This document discusses strategies for moving beyond "horse race" reporting of political campaigns. It defines horse race reporting as focusing on who is winning/losing polls rather than substantive policy issues. The document provides tips for local political reporting, such as fact-checking candidates' resumes and spending claims. It also discusses following the money in campaigns by examining donors and how they may influence politicians. The document emphasizes the importance of local political reporting for accountability and engaged voters.

1. 2020 Campaign Coverage:
Beyond the Horse Race
Sept. 13, 2019
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2. Naomi
SCHALIT
Joel
ABRAMS
Beyond the Horse Race
Denise
ORDWAY
John
ADAMS

3. And they’re off!

5. Managing Editor of
Journalist’s Resource
Former reporter for 15
years for Orlando
Sentinel, Philadelphia
Inquirer, and other
outlets
2013 Pulitzer finalist
Denise Ordway

6. Senior Politics editor, The
Conversation US
Former reporter for San Jose
Mercury News, Maine Public
Radio, and other outlets
Co-founder of Maine Center for
Public Interest Reporting
Naomi Schalit

7. Founder, executive
director and
editor-in-chief of the
Montana Free Press
Former reporter for
Great Falls Tribune
and USA Today
John Adams

8. Denise Ordway

9. Horse race
reporting
What is it?
(Image by Clarence Alford from Pixabay)

10. Horse race reporting:
● Focuses on who’s winning/losing.
● Frames elections as a competitive sport.
● Discusses strengths/weaknesses in context of position in the race.
● Uses racing analogies.
● Relies heavily on opinion polls.
● Often compares campaign contributions.
● Emphasizes candidates’ strategies and tactics.
● Tends to over-cover some types of candidates, under-cover others.

11. It hurts:
● Candidates trailing in polls.
● Third-party candidates.
● Voters.
● News outlets.
It helps:
● Frontrunners.
● Underdogs on the rise.
Who does it affect?

12. Research: Horse race reporting is linked to …
● Voter distrust in politicians.
● Voter distrust in the news media.
● A less informed electorate.
● Inaccurate reporting of polls.
(Image by Gianni Crestani from Pixabay)

15. Covering the 2020 election when
you don’t have much money, staff
or time
Naomi Schalit,
Senior editor, Politics & Society
The Conversation US
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16. Why your local political
reporting is important
You know this: At a time when national
political news is inescapable, there’s less local
news to be found — and less interest in local
politics from Americans. This shift in media
may have a direct effect on how people vote.
Local newspapers help protect American
democracy by giving people the information
they need to hold local government
accountable.

17. No local politics? You get polarization
“We found that the decline of local newspapers and the “nationalization”
of political news are polarizing vote choice: Voters were 1.9% more likely
to vote for the same party for president and senator after a newspaper
closes in their community, compared to voters in statistically similar
areas where a newspaper did not close.
While 1.9% may not seem like a lot, it’s often enough to win an election.
For example, in 2018, the U.S. House races in Minnesota’s 1st district,
Utah’s 4th district, and Illinois’s 13th district were all decided by less
than that margin.”
--Joshua P. Darr, Johanna Dunaway, and Matthew P. Hitt

18. Now that democracy is
riding on your shoulders….
What is to be
done?

19. Resume checks
What has a candidate said
s/he has accomplished? Jobs
they created? Programs they
started? People they rescued
from X, Y or Z? Does it check
out?

20. Hey look! It’s Irving Washington!

21. THIS IS
IMPORTANT
MAKE SURE TO SCREEN-SHOT THE CANDIDATES’
WEBPAGE/FACEBOOK PAGE/ADS WHERE THEY MAKE
THE CLAIMS THAT YOU MAY WELL DEBUNK

22. Or you may get this

24. QUESTION: HOW MANY JOBS
WERE CREATED BY THE THREE
RING BINDER?
ANSWER: THAT’S A REALLY GOOD
QUESTION THAT I’M INTERESTED
IN KNOWING AS WELL, BUT I DON’T
HAVE THE ACTUAL NUMBERS
Video interviews are useful for
tightening the screws

25. The money
horse race
Don’t get stuck doing PAC, SuperPAC, Dark Money “latest filing”
stories that just give the numbers. Readers need
context and they need to know what really matters.

26. The volume of campaign spending is not the
main problem with our campaign finance
system.
The real challenge for our democracy is
where so much of this money comes from.
Richard Briffault, Professor of Legislation, Columbia
University, in The Conversation, Nov. 2, 2018

27. Why is that important?
With campaign donors and recipients, this is
less a matter of classical quid pro quo
corruption – the exchange of campaign dollars
for votes – than it is the dependence of so many
of our elected officials on these megadonations.
Elected officials are often reluctant to take
positions that are at odds with the interests of
their large donors, and what gets on – or stays
off – the legislative agenda can be driven by
donor concerns… it inevitably shapes who
benefits from government action, who is
harmed and who is ignored.

28. 1. Voting systems – how do
they work in your
county/state and are they
secure? Who is overseeing
the systems?
2. Who are the voters?
3. Interrogate conventional
wisdom – your own and
others
Other kinds of stories

29. Don’t stop on
election day
“Eight months into his term as California
governor, Gavin Newsom has set aside
$1 billion to address the state's homelessness
crisis, formed a task force to get at its root
cause and pushed for speeding up the
construction of new shelters.
But he's yet to hire a cabinet-level
homelessness secretary, something he vowed
to do during his campaign. And it's not clear
whether he'll ever follow through.”
--PolitiFact California, Chris Nichols

30. John Adams
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31. ** Bill was signed by a
Democratic governor
2020 CONTEXT: A rift in Montana’s legislative majority

32. As Montana Free Press covers the 2020 Election:
→ How does the GOP rift play out in primary contests?
→ How will that change the way the state is governed?

33. Examine incumbents’ past campaign finance reports
→ Were contributors rewarded for their generosity?
- In 2016, family members who owned a
company facing sanctions by the state
auditor gave nearly $13,000 to an
auditor candidate’s campaigns
(including a former U.S. House
campaign).
- Family did not have a history of political
giving.
- After years of protracted legal battles,
new state auditor drops the sanctions
after meeting with donors.

34. → Presented source
documents and
campaign finance
records.
→ Knight Lab’s Timeline
JS tool made it easy to
publish a timeline.

35. Follow the money
→ Reporting on who is spending in elections is NOT horse race reporting.
→ People need to know who is seeking to influence politicians/voters.
FollowtheMoney.org
State-level campaign finance
data and tools
OpenSecrets.org
Federal campaign finance
data, tools, resources
FEC.gov
Raw federal campaign
finance data
Some Useful Tools
Dark Money Illuminated
Issue One’s searchable
database of dark money groups
FCC Political Ads
Track TV ad buys. Monitor
with Klaxon
Knight Lab
Easy-to-use open-source
storytelling toolkit

37. Time to talk
● How are you and your news organization trying to
move beyond the horse race?
Online resources: bit.ly/ONA19Campaign
Join the conversation at #ONA19Campaign

38. Thank you!
Be sure to visit the many ONA19 exhibitors in the third floor Exhibit Hall.
Naomi
SCHALIT
Joel
ABRAMS
Denise
ORDWAY
John
ADAMS