MANSFIELD — Richland Source readers have made an international impression on elections and the media that covers them.
We thank you. And we are not done yet.
A website in England, www.journalism.co.uk, that focuses on media, published a story just before the United Kingdom’s election last week about the “Talk the Vote” sessions Richland Source conducted this fall — before our own elections in November.
As voters in the UK prepared to go to the polls, much of the media coverage there focused on the two main party leaders — Boris Johnson of the Conservative Party and Jeremy Corbyn of the Labor Party.
“This binary focus is not specific to the UK; across the Atlantic, U.S. electoral coverage is well-known for pitching Democrat versus Republican leaders,” the story said. “In both countries, however, this ‘horse-race’ approach often leaves the detail of local issues under-reported and regional voters alienated.”
Writer Jacob Granger interviewed Brittany Schock, Engagement and Solutions editor at Richland Souce, who helped to spearhead the six “Talk the Vote” sessions, conducted in each of Mansfield’s six wards.
Schock told Granger that partisan politics really didn’t play a role at the local level.
“We’ve been trying to not indulge ourselves in that type of coverage, where we are pitting candidates against each other. Instead we focus on what voters want to talk about,” Schock said.
Granger previously posted a podcast featuring an interview with Schock on the topic.
Each of the six “Talk the Vote” sessions were one-hour in length and gave local residents the opportunity to explain what they wanted to hear candidates talk about during the campaign.
Candidates and elected officials were invited to attend the sessions, but played no speaking role.
These meetings were designed to be smaller, more intimate gatherings, during which residents/voters would feel comfortable asking questions and sharing what they believe should be priorities in the next term.
Richland Source used those sessions to guide its election coverage and to also form questions used during the 2019 Mansfield Mayoral Debate at the Renaissance Theatre.
“Our meetings dealt only with the local election,” managing editor Larry Phillips said. “We asked participants to leave the national news at the door and everyone complied.
“Based upon those meetings and your input, Richland Source has compiled a “Citizens’ Agenda” we plan to present to Mayor Tim Theaker and the newly configured Mansfield City Council when they meet on Jan. 7. We will also publish the “Citizens’ Agenda” on our website.”
Granger wrote, “Would such a strategy have any mileage in a politically divided United Kingdom? Rather than making the election a popularity contest between Johnson or Corbyn, could it serve as a way to drill into local struggles and be a way to hold the locally-elected Members of Parliament to account over pledges they make?”
Schock said the project could be scaled up to a national level, depending on resources devoted to it.
“The best is yet to come with this experiment,” Schock told Granger. “We are fortunate to have a great relationship with the community already, but this has gone leaps and bounds to continue that relationship.
“This informs your reporting because you will be reporting on the subjects that matter to your readers. These are ultimately your sources, these are the people you can go to for comments,” she said.
