Last Updated on October 15, 2025 by Matthew Hallock
FAIRFIELD, CT – The-Voice.com, a Fairfield-based news and community activation platform, has been selected to participate in a prestigious leadership training program by the Google News Initiative (GNI). The GNI’s selection, from a pool of thousands of news publications worldwide, validates the platform’s unique model for local journalism and community engagement.
The-Voice has gained recognition for its innovative approach. It relies exclusively on public records and Google’s search capabilities to document and report on local issues. Over the past two years, the platform has published a series of stories that delve into a 75-year history of state control and domination. This will be compiled in a forthcoming anthology titled, The Fixing of Connecticut: Reform and the Blocking of Reform.
Matthew Hallock, the platform’s founder, attributes the GNI’s recognition to a broader trend of increased public access to information. “My role is simply to be a ‘googler and dot connector’,” Hallock said.
“This honor from the Google News Initiative strongly supports our core belief that digital tools have ushered in an era of unprecedented transparency. Citizens are empowered to access information and effect change in their communities. We believe the revolution is, in fact, brought to you by Google.”
The platform’s work, which is available at the-voice.com, demonstrates how the strategic use of publicly available data can make government processes more transparent, offering citizens a new ability to engage with public institutions and hold them accountable.
About The-Voice.com: The-Voice.com is a solo-enterprise news and community engagement platform based in Fairfield, CT. It operates with a dual mission: to pursue truth through the rigorous use of public records and digital tools, and to empower citizens to create change. The platform has been recognized for its impactful investigations. It exposed financial irregularities in a mayoral campaign, recovered historic town plans, and contributed to the defeat of major pro-developer legislation. The-Voice’s work challenges systemic structures by exclusively using publicly available information to activate citizens and encourage civic participation.
