Seaton’s startup seeks to create a more informed democracy

Jake Seaton, A.B. ’19 (computer science) has launched a startup, enotice, drawing on an idea he formed as an undergraduate almost two years ago.

Local governments are required by law to publish notices of all proposed government actions and legal procedures in local newspapers to keep citizens politically informed. However, given the age of online media, these advertisements often go unnoticed by the public, essentially causing people to disengage from the actions of government and lack awareness of changes that could affect them. Enotice strives to streamline this inefficient system by building a digital platform that makes public notices accessible online.

Growing up in the newspaper industry, Seaton has a clear understanding of the role local journalism plays in creating communities.

“Long-term, we hope that building a sort of centralized platform for [public notices] that makes information like this accessible to anyone who’s looking for it - if not proactively distributing to them - will help build a more informed democracy,” he said in an interview with The Manhattan Mercury.

With myriad mentors, from the executive editor of The Washington Post, Marty Baron, to the director of the Shorenstein Center at Harvard and former editor-in-chief of TIME Magazine, Nancy Gibbs, Seaton and his 10 team members are working to launch their startup first in Manhattan, Kansas, and then eventually nationwide.

Read more in The Manhattan Mercury.