The Election Connection, Los Angeles, CA 1998
Partners:
Orange County Register
Riverside Press Enterprise
KCET-TV (PBS)
KCRW-FM in Santa Monica
KPCC-FM in Pasadena
Orange County News Channel
The partners, who’d been working together since the 1996 “Voice of the Voter” project, called their third joint effort “The Election Connection” to emphasize the goal of helping voters feel connectedto the electoral process. The project began with a poll of 600 voters to determine which issues were their highest priorities. Reporters from each news organization then spoke with respondents for stories on the poll and on each issue. Coordinated coverage among all the partners began March 16, 1998 with an overview of poll results. Issues stories ran every two weeks through the June 2 primary.
The partners also coordinated coverage of the financing behind four major initiatives on the 1998 ballot. For example, their stories revealed that most of the support for a ballot measure that would restrict the use of union dues came from conservative groups outside the state. The measure was defeated. Opposition to another initiative, allowing gambling on Native American reservations, was largely financed by Nevada casino owners. That measure passed.
In attempting to stimulate public conversation about the election, the partners brought together a panel of politically and ethnically diverse Southern Californians to watch and discuss the debate between leading gubernatorial candidates. They also sponsored a debate between candidates for state attorney general. KCBS-TV aired a weekly Election Connection talk show on Sunday mornings and KCET-TV hosted a one-hour special featuring a live studio audience on a ballot issue that would eliminate bi-lingual education in California schools.
A second poll conducted after the primary was the first to show Democrat Gray Davis with a double-digit lead over his opponent in the gubernatorial race and the first to show Republican congressional candidates in jeopardy because of a public backlash against GOP efforts to impeach President Clinton.
The partners considered their Web site, electionconnection.org, one of their major successes. The site received 158,000 visits between March and November 1998, with a spike of 50,000 visits for November.
Contacts:
Dennis Foley (former Chairman, The Election Connection, a project of the Southern California Voices of the Voter coalition)
County Government Reporter
The Orange County Register
PO Drawer 11626
Santa Ana, CA 92711-1626
Phone: (714) 285-2862
Email: dfoley@ocregister.com