Al Cross (director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues) and Jim Pumarlo (author of “Votes and Quotes: A Guide to Outstanding Election Coverage”) discuss why election coverage is one of the most demanding and scrutinized tasks that faces newspapers, especially if readers perceive a newspaper to have a political “bias” on its editorial pages. This webinar will help participants formulate a plan. First, some tips on how to organize for the campaigns including developing a calendar. And then by addressing some of the various elements of election coverage including candidate profiles, letters to the editor, editorial endorsements, and election night and post-election coverage. Substantive election coverage requires assigning responsibilities and setting dates for when specific tasks should be completed.

Agenda:
Campaign coverage from start to finish
Calendars, internal and external
Introduce the candidates
Interview candidates: The questions
Letters to the editor
Endorsements
Election night/post-election analysis

The webinars are free for NNA members, $20 for non-member journalists, and $5 for students and professors.

Live Webinar
Thursday, May 19
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. CDT

Click here for more information or to register:
https://nna.formstack.com/forms/covering_elections_may19