The Election SOS newsletter is a dedicated resource for journalists covering the 2020 election. We provide critical resources to help with your coverage, safety and service.
We're still here & with more useful info to share
The inauguration seemingly concluded the tumultuous elections. The stories might shift focus, but the need to continue tackling misinformation and extremism, keeping politicians accountable, and supporting democracy hasn't diminished. Election SOS newsletter will continue providing you with a compilation of top resources and advice on these topics. We are also switching away from the reactive mode, and focusing now on what was learned during this past election cycle and recommendations for moving forward. Stay tuned!
Free extremism support from Election SOS
The riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has further surfaced the urgent need for resources on extremist movements in the U.S. To help journalists navigate the complex world of extremism, Election SOS has added a resident expert. The expert will provide your newsroom free advice and resources to help you better understand and report on extremist groups, as well as 1-1 support.
Last week, our resident extremism expert attended two events: the Richmond, Virginia-based Lobby Day and the inauguration of president Joe Biden in Washington, DC. In Richmond, there was a light showing of far-right groups, with a handful of Proud Boys, a small cadre of Boogaloo boys, as well as a handful of members from various county-level militia groups, each supplying a handful of members to attend. This stands in stark contrast to last year’s same event, which drew over 20,000 attendees.
Fascist movements have gained a lot of media traction since the events of January 6th, and after a no-show for inauguration that attention is fading away. We have a message for newsrooms: it's vital that extremism doesn't fall away from your radar. As history teaches us, the people that stormed the capitol will be back. Fascism values form over substance, and because of this, it’s syncretic. Far-right ideologies will warp themselves to appeal to a certain demographic or to fit a certain political moment. These movements that have grafted themselves onto Trump's political movement in the past four years will carry on with or without Trump.
In the coming weeks, we'll continue to provide journalists and newsrooms with information about how far-right groups are adapting to this new normal, and the historical context necessary to understand it.
Announcing the second round of Rapid Response Fund grant recipients
After the incredible response and demand we received from our first round of funding, Election SOS was able to distribute a second round of the Rapid Response Fund. The goal of the fund was to assist journalists working to create a well-informed citizenry during post-election emergencies, fast-changing situations, and a high risk of misinformation and disinformation. In total, with the help of our funders, we distributed just over $200,000 in 38 grants to newsrooms and freelancers serving audiences in 13 states and nationally.
Congratulations to these journalists and newsrooms! Read on to see the full list of recipients and their projects.
Join our free upcoming workshop on Thursday, January 28 to learn more about deprogramming, history parallels, and how to cover extremism moving forward.
Election SOS Survey - Enter to Win $ (and help democracy while you're at it)
If you got a chance to use our website resources, we'd love to hear your experience! There's always an election around the corner, so we'll use this survey to better support everyone involved next go-round.
Please take 10 minutes to fill out the survey below, specific to the Election SOS website and Switchboard. Your responses will not be made public other than as an aggregated report. As a token of appreciation, 10 winners will be randomly selected to win a $25 gift card! The deadline has been extended to Sunday, Jan. 31.
The 2020 election was defined by paradox and contradiction. While American democracy has survived this crisis so far, we will only be able to prevent the next one if we ensure accountability for all those who incited, abetted, and participated in the insurrection, and adopt preventative reforms based on the lessons we learned in this election. In this report, the Task Force report highlights challenges that emerged in the election and lessons for the future.
This printable database provides an overview of many of the symbols most frequently used by a variety of white supremacist groups and movements, as well as some other types of hate groups.
A podcast by election administrators for election administrators, for those who want to dig deeper into the nuances. There are always elections around the corner, so it's a good time to tune in and make sense of this cycle while it's fresh.
Former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign aides played key roles in orchestrating a rally protesting certification of President-elect Joe Biden‘s victory in the 2020 presidential election before hundreds of rioters breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. But the full extent of the Trump campaign’s ties to the protests may not be not fully known due to its use of shell companies that hide details of its financial dealings and the central role “dark money” played in the protests.
White supremacists are building international networks to spread their violent ideology. Efforts at transatlantic counterterrorism cooperation hit an obstacle: the politics of the Trump Administration. The U.S. response to the globalization of the far-right threat has been slow, scattered and politicized, U.S. and European counterterrorism veterans and experts say.
Republican legislators across the country are preparing a slew of new voting restrictions in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s defeat. Georgia will be the focal point of the GOP push to change state election laws, after Democrats narrowly took both Senate seats there and President Joe Biden carried the state by an even smaller margin. But state Republicans in deep-red states and battlegrounds alike are citing Trump’s meritless claims of voter fraud in 2020 — and the declining trust in election integrity Trump helped drive — as an excuse to tighten access to the polls.
There are facets of unity that should concern the press, insofar as the rejection of rampant lies, bigotry, and insurrectionary violence can be seen through that lens—but a shared commitment to the basic truth is not the same as a shared worldview, and we should be careful not to blur the two. Too often, journalists have instead defined unity as a window of acceptable opinion. This impulse entails the old idea that the truth is to be found somewhere between the major parties’ positions. One party, in particular, understands that by moving shamelessly to the right, it can pull the political media’s center of gravity in the same direction.
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