Excellent recommendations from Angelica Das and Democracy Fund.
A reminder to news organizations: It's not a good time to lean on old habits. Make that extra effort to ensure your policies and standards are clear both internally and externally, and that you very. clearly. label. opinion vs. news.
State when facts are still emerging. Note anything created with AI.
For funders: Contact me if you want access to our Trust Network of news sites deeply committed to integrity.
Worried about election misinformation? Angelica Das offers four ways that pro-democracy and journalism funders can act now:
1. Fund grassroots organizers and experts who are mobilizing against misinformation.
2. Fund newsrooms who are sharing trustworthy information.
3. Protect the messengers who are vulnerable to physical, digital, and legal threats.
4. Ensure newsrooms have the flexibility to adapt within an unpredictable political environment.
Read more: https://lnkd.in/dXqfBkgq
Worried about election misinformation? Angelica Das offers four ways that pro-democracy and journalism funders can act now:
1. Fund grassroots organizers and experts who are mobilizing against misinformation.
2. Fund newsrooms who are sharing trustworthy information.
3. Protect the messengers who are vulnerable to physical, digital, and legal threats.
4. Ensure newsrooms have the flexibility to adapt within an unpredictable political environment.
Read more: https://lnkd.in/dXqfBkgq
Want to know what it's like to be a political reporter *right now* in this incredibly tight and heated election?
Michael (MJ) Lyle, a reporter at States Newsroom's Nevada Current, talked with the Columbia Journalism Review's Lauren Watson about covering Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, how to avoid "sanewashing" political talking points and the importance of being an on-the-ground journalist who understands the local community.
Here's a snippet:
"Whenever I listen to any speech or am interviewing candidates, it’s about just making sure I know the facts. When I’m laying out a story, I make sure that I am challenging misinformation. This goes back to the Trump speech and covering some of that misinformation, or even adding context, maybe, to a Harris speech. I am focused on laying it out in a way where I don’t repeat false information. "
Read the full interview, and then tell us: Reporters, how does this compare with election reporting in your community?
#FairFearlessFree#LocalReporting
My latest for Poynter Institute on *this moment* for journalists covering the election.
If you don't have time to read it, here are the broad recommendations:
1. Focus on what is in your control
2. Anticipate the public’s anxieties and engage with them
3. Decide with your colleagues when your business model or instincts should NOT win out
4. Plan for the future (as counter-intuitive as that sounds)
https://lnkd.in/dkud44Qj
Highly recommend this related piece from Kelly McBride & Gabriel Rodriguez:
https://lnkd.in/dKNS3WJHHearken, Inc, Spitfire
How do you responsibly cover political violence? How do you stay safe while reporting on unrest? How do you combat mis- and disinformation?
In the wake of the Trump rally shooting, our team pulled together some free resources that answer these questions and more. We're in contact with experts at dozens of journalism and civic information organizations, and we're ready to respond to journalists needing coverage support.
We’ll be regularly updating this post with resources to support journalists as they rush to cover the shooting and its aftermath, and prepare for what additional political violence it may incite — all without contributing to the root causes.
https://lnkd.in/gs6NXYRY
Lawrence O'Donnell lays out some very inconvenient truths about the media and how it is abusing its mandate. Benjamin Franklin published the second paper in the colonies (The Pennsylvania Gazette) and was instrumental, when advising on the Constitution in 1789, in securing the Freedom of the Press as one of the fundamental freedoms in the Bill of Rights. It is given this freedom because a republic can only survive if its citizenry is informed of the news of the day and the issues that are pertinent, but he also made it clear in his writing that this freedom could be abused if media exists as a monopoly.
In the last few decades, the number of independent newspapers, radio stations, and television stations has collapsed as, one after another, they are purchased by large conglomerates. Most of the media produced today is created by one of five conglomerates. Such conglomerates typically influence who is hired as publishers, editors, and writers/producers, and consequently have a profound influence on the bias of reportage.
Bias is important here - the myth of objective journalism (something that was espoused at the academic level but not necessarily at the practical level) in the 1960s and 1970s has given way to many publishers quietly acknowledging their biases, even while proclaiming themselves Fair and Balanced. By itself, this is probably unavoidable, but when combined with a strong corporatist agenda consolidated in the hands of a few, it means that these viewpoints establish the Overton Window - that is to say, what people perceive the world to look like according to external sources.
This becomes especially pernicious when such organizations go from interpreting events to creating them wholesale, even when they did not, in fact, occur. We are data professionals. Our livelihoods depend upon having accurate information, whether that information comes from a knowledge graph, some other database, or an aggregate LLM. Most of us do not live in Washington, DC, or New York City, or San Francisco. We rely upon the reportage of others to inform our world view, and consequently to inform our data.
A knowledge graph is not a collection of truths. It is a collection of assertions, a set of beliefs that we assert to be true, but could quite as readily be complete lies. That is what disinformation is, and it is ultimately caustic to our society. We need to demand more of our journalists, and we need to break the monopolies that currently exist on the media itself.
https://lnkd.in/g-65rXei
We can support honest, science-respecting #JOURNALISM and reporting by opposing Trvmp and his policies.
The Party of Trvmp is is preparing to legally persecute honest journalists and their sources (often government employees and whistleblowers). A Republican Admin. will attempt to destroy scientific journalism whenever it gets in the way of his preferred oligarchs' profitable ventures.
🗳️ Reminder: this Presidential Election is not yet certified. We must demand #Audits and recounts - in hopes of preventing this #First Amendment destroying Bully-in-Chief from taking power. Plenty of evidence indicates that incorrect vote counts/ numbers have been reported by many GOP controlled districts. "These vote counts make no sense" to many prominent experts in election security & computer science. See also,
👉 https://lnkd.in/gejWC89i
📣 #Recounts in 3 swing states could FLIP the Electoral counts and we would see a science-respecting Harris Administrarion next year. #KamalaHarris
The Feature article here by the
Society of Environmental Journalists
is about current the GOP Congressional efforts to weaken journalistic integrity.
(This is also reported today at CNN)
🌎 • ⏳
#ScienceReporting#Journalism#ScienceEducation#FreePress
------ 22 November, 2024 -------
A recent report by Northwestern’s Medill Local news Initiative showed a stark reality about the 2024 election: in America’s news deserts—where local journalism has disappeared—Donald Trump won 91% of counties, with an average margin of 54 points. And these aren’t just red counties; they are places where communities suffer from the loss of watchdog reporting, local connection, and access to vital information.
It is now more clear than ever that the collapse of local news weakens our democracy and fuels polarization, increases local corruption, and leaves voters uninformed about policies affecting their daily lives.
However, I am also hopeful because of our work with The GroundTruth Project, and its initiatives Report for America and Report for the World, to rebuild local news and reconnect communities to the stories that matter most.
I truly believe local journalism is not just about informing—it’s about holding power to account and fostering local engagement. Without it, democracy falters. Together, as journalists, we can reverse this trend.
https://buff.ly/41lVrGw#localnews#newsdeserts#trump#politics#news#election#journalism#journalist
Did you know that online abuse against journalists can impact the integrity of our elections and democracy?
In our latest video, Ana Velasquez, PR and Online Harassment Manager at Right to Be, shares how online abuse against journalists goes beyond harming individuals. It affects press freedom, silences diverse voices, and undermines our access to truthful, balanced reporting. This election season, as part of the Coalition Against Online Violence, we’re proud to support the Elect Safely campaign. This initiative equips journalists and newsrooms with resources to combat online harassment and continue reporting safely.
Empower and protect your community:
Learn more about the #ElectSafely campaign and find resources to support journalists: https://lnkd.in/e6G57NgD
Join our bystander intervention training to help ensure voters feel safe and informed: https://lnkd.in/gA7AGsTW
Share your stories of hope or incidents of harassment to support journalists at hateandhope.righttobe.org.
Have you seen or experienced the effects of online abuse? How can we best support journalists and protect press freedom? Share your thoughts in the comments, tag someone who should watch this, and help spread the word. Let’s work together to keep our communities safe, informed, and prepared for Election Day.
#KeepingCommunitiesSafe#InformedAndPrepared#Election2024#ElectSafely#PressFreedom#RightToBe#OnlineSafety#CommunityEmpowerment#YourVoteMatters