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Channel 4 has launched a new website to reveal the relationships behind UK politics, led by users and the channel's news and current affairs teams. The Who Knows Who site will show the connections between politicians, celebrities and business using data from third-party sites, such as mySociety.

The site has been launched with 6,000 connections, but the number of relationships investigated will be expanded by both Channel 4's team and with the help of users, Channel 4 new media commissioning editor Vicky Taylor said.

The Channel 4 News and current affairs teams will add new stories and topics for investigation. Users are being invited submit suggestions for 'who knows who' stories and point out errors or possible inaccuracies.

"One of the most important goals for this site is to build up a community of users and share their knowledge with the widest possible group. By exposing who really does know who, we hope to hold those who hold power to account more closely," it is explained on the site.

"We hope that it will reveal the surprising and often hidden stories behind the headlines. This is the first iteration of an ongoing process to develop this tool to be rich in content and functionality and over time build the biggest network of connections in the UK."

Users can also rate stories and are asked to point out new sources of data that the site could incorporate.

Central to the new project are maps of the connections between individuals and groups they are associated with. The map feature was developed using Flash technology and the site will later be made open source.

"We deliberately avoided the traditional article-style format for this project and set out to display our journalism in new and innovative ways," it is explained on the site.

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Written by

Laura Oliver
Laura Oliver
Laura Oliver is a freelance journalist, a contributor to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, co-founder of The Society of Freelance Journalists and the former editor of Journalism.co.uk (prior to it becoming JournalismUK)

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