The Definitive SourceAnnouncements
An ‘indispensable role’ in US elections
As the 2024 presidential campaign gets underway, Washington Bureau Chief Anna Johnson and David Scott, vice president and head of news strategy and operations, outline AP’s election coverage priorities and focus on explanatory journalism.
Here is their memo to staff:
Over the past year, we have been preparing to carry out our indispensable role in U.S. democracy. Our Politics and Democracy teams have spent months covering the campaigns, understanding the pressures on the election process and learning what matters to voters across the political spectrum. Our Decision team has built new tools and streamlined its workflow so it can maintain our steadfast commitment to accuracy and position AP to swiftly declare winners up and down the ballot. Our Data Visualization and Digital teams have prepared to do more for our audience online than we ever have before.
Explanatory journalism is at the heart of our elections coverage this year. As misinformation and distrust continues to spread, it is essential that we transparently explain the how and the why of our vote count and our race calls. This year, we will show our work in new ways, including publishing detailed reporting about our race calls in real time to customers and our digital audience on APNews.com.
We also are doubling down on our efforts to explain the often complicated election process in the United States in all formats — text, video, graphics, immersive storytelling and more.
This effort is led by Deputy Washington Bureau Chief and Political Director Steven Sloan. He’s the conductor of this coverage, charged with bringing together departments, formats and platforms to execute our vision for 2024. It’s his job to ensure that AP – in all the ways we tell stories – publishes a cohesive and holistic politics and elections news report, not just on election nights but every day of the year.
There is no news organization better positioned to cover 2024 than AP. Our national Politics, Democracy, Public Opinion, Data Visualization and Decision teams are joined by our Washington news team and journalists from all corners of the AP to tell this story.
Follow AP’s election coverage: http://apne.ws/NPaexpm