You ask, we report: How we will cover the 2024 elections

At Mountain State Spotlight, we believe elections should be more about you, your family and your community — and less about 30-second campaign spots and horse race polls. That’s why our election coverage in 2024 is going to look a little different than what you are used to seeing.

During the 2024 election season, we will report from across the state, telling important stories about the issues that our communities face and providing West Virginia voters with essential information about the candidates who are asking to lead our state for years to come.

We’re focused on listening to you and providing the information you need before, during and after the election.

Help guide the questions we ask candidates

We’re adapting the Citizen’s Agenda , a project by journalism professor Jay Rosen and Hearken to make election reporting more responsive, inclusive and useful for voters.

Newsrooms across the country have used this framework to engage with voters and more will use it this year. Using this approach, newsrooms have been able to build trust, listen to the communities they serve and grow their audience.

This work began with asking readers: “What issues do you want to hear candidates talk about this election season?”

Readers told us they want to know how candidates will work to improve West Virginia’s infrastructure, including roads, internet, water, gas and sewer. They also want to know where candidates stand on reproductive rights and how they will protect the rights of West Virginians of color and LGBTQ+ West Virginians. On education and economic development, readers said they want to know how candidates will improve both.

And we’re just getting started.

Meet us in person around the state

West Virginia is a complicated place, and too often politics and media coverage is framed through a Charleston-centric lens. As a statewide news outlet, we know it’s essential that we get outside of Charleston, visit communities around the state, and meet voters – and non-voters who feel distant from the system – where they are.

In the coming days, weeks and months, we will hold listening sessions around the state to learn more about the issues on people’s minds.

A team from Mountain State Spotlight will kick off this effort Wednesday in Morgantown , with a meeting from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Wiles Hill Community Center Gymnasium. Future meetings dates and places will be announced, and we’ll be asking for your ideas about those.

Please come to see us when we’re in your neck of the woods. We want to hear what’s on your mind as this election approaches.

In addition, our reporters will travel to all 55 counties to ask voters what they want candidates to talk about. We will take these questions to candidates, share their answers and let voters know which candidates refused to answer them.

Consult our voter guides

In the run-up to the election, we will use what we hear to help us ask more helpful questions, include a broader array of West Virginians in the election conversation, and try to get candidates to give you the information you want to make your vote count.

We will also publish 55-county voter guides with the candidates for the primary and general elections, allowing you to research who will be on your ballot before walking into the voting booth.

Funding for this work is provided by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, empowering world-changing work.

You ask, we report: How we will cover the 2024 elections appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight , West Virginia's civic newsroom.