Media and Democracy Project Calls for Pro-Democracy Election Coverage Guidelines

The Media and Democracy Project (MAD) has issued an open letter to media executives, publishers, and union leaders, calling for the adoption of pro-democracy election coverage guidelines. The letter, signed by 3,258 individuals, emphasizes the need for newsrooms to prioritize fact-based reporting, counter election misinformation, and promote voter participation.

The proposed guidelines consist of 18 recommendations across three main categories: focusing on substantive issues coverage, extensive reporting on threats to democracy, and protecting Americans against the spread of disinformation. These guidelines aim to shift the focus of election coverage from polls and drama to candidates' policies, past governance, and behavior.

Brian Hansbury, cofounder of MAD, stated, "It's time that newsrooms start to cover elections like they matter more than sports scores. 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."

The guidelines include specific actions for reporters and editors, such as prioritizing coverage of issues that matter to voters' lives, creating accurate and informative headlines rather than clickbait, reducing the emphasis on predictions and polls, celebrating election workers and voters, and holding politicians accountable for their positions and behavior.

The open letter highlights the critical importance of voters understanding the stakes in the upcoming November election and the damaging impact of election misinformation. Recent reports have shown a spike in death threats against election officials and poll workers, making it challenging to recruit and retain these essential workers. Additionally, half of all female state legislators are considering leaving public office due to increased intimidation.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, NYU Professor of History and author, emphasized the importance of clear and precise analysis of threats to U.S. democracy by news organizations. She stated, "Americans deserve to know the scale and nature of the challenges we face this November and beyond."

Mark Jacob, former Chicago Tribune editor, drew a parallel between the media's responsibility to warn people about natural disasters and the current threat to democracy. He 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."

The open letter underscores the critical role of journalists, editors, and publishers in prioritizing public interest and democratic values over profit. Norm Ornstein, political scientist and Senior Fellow Emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute, stressed the importance of this initiative, stating, "Democracy is at stake–and as the open letter so powerfully demands, we need our news media to step up and be responsible."

The Media and Democracy Project, a non-partisan, all-volunteer, grassroots organization, aims to strengthen free and independent media in the public interest. Their goal is to improve national discourse and enable American voters to make informed decisions. MAD's website provides more information about this effort advocating for pro-democracy election coverage and lists additional signatories of the open letter.