What would citizen-centric election coverage look like?

One of my (non-design) obsessions is political journalism and election coverage, especially in relation to US politics. This twitter thread from NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen is a really insightful take on how politics coverage works and how it could be better.

In it he calls out and effectively names the main ‘styles’ of political journalism in the US (I think these are equally applicable in Australia):

• ‘Candidate-centric’ – journalists focus on candidates themselves as the main point of interest
• ‘Follow the money’ – journalists focus on power and influence; and
• ‘Savvy’ (aka ‘horse race’) – journalists “reveal the machinations, pick apart the strategy, appreciate the winning moves”

From there, he suggests an entirely different style of journalism, one which that may serve us better in the current political moment: ‘the citizens’ agenda’. In this style, journalists go out to communities and ask people directly: “What do you want your candidates to be discussing as they compete for votes?”

I love the idea of making political coverage into a community-centric, public-service style of reporting – something that has been lost in the current media landscape of following winners and losers and obsessing over polling numbers without looking at why people might poll a certain way on an issue.

He also goes on to give some really practical ways that journalists can make this happen. If this sort of thing interests you, you can learn more about citizens’ agenda journalism here.