{"id":446,"date":"2023-08-25T06:58:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T13:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/?p=446"},"modified":"2023-08-26T14:14:48","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T21:14:48","slug":"journalism-for-democracy-beyond-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/2023\/08\/25\/journalism-for-democracy-beyond-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalism for Democracy Beyond Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Host<\/strong>:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p> Roshan Bliss, National Coalition for Dialogue and Liberation<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who\u2019s in the room?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Caitlin Tapia<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Michelle Faust Raghavan, Claridad Media<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gene Sonn, Resolve Philly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Linda Shaw, Solutions Journalism Network<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nation Hahn, EdNC<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Megan Garvey, LAist<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allison Dikanovic, Kansas City Star<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chelsea Naughton, America Amplified<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Meredith Edlow, photographer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>David Bornstein, Solutions Journalism Network<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Frank, professor observing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>These other things that are about democracy beyond elections exist, but people don\u2019t know about them, examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Participatory budgeting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How do we use journalism to engage folks in conversations and decisions that impact them beyond going to the ballot on Election Day?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Linda:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Research that horse race coverage leads people to lose trust in political and journalism institutions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Start with community listening<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use the citizen\u2019s agenda approach\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What are the issues you want politicians to be solving?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use solutions journalism to cover those issues<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Megan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>LAist has done a lot of work listening to community and figuring out where people are at when it comes to participating in democracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Human voter guide \u2014 People didn\u2019t know how to vote, how to get a ballot, what each of the roles do\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If you don\u2019t know how to get the ballot, the rest is moot<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Civics and democracy reporter \u2192 instead of politics reporter<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>LA has a new mayor\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Used influencers and other strategies to get a demographically representative survey response from voters about issues of importance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Main story that has come out so far: promise tracker\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Identified main points of the new mayor\u2019s policy for reducing the homelessness crisis and tracked success<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We\u2019re able to hold her to account on each point regularly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Promise Tracker takeaways\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>City data is terrible<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A written story<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cMeet Your Mayor\u201d type quiz\/guide<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>What people say they want\/what\u2019s good for our democracy vs. what people actually engage with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chelsea:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Platforms: people aren\u2019t their best selves on social media<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Zombie mode, outrage motivates people<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The platforms we put information on are set up to get people to behave that way<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We have an obligation to figure out another way to deliver that information<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Megan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Planet Money TikTok<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Providing information in a more interesting\/creative way<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Chelsea:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You\u2019re not hosting the dinner party<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You\u2019re providing a dish at the dinner party<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You\u2019re not showing up in the space in a way that people care about<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Caitlin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Statements that fuel policies and decisions vs. seeking a platform and coverage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where is the journalism line between paparazzi and those who are implementing policies and decisions that affect people\u2019s lives<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Gene:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Documenters expansion<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Active participation \u2192 more than 200 people who were signed up for training<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hunger to be involved in democracy beyond elections<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Meetings that are supposed to include the public have become prohibitively restrictive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Roshan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Journalists collaborating with professional facilitators to engage around an issue at hand in the community along the lines of reality TV covering the deliberative process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Megan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cMake Al Care\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>LA is infamous for having very low turnouts for elections<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Al was a cafe owner who had never voted\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He didn\u2019t see the point or how it could connect to his life<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What would it take to get Al to vote?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Politicians came and started pitching to Al<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reporter drove him to the polls<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Covered 2000 campaign following Dick Cheney and Ralph Nader\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nader had said Bush and Gore were basically the same<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>People\u2019s lives aren\u2019t all that different depending on who is in office<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Peggy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Robert Putnam\u2019s research \u2014 bowling alone<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Civic institutions where people come together<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Decline of civic institutions tracks with decline of participation in democracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The more that people see the ways they can engage, the more they will<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Nation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Community college students<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Surveyed with Reach<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Created candidate survey based on students\u2019 questions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Brought them to the candidates<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hosted a forum to create videos for social media and also a digital guide<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The community colleges distributed the survey\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>EdNC gave the data back to the colleges<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teacher survey, partnered with Dept. of Public Instruction<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Promise: EdNC would include the survey results in the DPI report<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Creating meaningful ways for people engage in ways that can actually affect policy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Megan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Voter guides start with the responsibilities of what officials do<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>David:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Most Americans don\u2019t know what the government does<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Department of energy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inflation and infrastructure act \u2014 Biggest public expenditure since the new deal, should be talked about but people don\u2019t know what it is<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We don\u2019t understand or cover what problem solving looks like in the government<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How do we cover government day by day to show what they actually do that affects our lives<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The brand of government has been destroyed by journalism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Peter Block:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Conversation about democracy is about self-governance&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Our attention on elections gets in the way of our coverage of democracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What are you doing to keep your neighborhood safe?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Chelsea:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Series about democracy from the ground up<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Focused on people who were doing the work of democracy outside of politics and government<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Profiles of people and portraits of what else is democracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Think more broadly about what democracy is, put it in different beats<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Meredith:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For Black people, there is a very thin line between democracy and slavery<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Has bred this culture of hierarchy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Has bred this culture of disseminating your information to a certain subset of people<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We talk past the reality of if we don\u2019t have democracy, some people would be enslaved<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cMy position of the world outside of democracy is slavery.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Until we get comfortable talking about slavery and what that means to the United States<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Knew so little about the history of her family\u2019s experience in Virginia<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Was confused about the origin of her name, went on a personal search<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If we don\u2019t start talking more about slavery and the sanitation of history after the Civil War, I\u2019m not sure we\u2019re having the best conversation about democracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In churches in Virginia, a lot of white rightwing conservative ideas and politics mix with Black people who vote Democrat but also have conservative religious views<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Megan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We are an ahistorical country that wants to forget.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It\u2019s easy to forget that the electoral college exists because of slavery, the rules that keep people from distributing water at the polls is to keep people from voting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We need reporting that offers historical context.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>David:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The message to get people to dismiss\/disengage with democracy is that \u201cdemocracy doesn\u2019t deliver\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Journalism doesn\u2019t cover how democracy delivers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cWe can\u2019t be an advocate for the government\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Peter Block:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What is the other conversation we can be having other than investigative?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Chelsea:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cTraveling While Black\u201d exhibit<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oral histories in a VR headset<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At a restaurant in the Green Book, riding around in a bus<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The immersive experience brought you into the space<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allocating resources to powerful VR experiences can be really important<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We forget that the way we present our stories can have such a huge impact<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Gene:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The plane landing safely isn\u2019t a journalism story<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the pattern of planes landing safely is going up, that is a story<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Grew up attending a public forum in a school gymnasium, the physical representation of democracy was powerful<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>David:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Documentary about election workers called no time to fail<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Nation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>People think about their lives first, and their civics and community second<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you can directly show people that their voices will be heard<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Philanthropy: Survey to inform grantmaking<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Megan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We can cover democratic systems<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who has power and why and how to create greater access<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Making streams available<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>David:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Budgets tell you how power is operating in a town&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A discussion on how to engage the public in democratic participation and inform them about the issues and policies that affect their lives. The difficulties of covering complex topics such as inflation, infrastructure, and slavery, and the potential of using new formats and platforms to reach diverse audiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9030,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-admin","category-session-notes","tag-ee3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":488,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions\/488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/engagingemergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}