?

The more votes your question gets, the more likely Capitol News Connection journalists will be to make sure your question gets answered. We think questions about the big controversies or headline news developments on any given day will grab the most attention, but so too will original, thought-provoking, even quirky questions. Put it this way: if your question is about something that matters to a lot of people, something relevant, important, even amusing, you will increase your likelihood of getting lots of votes. But getting loads of votes doesn’t necessarily guarantee an answer: CNC journalists will be looking for interesting questions that we think could spur an answer that could be big news the next day, as well as “breaking news” questions that haven’t had enough time yet up on the site to accumulate as many votes as less time sensitive questions. We cannot guarantee your question will be answered, but you can increase your chances by asking good questions … and voting for questions that are similar to yours.

What makes a good question?

A lot goes into making a good question. Capitol News Connection reporters interview Senators and Representatives every day – and the art of good reporting is getting the question right, listening to the answer, and asking a good follow-up (or three!) The best questions are well-informed and thoughtful, relevant to an important issue, concern or constituency, newsworthy, contextual and open-ended. Asking an “open-ended question” is easy: start with “What”, “How”, “Why”, not “Are you?” or “Do you?” The latter often can inspire “yes” or “no” answers that offer little in the way of illumination. At CNC we also try to think of ways to get lawmakers “off script” – these days they spend so much time honing their message that the challenge has become to find a way to make them think on their feet. It’s tricky, but it can be done. Sometimes the most compelling answers come from questions that relate on a human level, or find some connection; other times from asking a really tough, well researched question. As Ask Your Lawmaker receives your questions and votes, clear patterns will also begin to emerge as to what type of questions are proving most popular (i.e. getting the most votes) and what questions are prompting the best, most newsworthy and listenable answers. Check out Trends, CNC Picks and individual users’ My AYL pages – to see what works, and what doesn’t!

Operational Questions

Will my question be answered? / Which questions will be answered?

CNC journalists want to ask as many of your questions as possible, but we cannot possibly guarantee all questions will be answered. We promise to ask the most popular – the questions that get the most votes – and the best, the ones CNC journalists think are the most compelling. Initially, when Congress is in session, we will be asking a minimum of 10 questions a day. We hope to increase this number substantially over time.

How long will it take to get an answer?

If your question is about a breaking news development, turnaround could be same day. If it is not a time sensitive question, we will wait to see how many others vote your question up the rankings. There are also other factors: CNC has accredited access to lawmakers in the Capitol – but that doesn’t always guarantee they will show up for a vote – or give us more than a terse “no comment”. But we’re good at this, we’ve won awards for it, so most of the time we’ll get an answer from the lawmaker you want us to question. And we’ll even ask a follow-up – especially if the lawmaker doesn’t directly answer your question!

How many votes does a question need to get asked?

Generally if a question has more than 100 votes we will do our very best to get it answered; if it has 10,000 you know we’ll get it answered! But sometimes a question with no votes might be worth asking. But you increase your chances exponentially if you can come up with something that other people want asked; that’s why we encourage you to vote for questions that are similar to your own, rather than asking the same question as someone else.

Who decides if a question gets answered?

The CNC Editorial Team retains editorial control over what questions get asked and when.

What happens when Congress is in recess?

It will be much harder to get your questions answered quickly, but we’ll try – you’ll just have to make due with ‘phone tape’.

What happens if a lawmaker refuses to answer a question?

We’ll keep trying, and if we just cannot get them past a “no comment” we’ll upload that – plus the sound of us trying!

Can I ask follow up questions?

Yes please! If you ask a question that gets answered, ask a follow-up the regular way – use the box “More About My Question” to tell us it is a follow up. Or if you have a follow-up question to another answer, tell us which question and which answer in the “More About My Question” box.

Can I use questions / answers in my blog?

Yes! It’s one of the cool features of the site. We even provide the “embed” code for you. Just click on More next to a question or answer, and that will take you through to the embed code. Then use it how you like. Just make sure you credit Capitol News Connection and Askyourlawmaker.org. (See Terms of Use)

Campaign 2008

Throughout Campaign 2008, the 'Ask Your Lawmaker' web widget will upon occasion be used by our public media partners at NPR and PBS to get citizen questions for Presidential Debates either entity will be hosting. Capitol News Connection will have no input into which questions are chosen by the editorial teams at either NPR or PBS. But as best we can, we will keep you informed about what criteria their editorial management and on-air hosts will be using to pick questions. It will certainly help to have a lot of votes for your question, but it is no guarantee it will be asked.

Technical Questions

Why do I need to register to use the site?

The integrity of this site is critical to its success. We want it to be a reliable and trustworthy tool for everyone, that genuine people are voting, asking and using the tool in good faith.. That means we have to take steps to ensure the site is not being ‘gamed’, ‘spammed’ or manipulated by anyone.

What prevents people or groups from voting more than once?

We have a powerful database that recognizes your email and IP Address (is this right>???) and simply prevents it.

Are there any restrictions on using the audio on the website?

Ask Your Lawmaker is a “viral” tool, and we encourage you to make use of audio content – you can post it on your blog (with our embed code), digg it, tell folks how del.icio.us it is, or post it on your FaceBook or MySpace page. But you cannot broadcast it, sell it, profit from it, or alter it – and you must credit CNC and AskYourLawmaker.org. (Please see Terms of Use)

Who pays for Ask Your Lawmaker?

Ask Your Lawmaker is a nonprofit service operated by Pundit Productions, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) organization named after founder Melinda Wittstock’s amiable but opinionated golden retriever Pundit. Pundit (not the dog) also operates Capitol News Connection, the award-winning news service which supplies public radio stations with localized reports on Congress. Ask Your Lawmaker and CNC are funded by foundations, member public radio stations, corporate underwriting and donations from people like you!

Is Ask Your Lawmaker associated with any political party or interest group?

No, Ask Your Lawmaker is not in any way affiliated with any political party or interest group. Capitol News Connection, which operates this website, prides itself on its balanced journalism; it has no dog in any political fight.

Who are the reporters in the field, asking the questions?

CNC reporters! They are working very hard every day to make sure your questions get answered! They want to know what’s on your mind, what is important to you – and why! They’ll do their very best every day to track down lawmakers – whether in the House Lobby during a vote, outside the Senate chambers, in the corridors and committee rooms of Congress, on the campaign trail, even coming out of the bathroom…(No kidding, it’s happened before!)

Who or What is Capitol News Connection?

Capitol News Connection (CNC) brings politics “home” to public radio listeners nationwide with coverage of Congress made relevant to local listening audiences. Former Speaker Tip O’Neill was right when he said “all politics is local”. CNC was founded on the basis that people would take more of an interest in their democracy if we could find a way to tell the political story in a way that was relevant to people’s daily lives. What does it mean to me? Why should I care? The CNC mission is to ensure voters are engaged and lawmakers are accountable towards an informed democracy. It launched in July 2003 with a small grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that funded three reporters, three microphones and three laptops. In just four years it has grown to serve 200+ stations with exclusive news reports, features, live interviews and documentary short pieces all custom-crafted for local audiences. It has won several prestigious national awards including the Joan S. Barone Award for Public Policy Journalism and an Edward R. Murrow. It continues to innovate with new interactive content such as AskYourLawmaker.org and its broadcast counterpart, as well as new program modules such as Power Breakfast. Go to About to find out more or go to www.cncnews.org