Making Democracy a Priority in the News

Since 2016, there has been a growing call among responsible journalists and democracy advocates for news organizations to rethink the way they cover elections and politics. We here at the News Literacy Initiative have lent our voice to that pro-democracy chorus.

This week, the New York Times, the titan of the US news media ecosystem referred to as the “paper of record,” once again made the news. In an interview in Semaphor, Executive Editor Joe Kahn declared that even though one candidate was running a campaign against democratic institutions and norms, the New York Times’ obligation was to cover politics the way it always does. Not only did they refuse to weigh in on whether they will prioritize democracy in their coverage–stating as they have many times before that they are a “pillar of democracy” without saying how or why–but Kahn came out against pro-democracy journalism. Why? Given the anti-democracy messaging of one of the candidates, they might be accused of bias if they prioritized covering the threat that the propagation of anti-democracy sentiment poses to our system.

That the New York Times would hide behind its century-old notion of objective style for fear of being called biased seems utterly predictable. But while the New York Times and its Executive Editor feel safe watching an unprecedented assault on democratic norms, the chorus of journalists championing pro-democracy news coverage that might halt the advance of anti-democracy politics continues to grow. By continuing to pretend that it doesn’t influence the media agenda by deciding what to cover – like its choice to run 98 stories on Biden’s age over a 5-month period generating a feedback loop of polling and more news coverage that molds public perception - the New York Times framing of the news is quickly becoming indistinguishable from the New York Times Pitchbot parody account on X. They seem to think if they’re criticized by both sides, that means they’re doing their job.

Despite the most powerful news organization in our democracy shrugging off a threat to the democratic norms that guarantees a free press, other news organizations that care about serving their communities are changing the way they cover politics. They are adopting a different approach: the Citizens’ Agenda model.

It’s simple and, as we’ve discussed before, very pro-democracy. Normally, partisans set the news agenda in their speeches and interviews by talking about things that work for them. These agendas and talking points solidify and are amplified by a feedback loop of constant polling. Then, compliant news organizations like the New York Times follow along, just reporting on what the partisans and polls decide are important. The Citizens’ Agenda model flips things: news organizations use surveys, questionnaires and focus groups to find out what issues and concerns are important to voters, and then make partisan politicians respond to them.

Just last month around 40 public and private news organizations in Colorado came together as part of the Colorado News Collaborative to begin a process designed to provide news that serves their communities, not partisan politicians with an agenda. In their Voter Voices 2024 project, all the news organizations involved will push a series of surveys on their websites, in their papers, in newsletters and on social media. Stations are using their airwaves to get the word out. Reporters are heading out to talk to voters and would-be voters, attending and organizing community events, hanging out in coffee shops, talking to people outside libraries and anywhere else they can find people in an all-out effort to listen to the communities they serve. Participating news organizations have pledged to hold politicians accountable to the issues that emerge as important to the communities they serve, putting citizens at the center of political coverage this election year.

It's also happening in Pennsylvania. In the season finale of News Over Noise, we talked with Scott Blanchard at WITF in Harrisburg and Elizabeth Estrada at Spotlight PA because both non-profit news organizations have announced that they, too, are going to have a pro-democracy bias in their coverage of the election this year. Scott put it this way: “WITF’s political coverage will be biased toward two things: Democracy and facts. We’ll create a citizens’ agenda of issues you want candidates to discuss, and base our coverage on those issues, not on candidates.” Elizabeth framed it like this: “The goal of Spotlight PA’s 2024 election coverage is to cast aside the horse race, the talking heads, and the cable news shouting matches, and instead amplify the facts and context voters will need to make an informed choice in their best interest. In short, we will put voters first.”

We talked a lot more about what pro-democracy reporting would look like and how their respective news organizations planned to support it. Check it out here.

Despite the agnostic equivocation of the nation’s most powerful news organization, playing the same old song on its powerful fiddle while democracy burns, it’s exciting to see elements of the Citizens’ Agenda finding their way into the pro-democracy coverage goals of responsible news organizations across the country.

It has inspired us here as well. You might not know it, but Penn State is actually one of the biggest voting precincts in the state, drawing together citizens from across the political spectrum from different backgrounds and ranges of experience. It’s a perfect cross-section for our pro-democracy experiment.

We’re excited to announce that the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and the News Literacy Initiative will kick-off an intense listening and information gathering exercise based on the Citizens’ Agenda model. We will use surveys, focus groups and informal ongoing conversations to ascertain which issues are important to the Penn State community. We’ll then share the results with the Penn State News Consortium and other local news organizations in the hopes that it will help them tailor their news coverage to better describe the contexts and stakes. Our citizens will set the news agenda and ask politicians to respond to it as they compete for their votes.

Research shows that local pro-democracy reporting not only increases trust in news organizations, but it also cultivates faith in democracy and boosts levels of civic engagement. In short, having news organizations commit to listening to their communities and reporting on what’s important to them – as opposed to letting partisans set the media agenda and hewing to that agenda out of fear of being accused of bias by bad faith partisans – restores faith in the function responsible journalism can and should play in our communities. So, keep your eyes and ears open when we start reaching out to find out what’s important for you and the greater Penn State community. Achieving our democracy together will depend on your voice being heard.