Civic Discourse & Democracy

There are many more “experts” who can help you tell stories with more depth and character about what voters need, want and expect from their elected officials and local governments. Here's how to find them.

At our 2024 API Local News Summit on Elections, Trust and Democracy, we heard how news organizations are doing the work to create election resources that reflect the needs of the communities they cover. We asked four summit participants to expand on the work they’re doing in this space.

API's summit on Elections, Trust and Democracy led to a 5-step process for how news organizations can do this work now — and year-round.

News leaders have told us that they want to better support reporters and editors who will be covering an election for the first time. That’s why we’re sharing portions of this media guide to covering elections and voting from The Elections Group.

These guides are here to help you save time while getting some core thinking shared among your staff, on the record. So when you face a specific development you’re not saying, “I wish we’d talked about this in advance.”

The two organizations will provide a series of monthly webinars to local media leaders and journalists in the months leading up to the 2024 U.S. elections, and share practical resources throughout the year to support news organizations’ evolving needs around local elections and democracy.

We challenge local news organizations to smartly deploy their resources around the elections that most matter to their communities in 2024 — and also to think about how that energy builds to something more robust and sustained.

Journalism has the power to connect our communities, to bring out the best in what our society can be. Our goal is to help us all get there. 

Over the past month, AP provided reporting tips on four different election topics: covering misinformation, election conspiracies, school boards and election office turnover. Covering elections [...]