The voter is the VIP

In October, the USA Today Network, anchored by our Seacoast Media newsrooms, held five town halls with Republican presidential candidates in Exeter, New Hampshire. In the historic Exeter Town Hall building sat about 160 chairs in a circle. At each town hall, the candidate — Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgam, Asa Hutchinson — was in the center as each addressed voter questions.

The audience was ready. Before we opened the doors, there were usually folks waiting outside, notebooks and pens in hand. They sometimes read prepared questions. Some attendees took notes throughout the hour-long session. Some were fans of a particular candidate, but many attended more than one forum and used the time to figure out which candidate aligned best with what they were looking for in the next president.

Those forums were substantially different from what we see during televised debates, because they centered on the voters. Attendees were able to speak directly to candidates about what kept them up at night: the Israel-Hamas war, opioid addiction, mental health struggles, the cost of college. The candidates told the audience how they would tackle those challenges if elected. Seeing democracy in action is powerful.

We are already shifting our minds to 2024, another election year. It’s a year when votes will be cast on issues and races that will set America’s direction for the coming years. It’s a year when newsrooms have the opportunity to deliver on our promise to enrich the communities we serve.

We must center our election journalism through the lens of the people we serve, not the candidates courting them. The mission is to help readers, viewers, and listeners become more empowered, more informed, and ready to make the best choices for themselves and their families at the ballot box.

In order to do this, as an industry we must analyze all our election top hits: voter guides, polling pages, results modules, beat assignment, convention coverage. Does the format make the voter the top priority? Does it help the user become more informed? Is this a good return on the time investment the audience has made? We can’t do things the way they’ve always been done. We shouldn’t write stories for other journalists. We shouldn’t write stories for campaign insiders. We have to deliver what voters truly need, and we have to go above and beyond what they have come to expect from news organizations.

Voting isn’t just about waking up on Tuesday, November 5, and casting a vote on your way to work. It starts so much sooner, with so much more at stake than the top of the ticket. What races are on your ballot? What does that tricky referendum wording mean? Do you want to vote in person or by mail? Day of or early? Are you registered? Where is your polling place? How will you know who won? News organizations can provide news, information, tools, guides, and forums that assist the voter at each of these points by centering the voter in everything produced.

The USA Today Network is committed to making the voter the VIP of our election strategy. We’re leaning into local through meaningful voter guides in more than 100 cities and towns, service journalism, community events, and engagement opportunities that allow our readers, viewers, and listeners to get accurate, nuanced coverage of their diverse communities. Our national coverage is anchored in a down-the-middle, noise-free approach. We’re launching an email course that prepares readers to vote, and we’re creating explanatory journalism on the platforms we know audiences are already on. We’ve redesigned our results pages to get audiences the information they care about faster. And we’re investing in order to make it all happen, creating roles and redeploying journalists throughout the network to focus on election journalism. Our new fellowship program will bring on 27 journalists across specialties; we’ll have statehouse coverage in all 50 states. Our journalism aims to make a difference in 2024 by being rooted in service to the voter.

Giving the people of our communities the information they need to fully participate at the local, state, and national level is the work that matters in an election year. Staying curious, emphasizing integrity, and valuing the audience above all else is the path forward.