Election Coverage Bright Spots

Please vote to help us select the newsroom achieving the highest standards for election coverage.

Our Bright Spot awards are intended to shine a light on excellent local and state-wide news outlets. Amidst the doom and gloom about the decline of local news, we highlight several of the many vibrant outlets that provide their communities with good coverage. We seek your help selecting the best ones.

This month we are focusing on outlets that are explicitly setting a higher standard for election coverage. We have put forth recommendations for what we think the country needs from the press — our 2024 Pro-Democracy Election Coverage guidelines — which say, in essence:

• Cover elections like they matter more than sports scores

• Make threats to democracy clear

• Protect Americans from disinformation

We are pleased to say that, even without our prodding, several outlets have resolved to practice major elements of our guidelines. We’d like you to explore the reporting of our three Bright Spot nominees for May and we’ll award it to the one you (and our community) rate highest. The winner gets amplified on our social media and to our community and a $100 donation from MAD. We also encourage you to subscribe and support these outlets.

#1 Colorado Newsline promised that “We’re demoting horse race coverage. Here’s why.” Here is an example of recent commentary: Election subversion efforts in 2020 were bad. Now they’re worse. And they have reported back on their outreach to voters: We asked “what matters to you in this election?’ Here’s a bit of what we’ve heard so far.

#2 The Kansas Reflector reported that a Growing threat of political violence looms over 2024. We are glad to see this reporting on threats of violence. This is a dire challenge to our democracy and few of their peers are reporting on it, despite extensive studies documenting these threats, including this Brennan Center report on Intimidation of State and Local Officeholders.
The Reflector has also been reporting on the substance of candidates’ positions.

Both Colorado Newsline and the Kansas Reflector are members of the non-profit States Newsrooms which seek to provide coverage that is “Fair. Fearless. Free.” There are also some for-profit newsrooms that have also made notable promises that are consistent with our guidelines. 

Cleveland.com [in print, the Cleveland Plain Dealer] received a lot of attention when the editor noted that “There aren’t two sides to facts” and the LA Times adopted Professor Jay Rosen’s “Citizens Agenda” approach. Commendable steps and we would be happy to nominate them, except that paywalls prevent us, and you, from examining their coverage.

#3 So, the Charlotte Observer which pioneered the Citizen Agenda approach, is our third nominee. Here are some examples of how they have put it into practice: What do NC candidates for governor and AG say about the fight over immigration laws? and Two Republicans want to be Lt. Governor. What they told us about why they want the job

We use a voting system called Score Voting. It has many of the advantages of Ranked Choice Voting and will be familiar if you’ve rated restaurants, books or podcasts. Please review the publications above and give each of these outlets a ranking: 5 stars being the highest.
Note: you must be a subscriber to vote in these polls (subscription is free).

Thanks in advance for your valuable input.

Please add in the comments any observations you have or suggestions for outlets that should be added to our Local News Directory or nominated as future Bright Spots. And please subscribe and support these, and other good local newsrooms — they are vital to our communities and our country.