WASHINGTON — The 2024 election cycle will look different for many, but The Associated Press’ election mission remains consistent.
Anna Johnson and Stephen Sloan lead The Associated Press’ election coverage and are featured in this episode of The Story Behind the AP Story. This episode is a regular audio piece featuring extended interviews with AP journalists discussing stories and processes.
In this episode, we discuss how AP covers elections and what we’re doing same and different heading into the November 2024 election.
HAYA PANJWANI, HOST: The 2024 election cycle was amazing. Candidates dropped out while the first black and South Asian candidates entered the race, and now there have been multiple assassination attempts on former presidents. All journalists need to tell these and other stories about elections as clearly and fairly as possible. My name is Haya Panjwani. In this episode of The Stories Behind AP’s Stories, we hear from two of the leaders in AP journalism about elections. Anna Johnson, Washington Bureau Chief;
ANNA JOHNSON, WASHINGTON BUREAU: The Trump assassination attempt was just such a pivotal moment, so incredible what happened and how it happened.
Panjwani: And Stephen Sloan, acting Washington bureau chief.
Stephen Sloan, Acting Washington Bureau Chief: We are a divided nation. That was true in 2020 as well. It’s still just as good, if not better.
Johnson: I don’t think we’ve seen a dramatic change in the political landscape in the United States in the past two and a half years since I became director. But certainly in the last decade or so, we’ve seen an increasingly divided country where people feel firmly rooted in the beliefs they believe in. Fewer and fewer people are undecided about who they like and who they don’t like. They don’t like, who they want to vote for, which political party they believe in, and which political party they definitely don’t believe in. There are far fewer people in between. As a result, the elections themselves, especially presidential elections, actually end up in a small number of states, and an even smaller number of people in those states, ultimately deciding who wins the presidency and who doesn’t. . Especially from the Electoral College, which is the path to 270 people. You’re really seeing more and more people — they want to stay out of it while they’re involved. Because there are some things that don’t feel like a lot of politicians. And then the political leaders actually speak to them and address the real concerns that they have in their daily lives.
Panjwani: Voters can care about a variety of issues, but what’s important this year?
Johnson: Abortion and reproductive rights are important issues to many people. We can clearly see that this is having an impact on the presidential election as well. But we’ll see that in the Senate race, the House race, the gubernatorial race, many key state ballot measures, and elections where voters will be voting in person. Immigration is also an important issue that people talk about. It’s a concern that they want to know everything they want the government to do or not do.
Sloan: I think voters are divided. Our polls put issues at stake, from the economy, inflation and prices in general to democracy and whether the democratic principles this country has long adhered to will continue to be respected. It has been shown that
Panjwani: Misinformation has increased in recent years. A December 2023 AP-NORC poll found that a majority of Republicans believe Democrat Joe Biden was not legitimately elected president.
Sloan: Misinformation continues to play a really big role in American politics. One of the most important things we do at The Associated Press when it comes to elections is the work of actually explaining out loud and in clear and friendly terms what is reliable and what is not.
JOHNSON: What’s really difficult is obviously we believe in facts and our journalism is completely based on the facts of what happened and what is happening. And the best way to counter that misinformation and provide the facts and hopefully get it in front of people so that they can hopefully read it and watch it and absorb that information and be able to do it. It’s really hard to find sometimes. We use it when making decisions about our daily lives.
Panjwani: The Associated Press has overcome all sorts of hurdles to be as prepared as possible ahead of the elections.
Sloan: There’s a lot of preparation going on on election night. There is a lot of news every day. The final weeks of an election tend to involve candidates being in multiple states and being on the road quite a bit. We, like back here in our Washington bureau, are focused on preparing all our coverage, whether it’s text, video or images, not only on what’s going to happen on election night, but also on the phone calls to the president and afterward. No matter how long it takes to make sure we have the upper hand in any legal battle that happens. Do you have any questions about certification?For us, this is not a story that ends on election night.
JOHNSON: Ahead of November 5th, we’re trying to explain a lot about how the voting process works, why it’s so complicated, and why it’s different in each state. Depending on where you live, how different locations are counted, and different ballot types, how you vote and when your ballots are counted can be important. The whole thing is very complex and very diverse. And we’ve been trying to explain it for quite some time now. And we will continue to explain it throughout the election process on November 5th and as the votes arrive and are counted. People look at some states and wonder why the votes take so long to complete, why they’re up by a certain number one day but not the next, and why that is. I’m thinking. To explain how it happens.
Sloan: We’re gearing up for a close election. All signs point to this being a close race. So I think we’re ready for whatever happens.
JOHNSON: We’re preparing for a scenario where vote counting could go on for some time. Because, again, if the presidential election were to be really close, if it were to be really close, it would take a lot longer to actually get the results because of how voting works and how each state counts the votes. It may take some time. One of the candidates reaches 270.
Panjwani: This election season is unlike most elections.
Sloan: In modern times, there has never been a sitting president who ran for re-election and then decided not to run for re-election as the election approached. And of course, you know, there were assassination attempts and security breaches and other events that we haven’t seen since 1980. July 2024 will be remembered as one of the most chaotic moments in American politics. And we’ve been through a lot of turmoil.
Johnson: There may be some surprises left. I don’t understand. It’s kind of a news business. I don’t know what will happen. But I think we’re in a very strong position to respond to whatever happens.
JAME OLGUIN, PRODUCER: This is the story behind AP’s story. For more AP election coverage, visit APNews.com.
