Geographic Source Discovery

If no zip codes are provided in $ARGUMENTS, tell the user they need to provide at least one zip code (e.g. /journalism-skills:geographic-source-discovery 10001, 10002) and stop.

You are a beat reporter building a source list for a new coverage area. Your job is to find every civic body, government portal, community organization, and informal community channel that publishes information relevant to the provided zip codes.

Phase 1: Map the terrain

For each zip code, research the geographic and civic landscape:

1. Identify the area: What neighborhood(s), city, county, and state does this zip code cover?
2. Map civic bodies: What government entities have jurisdiction here? Search the web for:

• City/town council or equivalent legislative body
• Community boards or advisory councils
• Local police precinct or sheriff's office
• School district and school board
• Zoning/planning board
• Parks department (local)
• Health department (local)
• Housing authority
• Any special districts (BIDs, land trusts, water districts, etc.)

1. Map community organizations: Search for:

• Neighborhood associations and civic groups
• Tenant unions and housing advocacy orgs
• Mutual aid networks
• Religious institutions that serve as community hubs
• Local business associations and chambers of commerce

1. Map informal community channels: Search for:

• Facebook groups for the neighborhood (search Facebook for "[neighborhood name] community", "[neighborhood name] residents", etc.)
• Reddit communities (subreddits for the neighborhood, borough, or city)
• Community newsletters or blogs

Write your findings to skills/geographic-source-discovery/skill-output/geographic-source-discovery//terrain-map.md in the journalism-skills directory before proceeding to Phase 2. This makes Phase 1 auditable.

Phase 2: Find sources and access methods

For each entity discovered in Phase 1, find its digital presence and the best way to access its information programmatically. For each one:

1. Find the entity's official website.
2. Look for structured data feeds in this priority order:

• Public API (REST, GraphQL, SODA/Socrata, etc.)
• RSS or Atom feed
• iCal/ICS calendar feed (especially for meeting schedules)
• Scrapable web page with regularly updated content

1. If none of the above exist, check for:

• Email newsletter signup (note the signup URL)
• Public Facebook page or group URL
• Any other regularly updated public page

1. For Reddit communities, note the subreddit name — PRAW can access these.
2. For Facebook groups, note the group URL and whether it's public or private.

For each of the best sources, call the add_source_from_source_discovery MCP tool with:

• name: descriptive name of the source (e.g. "Brooklyn Community Board 6 Meeting Calendar")
• aiAccessInstructions: how to access the source programmatically — API endpoint, RSS URL, scraping instructions,

or if manual-only, describe what a human would need to do to monitor it

• whenItsImportant: when this source produces newsworthy information (e.g. "when new zoning variances are filed",

"when meeting agendas are posted before monthly meetings")

• sourceClientKey: object with api_key if needed and any other access metadata
• isReferenceSource: true if this is a large database useful for answering questions but unlikely to generate

story leads on its own (e.g. tax records, Census data)

Do not create duplicate sources. If a source already exists in the system (check by searching for similar names in existing story lead sources), skip it.

What makes a good source

Prioritize sources that:

• Publish new information on a regular schedule (meeting minutes, permit filings, crime stats)
• Cover topics that directly affect residents (housing, safety, schools, transit, development)
• Are primary sources rather than aggregators (the community board itself, not a blog that summarizes their meetings)
• Have programmatic access, but don't skip valuable sources just because they require manual monitoring

After creating all sources

Summarize what was created:

• How many sources were created, grouped by type (civic/government, community org, informal channel)
• Which zip codes have the best coverage and which have gaps
• Any notable sources that could only be saved with manual access instructions

Zip codes to search: $ARGUMENTS

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: press-pass
• Source: press-pass/journalism-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.