An inside look at political coverage

An earlier version of this article was published in the On the Trail 2024 newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday mornings here. To submit a question to next week’s Friday Mailbag, email onthetrail@deseretnews.com.

Who won Thursday night’s debate? That’s not a question we’re particularly interested in. This is Doug Wilks, Executive Editor of the Deseret News, updating you on our approach to the presidential election and politics. We’re interested in what the candidates said, how they said it, and most importantly what the debate means for you as a voter and your family. And after watching the debate, the question also now is can either or neither of these men do the job required of them?

The pundits have a point of view and perhaps a scorecard, but we use events such as the debate as a jumping off point for coverage that matters to you as a voter. We’re not interested in labels, or trying to fit each candidate into a neatly packaged box. We’re trying to understand which issues are the most important to you, and what motivates you to support someone.

First, here is some of our coverage from the debate, to get you up to speed:

• We offered a running, real-time report of what was said, what questions the moderators chose to ask, and the candidates’ answers. The opinions of how each did are best left to each of you, based on your values. Find that here

• Samuel Benson, the regular author of this newsletter and our national political correspondent was onsite at Georgia Tech, providing behind-the-scenes coverage of this debate, including what happened post-debate in the spin room. Read that here

• Jennifer Graham from Boston writes about whether this debate was family viewing or too adult for children. That’s a measure of how the world has changed and part of our commitment to provide content that reflects values like civility and respect for others. We try to avoid labels and reject characterizations that can turn candidates into caricatures. You can read her take here

The Big Idea

Why we’re covering the 2024 race.

I recently participated in the World Editors Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, attracting some of the top news leaders in the world. Amidst the in-depth look at what artificial intelligence (AI) is doing to the world of journalism — both positively and negatively — was significant information on news avoidance, the term given to those who are not just nonreaders, but those who are actively working to avoid the news.

As it relates to politics, the current partisan divide plays a role in keeping people away from news and perspectives. But more significant, however, is what is known as the “other divide” as first described in 2022 by Yanna Krupnikov and John Barry Ryan, and is since amplified by other studies. This is the divide between those who connect to politics and those who do not. In other words, those who avoid politics don’t feel it connects with their lives.

There is another factor at play. Surveys reveal that most U.S. voters say politics makes them feel exhausted. When asked to describe the current state of politics in one word, the most common answer is “divisive.” The two participants in last night’s debate are among the least popular major-party candidates in history.

Taken together, a lack of connection with the candidates and a lack of political connection to one’s own life makes this whole election cycle one to avoid for some Americans. But the Deseret News is committed to providing news and perspective that hopefully will draw your interest. The research shows it’s not just about content, it’s about understanding what each reader believes, how each reader uses media, and understanding who you are and what communities you are a part of.

If we understand what is important to you, we can do a better job of sifting through political bluster to provide a light to help you make decisions that best suit your life. With that in mind, we’re coming to where you are, revealing the connections between what you tell us is important and what the candidates are saying. That’s our goal between now and November. Additionally, we will pay attention to what is happening in the West, particularly in the key swing states of Arizona and Nevada.

If you’re a frequent reader of On the Trail 2024, you’ve noticed that the Deseret News was keyed into this presidential race long before many of us even started paying attention. For nearly a year now, we’ve sent our national political correspondent, Samuel Benson, on the trail to break news and report on the facets of this race that no one else is talking about.

The result? 11 months of interesting, important reporting on our country’s most consequential events. Some highlights:

• We’ve interviewed six different presidential candidates, pressing them on the issues: like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his support from far-right conspiracy theorists, or Nikki Haley on her third-party aspirations. (Samuel’s interview with Kennedy just received a national award for features writing.)

• We’re following people of faith, from Latter-day Saints in swing states to evangelical Christians populating tent-revival Trump rallies. Our groundbreaking polling showed that a growing group of Republicans think Trump is a person of faith.

• We attended three Republican debates, and during the fourth, we instead sat with Jon Huntsman Jr., who provided live insight about what the candidates were — and weren’t — saying.

• We dug into the religious themes surrounding Vivek Ramaswamy’s short-lived campaign, including his time at a secret Jewish club at Yale; the former Latter-day Saint missionaries running his campaign; and his strange efforts to discredit another candidate’s faith.

• We’ve broken news, like the VP talks between RFK Jr. and Trump, and the Biden administration’s decision not to extend Secret Service protection to Kennedy.

• We’ve steered away from the candidates in order to tell the stories of the voters: a painter who has sworn allegiance to Trump; a former NBA All-Star speaking out on politics; a man training pastors to get their congregants to vote; a group of Utahns so sick of politics that they moved off the grid.

Only four months separate us from Election Day. Our commitment to you is to focus our coverage on the things that make the Deseret News unique, and the things that lead you to be a reader in the first place. We’re committed to the First Amendment, particularly America’s first freedom — the freedom of religion. We will dig into how Joe Biden, Donald Trump and others plan to protect religious liberty for all Americans. But also Freedom of Speech and the right to bring one’s whole self into the public square.

We stand for the U.S. Constitution, and we will hold the candidates to the same standard. We will report fairly and energetically on their efforts to uphold constitutional norms. We expect the same from them as we do each voter: to be law-abiding citizens.

We will explore the candidates’ plans for creating strong families and promoting marriage.

We will cover immigration — one of the top issues this cycle — in a way that promotes human dignity and recognizes that all people are children of God.

We will explore the unique ways Latter-day Saints will affect the outcome of the race, particularly in two Western battleground states, Arizona and Nevada.

We will focus on the voters, who are the ones who determine the direction of the country.

To that end, as we continue our coverage, we’d love to hear what you think — not only your feedback on our reporting, but your insight as voters: what are the issues that matter most to you? Our inbox is always open: onthetrail@deseretnews.com.

See you on the trail.