Open Letter Demands ‘Newsroom Reset’, Pushes for Adoption of Pro-Democracy Election Coverage Guidelines 3,000+ Urge Media Executives and Publishers to Drop Horse Race Coverage and Prioritize Substantive Coverage of the Issues
Washington, D.C.
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August 12, 2024 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Today, the Media and Democracy Project (MAD), along with 3,258 individuals, sent an open letter to executives, publishers, and union leaders of major media organizations urging them to adopt pro-democracy election coverage guidelines (PDF) that center fact-based reporting, push back against election lies, and uplift voting. MAD’s proposed guidelines respectfully request newsrooms switch their focus from polls and drama to candidates’ policies, past-governance, and behavior.
“It’s time that newsrooms start to cover elections like they matter more than sports scores,” said Brian Hansbury, cofounder of MAD. “Our democratic institutions are under attack and it’s incumbent on newsrooms to recalibrate their political coverage to adopt and adhere to practices that are pro-truth, pro-voting, and pro-democracy.”
MAD’s guidelines contain 18 recommendations organized into three categories—a focus on substantive issues coverage, extensive reporting on threats to democracy, and protecting Americans against the spread of disinformation. The guidelines provide specific actions reporters and editors can take to ensure practices that help voters make informed decisions at the ballot box. They include:
- Prioritize substantive coverage of the issues that matter to voters' lives;
- Make headlines accurate and informative, not clickbait;
- Stop making predictions and pushing polls at the expense of issue coverage;
- Celebrate and uplift election workers, voters, and the election process;
- Don’t set aside moral judgment when covering obvious lies and bigotry;
- Hold politicians to account for their positions, statements, and behavior, as well as those of their party’s leader;
- Expose candidates who foment political violence.
The open letter emphasizes how crucial it is for voters to understand what’s at stake in November and the damaging impact that election lies have already had on our democracy. For instance, lies about the 2020 election have caused a spike in death threats for election officials and poll workers, making it difficult to recruit and retain them. Half of all female state legislators are considering leaving public office due to increased intimidation. Meanwhile, Trump allies are preparing plans like Project 2025, which would harm millions of Americans and cripple our democratic system.
With 3,258 signatures and counting, the letter includes signatories such as Ruth Ben-Ghiat, NYU Professor of History and author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present and the Lucid newsletter, who stated, "It's never been more important for news organizations to analyze the threats to U.S. democracy in clear and precise terms. Americans deserve to know the scale and nature of the challenges we face this November and beyond."
The rights and freedoms that Americans cherish are at risk. As an essential pillar of democracy, journalists and the news media have a moral responsibility to inform Americans about anti-democratic extremist movements. Another signatory, Mark Jacob, former Chicago Tribune editor and author of the Stop the Presses newsletter, said, “The news media know it's their job to warn people when a hurricane is bearing down on them. But when a fascist assault on our democracy is bearing down on them, the media sometimes think it would be biased to warn people about it. That has to change before it's too late.”
It’s more important than ever for journalists, editors, and their publishers to step up and put the public before profit, democracy before tyranny, and truth before lies. "Democracy is at stake–and as the open letter so powerfully demands, we need our news media to step up and be responsible,” said Norm Ornstein, political scientist and Senior Fellow Emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute.
To learn more about this effort advocating for pro-democracy election coverage, and see who else signed the open letter visit MAD’s website.
The Media and Democracy Project: MAD is a non-partisan, all-volunteer, grassroots organization focused on strengthening a free and independent media in the public interest. MAD aims to improve our national discourse so that American voters can engage in informed decision-making. As part of that goal, MAD has an interest in the responsibility of journalists and media to report fully, accurately, and fairly on the electoral process and the outcome of elections. Additional information is available at www.MediaAndDemocracyProject.Org.
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