Clarify why the release matters in plain English

public_copy.json

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "subtitle": "Neutral Records explorer for a public-record slice of congressional money-and-power linkages.",
   "dataset_repo_id": "cjc0013/cmp-data",
   "space_repo_id": "cjc0013/cmp",
-  "welcome_markdown": "# Congress Public Records Slice\n\nStart with **What This Is**, then use **Overview**.\n\n- **What This Is** explains, in plain English, what this release contains and what it does not claim.\n- Pick one House member first.\n- Use **Overview** to see the strongest sectors or funding recipients for that member.\n- Use **Explain Link** to see why one relationship appears in this released slice.\n- Use **Explore Graph** only if you want a secondary visual map.\n\nThis is an exploration tool, not an accusation tool.",
+  "welcome_markdown": "# Congress Public Records Slice\n\nStart with **Start Here**, then use **Overview**.\n\n- **Start Here** explains what this release is, why somebody would care, and what data is in it.\n- Pick one House member first.\n- Use **Overview** to see the strongest sectors or funding recipients for that member.\n- Use **Explain Link** to see why one relationship appears in this released slice.\n- Use **Explore Graph** only if you want a secondary visual map.\n\nThis is an exploration tool, not an accusation tool.",
   "landing_markdown": "# Congress Public Records Slice\n\nA neutral, review-oriented slice of House public-record linkages across financial disclosures, sector overlap, and community project funding recipient relationships.\n\n- This release is a slice of public-record data, not a complete accounting of all potentially relevant data.\n- Future releases may update or expand this slice as source recovery, parsing, and evidence linkage improve.\n- This release does not assign guilt, wrongdoing, intent, or causality to any person or organization.\n- The release shows public-record overlaps, timing, and linkage strength, not proof of illegality or corruption.\n- Some rows remain review-tier or include unresolved official source references and should be read with those labels in mind.\n- The public package includes verification summaries and SHA-backed artifact indexes, but it does not include the full internal raw corpus, so external verification is bounded by what is published here.",
   "downloads_markdown": "## Downloads\n\n- Dataset repo id: `cjc0013/cmp-data`\n- Space repo id: `cjc0013/cmp`\n\nUse the dataset bundle files for direct review, CSV download, and SHA-backed source checks.",
   "dataset_bundle_prefix": "dataset_bundle"

public_space_app.py

@@ -109,15 +109,26 @@ def _about_release_markdown(
         [
             "## What this is",
             "",
-            "This tool is a public-records explorer for one released slice of House data.",
+            "This tool helps you answer a simple question:",
             "",
-            "It brings together records about House members, financial disclosures, legislative activity, lobbying visibility, and some community project funding recipient relationships.",
+            "**Do a House member's disclosed financial or funding-related relationships line up with public legislative activity in the same area?**",
             "",
-            "The goal is simple: help you inspect where public records overlap, then click through to the published source URLs and SHA-backed artifacts.",
+            "It does that by putting several public-record systems in one place, then ranking the strongest overlaps for one House member at a time.",
             "",
-            "It does **not** accuse anyone of a crime, corruption, or wrongdoing.",
-            "It does **not** prove intent or causality.",
-            "It does **not** claim this is the full universe of relevant data.",
+            "The point is not to tell you what to think. The point is to make it faster to inspect patterns and then verify the underlying records yourself.",
+            "",
+            "## Why someone might care",
+            "",
+            "- Journalists can use it to move from a vague suspicion to a concrete set of records worth checking.",
+            "- Researchers can use it to compare members, sectors, and funding-recipient patterns without pulling six public sources by hand.",
+            "- Citizens can use it to see why a relationship appears, then open the actual published source URLs and SHA-backed artifacts.",
+            "",
+            "## What this does not claim",
+            "",
+            "- It does **not** accuse anyone of a crime, corruption, or wrongdoing.",
+            "- It does **not** prove intent or causality.",
+            "- It does **not** claim this is the full universe of relevant data.",
+            "- It shows overlaps and evidence strength, not a verdict.",
             "",
             "## What is in this release",
             "",
@@ -150,10 +161,18 @@ def _data_used_markdown(manifest: Dict[str, Any]) -> str:
         [
             "## What data is used here",
             "",
-            "This release uses public records from these source groups:",
+            "This release combines public records from these source groups:",
             "",
             *[f"- {item}" for item in source_groups],
             "",
+            "## In plain English, what those sources add",
+            "",
+            "- Disclosure records show trades or financial holdings.",
+            "- Bill and vote records show legislative activity in related policy areas.",
+            "- Committee records show formal committee context.",
+            "- Lobbying and campaign-finance visibility add more public context around the same issue areas.",
+            "- Community project funding records and award pages help show recipient-side relationships.",
+            "",
             "## How those records show up in this release",
             "",
             "- `members.csv`: one row per House member in this slice.",
@@ -169,15 +188,15 @@ def _data_used_markdown(manifest: Dict[str, Any]) -> str:
 def _how_to_use_markdown() -> str:
     return "\n".join(
         [
-            "## How to read this",
+            "## Best way to use this",
             "",
             "1. Pick one House member.",
-            "2. Start in **Overview** and look at the top sectors or funding recipients.",
-            "3. Click a relationship in **Relationship to explain**.",
-            "4. Read the evidence breakdown and the coarse evidence window.",
-            "5. Use the source URLs and SHA-backed artifacts if you want to verify it yourself.",
+            "2. Start in **Overview** and look at the top sectors or funding recipients for that person.",
+            "3. Pick one relationship in **Relationship to explain**.",
+            "4. Read the plain-English reasons and the coarse evidence window.",
+            "5. If it looks interesting, open the source URLs and SHA-backed artifacts to verify it yourself.",
             "",
-            "The safest way to interpret this release is as a map of documented public-record relationships, not a verdict.",
+            "A good rule of thumb: treat this as a lead generator for public-record review, not as a conclusion machine.",
         ]
     )
 
@@ -907,7 +926,7 @@ def build_app(copy_path: str | Path):
 
     with gr.Blocks(title=copy_payload.get("title", "Congress Public Records Slice")) as app:
         gr.Markdown(copy_payload.get("welcome_markdown", copy_payload.get("landing_markdown", "")))
-        with gr.Tab("What This Is"):
+        with gr.Tab("Start Here"):
             gr.Markdown(_about_release_markdown(manifest, data["recipient_link_quality"], data["source_quality"]))
             gr.Markdown(_data_used_markdown(manifest))
             gr.Markdown(_how_to_use_markdown())