Whether debates are focused around immigration, crime, jobs, reproductive rights or foreign policy, this year’s election cycle is honed in on the topics that most impact communities of color. Yet, in any given year, the electoral experience for Asian Americans, Blacks and Latine communities continues to be affected by election disinformation, voter suppression and limited access to nuanced, relevant and linguistically adequate information about candidates, platforms, campaigns and the electoral process itself.
As Latinos, Blacks and Asian American voting populations come front and center in several states this 2024 presidential election, the Center for Community Media has fostered a national initiative to support community-based media organizations serving these audiences.
“Asian American communities are the fastest growing voting eligible population in the U.S. and remain undercovered in mainstream media. In this election cycle, they not only inhabit the front lines of central debates around immigration and foreign policy, they also have the potential to impact voting outcomes in [many states],” said Kavitha Rajagopalan, who leads the Asian Media Initiative at CCM.
The National Elections Reporting Grant program is set to support nine newsrooms in the states of Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin with in-language editorial consulting, subventions and training sessions on physical safety, newsgathering rights, polling, and more. The intent is to bolster the political and elections-related journalism that these teams are to produce for underserved voting populations the three months prior to Election Day.
“As shown in our previous research, Black media play a crucial role in highlighting issues that are often overlooked by mainstream media. Black press continues to be a platform that drives meaningful voter engagement and is critical to ensuring Black Americans’ voices are heard,” said Cheryl Thompson-Morton, who directs the Black Media Initiative and leads the cohort-based program alongside Jesenia De Moya Correa of the Latino Media Initiative and Rajagopalan of the Asian Media Initiative.
Participating newsrooms are community media in print, television and digital outlets: Al-Bustan News, Atlanta Voice, BridgeDetroit, Khabar Magazine, Latino Press, NotiVisión Georgia, Nyob Zoo Milwaukee TV, The Arab American News, and The Philippine Times of Southern Nevada.
Program participants are to work with a designated editor, who would serve as a coach and consultant in elections-related reporting, programming, production and distribution. Program coaches are: Cristian Arroyo Santiago, Farah Saafan, Fiza Pirani, Leezel Tanglao and Taylor Eldridge. Participating newsrooms will also receive specialized training and $7,000 in grant funding.
“The idea behind this initiative is to contribute to the nuanced, audience-centered journalism that these newsrooms produce from a community’s lens,” said Jesenia De Moya Correa, who leads the Latino Media Initiative at CCM. “As a community journalist myself, we are aware of the work and unique position that these journalists hold when engaging with voters, understanding their frustrations with the system and bringing their interests into the political discourse.”
The program kicked off August 5 with support from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and The Tow Foundation.