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Local reporters: If you want to make a difference in the 2020 election, this thread is for you. #votebeat
Hard truth: We are awash in presidential election news, but still lack enough local reporting on how America will successfully vote in a pandemic. With 10K+ election boards in the U.S., we run the risk of each county finding its own unique way to botch an unprecedented election.
Despite heroic efforts of officials on the ground, the risk remains: What more needs to be done for safe in-person voting and well-run mail-in voting? Each district will have different answers. When idiosyncrasies rule, we need true local reporting to hold leaders accountable.
Resources from @electionland via @propublica, ElectionSOS, @PENamerica, and @AmPress already provide valuable training so reporters ask the right questions and ensure voting is free and fair. But there are simply not enough reporters to make the best use of these resources.
What if we could change that? We don’t have much time, but we can still make a difference. There are 23 battleground states. What if we could hire 2 reporters to cover election administration in each of those places for 3 months, bolstering work already being done? #votebeat
What are battleground states? In our definition, states with competitive presidential, U.S. Senate, and governor races. See the list here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Us0q75ANcGfYwGAyeaCgNzVBSyIvp2L_9W-nlB38m5E/edit#gid=0
This initiative would be entirely local: Local reporters would write the stories, and local newsrooms would publish them. Stories would run for free and would be re-distributed broadly, to reach the widest possible audience. #votebeat
It could be called #Votebeat, a pop-up, locally executed, nonpartisan newsroom paid for by philanthropy.
In our opinion, the hard part here isn’t just raising money to pay the reporters. The hard part is proving that reporters and local newsrooms are ready to step into action.
So local reporters and editors, what do you think? If there were a way to pay you, would you cover voting in your state? https://forms.gle/RjBhFo1yEE4G39BX6
And local newsrooms: Would you be willing to run point in your communities if we could get the funding? That means taking in these reporters, assigning stories, and ultimately distributing the coverage to your partners. https://forms.gle/b9BfjjKsyd8WAUqq9
We already have several who have raised their hands to helm this coverage in their regions if this happened: @TexasTribune, @mtnstspotlight, @vtdigger, @SpotlightPA, and @BridgeMichigan.
And there are others ready to step up and make this happen: ProPublica's ElectionLand team has promised to ensure you are trained and ramped up to do the work. @INN has volunteered centralized administrative support. https://www.propublica.org/electionland-sign-up-for-journalists/
And @KHNews is ready to help you ensure the health issues raised by local election boards are legitimate and fact check any claims through its #Healthcheck partnership with PolitiFact. https://khn.org/news/tag/healthcheck/
And we at @Chalkbeat are happy to take the lead on fundraising and whatever centralized organizing needs to happen. Yes, we are experts on local education news, but we’re also experts on running a large nonprofit newsroom covering critical civic topics across the country.
If you’re in, sign up here, ideally by the end of the week. If you love the idea, please RT. If enough reporters and newsrooms are in, I think we have a shot to get the money we need to pay for the work. #votebeat
https://forms.gle/RjBhFo1yEE4G39BX6
https://forms.gle/b9BfjjKsyd8WAUqq9
https://forms.gle/RjBhFo1yEE4G39BX6
https://forms.gle/b9BfjjKsyd8WAUqq9
