The American Press Institute envisions an inclusive democracy and society, where communities have the news and information they need to make decisions and thrive. To support this vision, we aim to share a variety of programming, training and resources news organizations can use to shape and support their coverage of the 2024 elections.
News leaders have told us both in-person and in surveys that they want to better support reporters and editors who will be covering an election for the first time. At a time when public trust in the media is at a record low, combined with the fact that even the smallest voting incident can turn into a big story, it’s crucial that those journalists feel confident they have both people and resources for which to turn for guidance.
That’s why we’re sharing portions of this media guide to covering elections and voting from The Elections Group. Written by Pam Fessler, a former NPR News correspondent who covered voting and elections for 20 years and is now a communications advisor for The Elections Group, the guide delves into key steps in the voting process as well as issues to watch.
It’s a comprehensive place to start for journalists new to the beat, or news leaders who want to determine the knowledge, relationships and topics to prioritize leading up to November. You can find the entire report here.
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- Covering elections and voting in 2024: A media guide
- 6 tips for covering voting
- Key steps in the voting process
- Story ideas
- Resources
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The press will be much more effective in serving people and strengthening democracy if it learns from what researchers are learning. Among the examples and takeaways, you will find that news leaders and non-news experts alike value the opportunity to think differently about the challenges in front of them, about how local news can change and how research can ask different questions.
We'll share some of the resources, tools and lessons learned from our training sessions and research help desk. We hope you can use these as you plan your continuing accountability coverage and start thinking about the next election on the horizon.
When community members are no longer voters, their needs become diffuse once again and there is no clear, focusing mandate. So many newsrooms slip back into the usual: politics coverage driven by politicians and press releases. How do we avoid that backslide?
How can we avoid that backslide this time?
