Democracy Day 2022

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At the center, a woman wearing a mask holds her hands up, with a stack of papers in one hand. A large crowd surrounds her as they try to break past her into the room where absentee ballots are being counted. On the glass door directly behind the woman, two signs read: Detroit Department of Elections
A Detroit Department of Elections worker pushes the crowd back as absentee ballots are counted on Nov. 4, 2020 (Brittany Greeson/New York Times via Redux)


** From the editor
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November 8 is the date of the midterm elections, but today — September 15 — is Democracy Day ([link removed]) .

An initiative of news industry leaders at Hearken ([link removed]) , the Center for Cooperative Media ([link removed]) , the ([link removed]) Institute for Nonprofit N ([link removed]) ews ([link removed]) , and the News Revenue Hub ([link removed]) , Democracy Day brings national and local outlets together to report on threats against U.S. democratic norms — and accompanying threats to the free press.

Those threats are not hard to find.

Former President Trump continues to spread the lie that the 2020 vote was stolen from him. Dozens of election-denying Republican candidates have won their primaries; if they win in November, they will hold offices that have direct and indirect oversight of elections, giving them the ability to interfere with the will of the voters. (Several have said they wouldn’t have certified the 2020 election results.) Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that supporters of former President Trump “have swamped local election offices ([link removed]) … with a coordinated campaign of requests for 2020 voting records [which]
effectively weaponizes laws aimed at promoting principles of a democratic system — that the government should be transparent and accountable.”

Through a mix of original reporting, aggregations of existing stories, and op-eds, Democracy Day partners and participants ([link removed]) are concentrating coverage on this urgent threat.

At Nieman Reports ([link removed]) , we are sharing our interview with Chris Quinn, editor of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer in Ohio, about his outlet’s strategy for covering Trumpism and advocating for a free press ([link removed]) ; our piece on the rise of ‘democracy beats’ ([link removed]) in newsrooms; Issac Bailey’s column on how newsroom diversity can improve coverage of democracy ([link removed]) ; and Mary Ellen Klas’s 2019 analysis of why government transparency and civic engagement erode when local journalism declines ([link removed]) , among other stories.

Click here ([link removed]) for more of our coverage of how newsrooms are responding to the threat against U.S. democracy.

For an international perspective, check out our Reporting at Risk series ([link removed]) , essays by journalists around the world who are doing vital independent journalism under authoritarian regimes.

And tune in to our Twitter Spaces conversation today at 1 pm ET ([link removed]) with reporters working on “democracy beats.” The conversation will be introduced by Nieman’s digital and audience engagement editor Adriana Lacy and will feature Nieman Reports contributor Celeste Katz Marston in conversation with KPCC & LAist managing editor Tony Marcano and Votebeat editorial director Jessica Huseman.

The November 8 elections will determine control of the House and the Senate — as well as many state legislatures and governorships. Coverage of efforts to undermine free and fair elections will help determine the future of democracy, in the U.S. and around the world.


Sincerely,

James Geary
Editor, Nieman Reports
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** Twitter Spaces: How Newsrooms Can Cover Threats to Democracy ([link removed])
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American democracy is under threat — and newsrooms are mobilizing to cover it. Learn more during our Democracy Day Twitter Spaces featuring Tony Marcano, Jessica Huseman, and Celeste Katz Marston

Tune in ([link removed])

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** Covering Threats to U.S. Democracy ([link removed])
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For a responsible free press, guarding democracy is akin to “watching a leak.” Read more from Nieman Reports on how to cover threats to U.S. democracy and what some newsrooms are doing to combat the issue

Read more ([link removed])

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** Reporting at Risk ([link removed])
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From Kashmir to Russia to Mexico and beyond, journalism is under threat. In our Reporting at Risk series, Nieman Reports is publishing essays by journalists who are managing to do vital independent reporting — often at great personal risk.

Read more ([link removed])


** More from Nieman Foundation publications:
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