Anderson: Making our coverage more about the issues and less about personality

Elections should be about the issues and how candidates can best serve constituents. That’s the focus we have when we determine news coverage about a race. When a reporter sits down with a candidate, often they are asking questions gleaned from covering their beat, as well as conversations they have had with community members.

In just 17 days, voters head to the polls to elect school board members, township leaders, aldermen and councilmen, mayors and village presidents. In the past few months our reporters have been introducing readers to candidates in their articles. In some communities we’ve hosted and covered candidate forums. And there will be even more election coverage in the coming weeks.

On our websites, we also have Election Central, where voters can plug in their address and find what races they will see on the April 6 ballot. We unveiled Election Central during the 2020 campaign, providing readers with insights and information direct from the candidates that was previously hard to find in one place.

Our goal is to provide unbiased information about the candidates in the hopes readers learn enough about campaigns to make an informed decision when they enter the ballot booth.

In recent years, our editorial board has also made endorsements of candidates in certain races. Recently, we’ve determined an endorsement only serves to amplify partisan bickering. So, this spring we aren’t making endorsements. An endorsement is a recommendation on whom we believe would do the best job if elected.

This local election season, we are making an extra effort to provide more information about the candidates, and less opinion about them. Without endorsements, we can separate the perceived biases from our reporting, making our coverage more about the issues and less personality.

When candidates are face-to-face with an editorial board or on TV or Zoom for a debate, they often are on a stage, and react accordingly. But it’s different when the candidate is knocking on doors and talking to voters on their turf, or talking with a reporter one-on-one about the issues. Then, the candidate is more often genuine.

Many newspapers are grappling with this decision whether or not to make endorsements. And, over time, the Shaw Media newspaper family has had a variety of thoughts on endorsements. Some of our newspapers never did endorsements, others did them regularly, others did them off and on. With as quickly as the world changes, we will stop short of declaring this decision permanent. We simply feel that this is the best course of action at this time.

We might change our mind about endorsements and bring them back. But right now, we’re going to give this a try.

And, in the meantime, we will continue to do endorsements on referendums and other community initiatives. These campaigns are not about personalities, but about policy that affects citizens.

In the meantime, please continue reading our election coverage, the dozens upon dozens of letters to the editor from your neighbors, and see what the candidates have to say on our Election Central site.

Finally, please, vote on April 6.

Dennis Anderson is Shaw Local vice president of news and content development. He can be reached at danderson@shawmedia.com.