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The Issues Mayor Fischer Spent The Most Time Talking About in 2015

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer's office sent out about 160 media releases in 2015.

The news releases alert reporters to information the mayor chooses to share and to events he will attend. They offer a glimpse of the issues he values the most — or, at least, those things he deems most worthy of sharing with the community.

The releases from 2015 cover topics ranging from anti-violence initiatives to community gatherings such as ReSurfaced. There were many business ribbon-cuttings and government appointments.

We asked the mayor's office for a list of all media notices sent out in 2015 to get an idea of how Fischer spent his time in the public eye.

We grouped the events into nine general categories: Economic Development, Health, Housing, Public Safety, Education, Youth Support, Arts and Culture, Infrastructure and Environment.

Fischer's press events focused largely on economic development. Nearly 25 percent of 2015 press events featuring Fischer revolved around job growth, tourism or community investment.

He said that's no accident.

"This is the result of a specific strategy, and of course the most important thing is jobs and making sure there are good jobs in the community, and making sure there are jobs available for everybody," Fischer said.

He also spent time speaking about things Louisvillians can do in their off time: 14 percent of Fischer's press events addressed concerts or community events.

[infogram id="breakdown_of_fischer_press_events" prefix="PYr" format="interactive" title="Breakdown of Fischer Press Events"]

Fischer said he plans to continue discussing these types of issues throughout his tenure as mayor.

"Those are our themes," he said.

Fischer spent the least amount of press event time speaking directly about health. Those events included presenting a new system to assist cardiac arrest victims, and the announcement of new leadership for Metro Emergency Medical Services, according to the records provided by his office.

Jacob Ryan is the managing editor of the Kentucky Center for Investigative reporting. He's an award-winning investigative reporter who joined LPM in 2014. Email Jacob at jryan@lpm.org.