{"id":2300542,"date":"2024-07-19T07:04:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T11:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leftist-linked-group-is-coaching-journalists-on-covering-elections\/"},"modified":"2024-07-19T07:16:26","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T11:16:26","slug":"left-wing-group-is-training-journalists-on-election-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/left-wing-group-is-training-journalists-on-election-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"Left-wing group is training journalists on election coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fleft-wing-group-is-training-journalists-on-election-coverage%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2300542&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Election Reformers \u2062Network (ERN) and the Bridge Alliance have partnered to launch the Election Overtime Project, aimed at coaching political journalists on election coverage. The project seeks to educate reporters, journalists, and \u200cTV anchors on close elections, recounts, audits, and legal challenges. While presenting\u200d itself as neutral, the ERN&#8217;s policy\u2063 preferences align\u2063 with leftist\u2062 priorities such as reforming the electoral college and election certification processes. The project targets six battleground\u200c states and plans to offer state-specific policy briefs and media training. Critics question ERN&#8217;s ties to controversial figures and their \u200cadvocacy for changes in\u2064 election \u200cadministration. \u200cthe project strives to provide journalists with information and context \u2064to \u200cbetter cover and understand close\u200b and contested elections, without bias.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-d-c-must-fork-over-data-about-deceased-people-on-voter-rolls-from-leftist-linked-maintenance-group\/\" title=\"Court orders D.C. to provide data on &#039;deceased&#039; voters from leftist-linked group\">leftist-linked group<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vaccines-schools-and-racist-insurance-fact-checking-bidens-town-hall-claims\/\" title=\"Vaccines, Schools And Racist Insurance: \u2018Fact-Checking\u2019 Biden\u2019s Town Hall Claims\">policy priorities<\/a> that overlap with Democrats&rsquo; pet issues is launching a project to coach political journalists on election coverage.<\/p>\n<p>The Election Reformers Network (ERN) announced in an April press <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/new-election-overtime-project-will-prepare-journalists-and-voters-for-election-overtime-in-battleground-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">release<\/a> it is joining forces with the Bridge Alliance to launch the Election Overtime Project, which aims to &ldquo;prepare journalists and voters for &lsquo;election overtime&rsquo; in battleground states.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;Election Reformers Network and the Bridge Alliance have come together to create the Election Overtime Project to help reporters, journalists, TV anchors and others prepare America to understand and not fear close elections,&rdquo; the release reads.<\/p>\n<p>While it presents itself as &ldquo;favoring neither the left nor the right,&rdquo; the ERN&rsquo;s policy preferences include typically leftist priorities like gutting the electoral college and taking away the discretionary power of election certification boards.<\/p>\n<p>The group&rsquo;s Election Overtime Project claims to offer &ldquo;in-depth information&rdquo; on things like &ldquo;recounts, audits, and other procedures used to check results,&rdquo; and &ldquo;how courts judge election challenges.&rdquo; Organizers pledge &ldquo;to help journalists with the critical facts of close and contested elections.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>ERN Executive Director Kevin Johnson said participants in the project will include &ldquo;political reporters for local, state, and national outlets&rdquo; in print, broadcast, and online journalism, but would not tell The Federalist who specifically has received or will receive guidance through the project.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson told The Federalist the program may help &ldquo;indirectly&rdquo; with &ldquo;quote-unquote misinformation,&rdquo; but it mainly aims to instruct journalists how to cover &ldquo;election overtime&rdquo; &ndash; close elections where the results may not be known for weeks after Election Day, and the outcome sometimes goes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/when-elections-go-to-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">court<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We hope that journalists will be in a better position to sort out the flow of information that&rsquo;s going to be out there through a good grounding in how the procedures of what we call this &lsquo;election overtime period&rsquo; work,&rdquo; Johnson said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The project <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/new-election-overtime-project-will-prepare-journalists-and-voters-for-election-overtime-in-battleground-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">targets<\/a> six &ldquo;battleground states,&rdquo; which Johnson said are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist asked major outlets based in those swing states (The Arizona Republic, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Detroit Free Press, The Raleigh News &amp; Observer, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) if they had been contacted by ERN or were working with the group, but received no answers by press time. The Federalist also asked this of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/where-the-heck-is-anthony-fauci-people-are-talking\/\" title=\"Where The Heck Is Anthony Fauci? People Are Talking\">major national news outlets<\/a> (The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC), but they did not respond either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The project will offer &ldquo;state-specific policy briefs on election law, media training,&rdquo; and a &ldquo;bureau of trusted commentators to support election night coverage and beyond,&rdquo; according to the release. When asked who the bureau speakers will be, Johnson said they will be posted on the group&rsquo;s website. He also said the ERN is releasing media &ldquo;toolkits&rdquo; in August. <\/p>\n<p>According to Johnson, the program will supply language and context for journalists.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&ldquo;If they need background support on research &ndash; &lsquo;What does this ruling mean? Can you help me understand it better?&rsquo; &ndash; people on our staff might help people look into that,&rdquo; Johnson said, but he insisted &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not telling them what to say at all.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>When The Federalist asked to review materials the group will distribute to journalists, ERN senior election reform fellow Al Vanderklipp said in an email they are &ldquo;under review internally and not ready to go live just yet,&rdquo; and the program will be &ldquo;up for public viewing in August.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Johnson said ERN will &ldquo;really strive for being neutral and having a team that is affiliated with both sides,&rdquo; and &ldquo;we really don&rsquo;t want to be seen as supporting one side or the other.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The group, however, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/where-do-election-deniers-oversee-elections-as-secretary-of-state\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">smeared<\/a> a number of secretaries of state who expressed concerns about election integrity after 2020, labeling them &ldquo;election deniers.&rdquo; Its brief questioned whether six secretaries of state&nbsp;&ndash; in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming &nbsp;&ndash; could &ldquo;conduct their work impartially.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The ERN also published an article about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/new-efforts-seek-to-build-trust-in-elections-in-the-face-of-a-still-thriving-2020-election-denier-community\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">messaging<\/a> to &ldquo;build trust&rdquo; despite what it called a &ldquo;still-thriving 2020 election denier community.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Supporting &lsquo;Reforms&rsquo; Like Tying the Hands of County Election Officials <\/h2>\n<p>ERN is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/solutions\/protecting-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">on board with<\/a> the left&rsquo;s attempt to make election boards&rsquo; responsibilities &ldquo;purely ministerial,&rdquo; expressing support for &ldquo;provisions that take discretion away from party-appointees responsible for canvassing and certification.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said ERN is pushing to make elected officials act &ldquo;secretarily,&rdquo; simply certifying the results as they come in rather than first verifying their accuracy.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&ldquo;Given the partisan origins of how they got to their position, it&rsquo;s better if they just act secretarily, report what they receive, and if there are disputes, those go to the courts,&rdquo; Johnson said. <\/p>\n<p>Johnson said in states like Michigan, he believes county canvas boards &ldquo;should just receive the results that they&rsquo;ve been given and certify and announce them, not assess their accuracy.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Election integrity advocates fear such a move would force elected officials to certify problem-ridden elections in which they have little confidence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>ERN has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/model-bill-ethics-legislation-for-senior-election-officials\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worked with<\/a> the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), an advocacy group that advances <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/campaign-legal-center\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left-wing<\/a> election interests. CLC is currently pushing for <a href=\"https:\/\/campaignlegal.org\/update\/states-enact-important-legislation-update-election-laws-ahead-presidential-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">legislation<\/a> in states like <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/16\/pennsylvania-bill-would-squeeze-window-for-challenging-election-results\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pennsylvania<\/a> to make election certification a &ldquo;ministerial&rdquo; task that must be done no matter a board member&rsquo;s concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Another of ERN&rsquo;s &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/options-for-secretary-of-state-reform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reform<\/a>&rdquo; ideas is to get rid of elections for positions like secretaries of state. Vanderklipp said the ERN thinks a &ldquo;nonpartisan appointment or hiring system&rdquo; could work better than elections for officials who oversee the election process.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No other democracy has anything like the degree of political party member involvement in election management that we have,&rdquo; Johnson said. When The Federalist asked if Johnson could define a &ldquo;democracy,&rdquo; he said &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I can give an answer on my own&rdquo; and referred to third-party <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eiu.com\/n\/campaigns\/democracy-index-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">metrics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As Democrats attack the electoral college, the ERN is working to reshape the electoral college to reflect &ldquo;the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/28\/democrats-are-dangerously-close-to-changing-laws-so-our-president-is-elected-by-popular-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">national popular vote<\/a>&rdquo; &ldquo;in the results,&rdquo; according to Vanderklipp. He referred to the group&rsquo;s aspirations as a &ldquo;compromise,&rdquo; since the plan would maintain a nominal allocation of electoral votes to the states.<\/p>\n<p>The group&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/electoral-college-reform-the-proportional-solution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposal<\/a> describes a structure in which the three most popular candidates in a state win a share of the state&rsquo;s electoral votes proportional to the percent of the population that voted for them.<\/p>\n<h2>Questionable Ties<\/h2>\n<p>The ERN received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/election-reformers-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">funding<\/a> in 2022 from Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/samuel-bankman-fried-sentenced-25-years-his-orchestration-multiple-fraudulent-schemes#:~:text=%E2%80%9CSamuel%20Bankman%2DFried%20orchestrated%20one,Southern%20District%20of%20New%20York.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">convicted<\/a> last year of stealing $8 billion from his customers. At the time, the group called him one of its &ldquo;largest organizational donors,&rdquo; according to InfluenceWatch.<\/p>\n<p>Fried gave a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/election-reformers-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">grant<\/a> through his foundation Building a Stronger Future, InfluenceWatch reported, to help the ERN &ldquo;continue working with both parties to reduce the role of politics and parties in election administration.&rdquo; Later that year, the group deleted the announcement with no explanation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The group&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/staff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">senior adviser<\/a> on election administration is Amber McReynolds, who is currently the <a href=\"https:\/\/about.usps.com\/who\/leadership\/board-governors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vice chair<\/a> of the board of governors for the United States Postal Service. In 2020, McReynolds was <a href=\"https:\/\/about.usps.com\/who\/leadership\/board-governors\/amber-mcreynolds.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CEO<\/a> of the National Vote at Home Institute which inserted itself into the ballot <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210808183530\/https:\/\/empowerwisconsin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Green-Bay-email-Celestine-curing.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">curing<\/a> process in Wisconsin and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/25\/exclusive-zuckerberg-connected-nonprofit-helped-shift-michigans-2020-voting-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worked<\/a> to shift Michigan&rsquo;s election policy with bureaucracy, circumventing lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>For his part, Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/rankthevote.us\/about-us\/#aboutus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">serves<\/a> on the advisory board of Rank The Vote, a group that seeks to popularize <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ranked-choice-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ranked-choice voting<\/a>, a practice favored by leftists. He also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/staff\">held<\/a> a leadership position for the Massachusetts chapter of Common Cause, which according to InfluenceWatch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/common-cause\/\">pushes<\/a> progressive election policy and opposes Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>The ERN is also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/new-election-overtime-project-will-prepare-journalists-and-voters-for-election-overtime-in-battleground-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">partnering<\/a> on the Election Overtime Project with the Bridge Alliance, of which it is also a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgealliance.us\/member-organizations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">member<\/a>. The Bridge Alliance is a coalition that pushes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/bridge-alliance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left-wing<\/a> priorities, as InfluenceWatch reported.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On a page announcing &ldquo;DEI programming,&rdquo; Bridge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgealliance.us\/dei-programming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">describes<\/a> its &ldquo;Justice, Equity, Dignity, and Inclusion&rdquo; (JEDI) fellows program, and touts that the program includes a &ldquo;BIPOC majority as a representation of the future of our nation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Bridge has &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.electionreformers.org\/articles\/new-election-overtime-project-will-prepare-journalists-and-voters-for-election-overtime-in-battleground-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">come together<\/a>&rdquo; with ERN on the Election Overtime Project.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group with similar policy priorities to Democrats is launching a project to educate political journalists on election coverage. The Election Reformers Network (ERN) is teaming up with the Bridge Alliance to create the Election Overtime Project, which aims to help journalists and voters understand and not fear close elections in battleground states. The ERN, while claiming to be neutral, supports leftist priorities such as abolishing the electoral college and limiting the power of election certification boards. The project will provide information on recounts, audits, and legal challenges in close elections. It targets six battleground states and plans to offer state-specific policy briefs, media training, and a bureau of trusted commentators. The ERN aims to be neutral and provide guidance to journalists on covering close and contested elections. The group has received funding from controversial sources and has ties to left-wing organizations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2300543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Election_Day-_Vote_Here_Vote_Aqui_30229936394-e1704924153829.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[35561,3670,5313,5129,4213],"class_list":["post-2300542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-election-coverage","tag-group","tag-journalists","tag-left-wing","tag-training"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Election_Day-_Vote_Here_Vote_Aqui_30229936394-e1704924153829.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2300542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2300543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2300542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2300542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2300542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}