The Backstory: When others are focused on antics, we'll be focused on you.

Nicole Carroll, USA TODAY
·4 min read

I'm USA TODAY editor-in-chief Nicole Carroll, and this is the Backstory, insights into our biggest stories of the week. If you'd like to get the Backstory in your inbox every Friday, sign up here.

A popular Google search during this week's Democratic presidential debate was 'Who is Brianne Pfannenstiel?'

Excellent question.

Pfannenstiel is the chief political reporter for the Des Moines Register, which hosted this week's debate along with CNN. She has crisscrossed the state along with the candidates courting Iowa's caucus voters. And Tuesday night, sitting next to CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Abby Phillip, she pressed them on issues important to Iowans.

Search interest in Pfannenstiel jumped 4,900% from the start to the end of the debate, according to Google Trends.

She used her platform well: "As a local reporter, I think it’s important to be a voice for the people in my community and ask questions on their behalf," she says.

The Des Moines Register is part of the USA TODAY Network, one of 260 daily publications in the Gannett company. We tell the story of America, every day, one community at a time.

"Climate change in particular is an issue that Iowa Democrats tell us is top of mind – especially after a year of record-breaking flooding that ravaged the state," Pfannenstiel says. "And in the weeks leading up to the debate I ... regularly heard Iowans voice concerns about access to quality, affordable child care."

The Des Moines Register's Brianne Pfannenstiel asks a question of one of the candidates during the CNN/Des Moines Register Democratic Debate on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, in Sheslow Auditorium on the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa.
The Des Moines Register's Brianne Pfannenstiel asks a question of one of the candidates during the CNN/Des Moines Register Democratic Debate on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, in Sheslow Auditorium on the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa.

At USA TODAY, we gather these insights shared by reporters from Phoenix to Indianapolis, Detroit to El Paso not only to cover the 2020 election, but also to elevate what matters most to voters.

Annah Aschbrenner is the USA TODAY Network's 2020 election editor. She was in the debate's press room Tuesday night. It was in a Drake University gym, a few buildings from the debate stage.

Half the room was filled with rows of crowded work stations littered with empty popcorn bags, Starbucks cups and packets of Advil. (Oranges lay unopened.)

Annah Aschbrenner, 2020 editor for the USA TODAY Network, works at the CNN/Des Moines Register debate on Jan. 14, 2020, at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Annah Aschbrenner, 2020 editor for the USA TODAY Network, works at the CNN/Des Moines Register debate on Jan. 14, 2020, at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

The other half of the room was abuzz with campaign workers touting their candidate's performance – the "spin" room.

More than 500 journalists were reporting on the action. Aschbrenner sat away from the fray.

"I want to tell the stories of the people who will be deciding this election, and I want to tell the stories of the issues that drive them," she says. "And not what we hear on TV, some of the things that sort of rile us up and divide us, but real issues that impact people's lives every day."

The Iowa caucuses are Monday, Feb. 3. The Register has been covering the lead-up for the past 14 months.

“John Delaney announced his candidacy for president in 2017," says Register Editor Carol Hunter. "We really started covering the caucus lead-up heavily in late 2018."

Her goal: "We want Iowans to learn things that will help them make a decision."

Our goal: To make it easier for all Americans to make informed decisions – and register to vote.

We are partnering with vote.org to help readers check their voter registration or register to vote.

A portion of the Des Moines Register team that covered the Democratic debate on the Drake University campus. Back: Joseph Cress, Stephen Gruber-Miller, Kelsey Kremer, Zach Thompson, Robin Opsahl, Brian Powers. Front: Anna Spoerre, Barbara Rodriguez, Rachel Stassen-Berger, Katie Akin
A portion of the Des Moines Register team that covered the Democratic debate on the Drake University campus. Back: Joseph Cress, Stephen Gruber-Miller, Kelsey Kremer, Zach Thompson, Robin Opsahl, Brian Powers. Front: Anna Spoerre, Barbara Rodriguez, Rachel Stassen-Berger, Katie Akin

Just go to vote.usatoday.com. You'll see this push in our stories, our newsletters, on social, in videos. We're going to be obnoxious about it. We want to register 150,000 voters.

The U.S. ranks 26th of 32 highly developed nations for the percentage of the voting-age population who took part in their most recent national election, according to the Pew Research Center. In top countries, the rate was more than 75%.

The report also states that only about 64% of the U.S voting-age population (70% of voting-age citizens) is registered to vote.

We're here to do our part – from Des Moines to D.C.:

In a noisy political world, we'll be an oasis of clarity. In a time of spin, we'll arm you with information. When others are focused on antics, we'll be focused on you.

"It's not hyperbole to say this election will affect the lives of millions of people," Aschbrenner says. "We take our responsibility seriously."

Nicole Carroll is the editor-in-chief of USA TODAY. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Benjamin C. Bradlee "Editor of the Year” and proud mom of three. Comments? Questions? Reach her at EIC@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Voting, Brianne Pfannenstiel, Democratic debate, elections: Backstory