Our mission in covering the election is to get our communities involved this election season by providing journalism that helps voters gain the information they need. We strive to understand issues from voters’ perspectives and compare their expectations with candidate promises.
We are committed to keeping our readers (you!) at the center of this conversation by checking in through surveys, social media and in-person events. Ultimately, we want to tell stories based on the questions you want answered, not just recount what politicians say.
In its coverage of the 2024 election, Mustang News will:
- Demystify the voting process. We aim to demystify the voting process through clear, step-by-step explanations, ensuring every voter feels confident about where and when they can cast their ballots.
- Cover events, forums and debates. Throughout the election cycle, we will be offering summaries, key takeaways and expert voices to help you understand where each candidate stands on important issues.
- Detail candidate profiles. We will detail their backgrounds, policy positions and campaign promises. This will give you a clear picture of who is running and what they stand for.
- Examine the influence of state and national politics. How do state and national political trends affect the local level? We hope to provide a bigger picture for you to see and understand the implications of your vote.
- Answer reader questions. We are actively seeking and responding to questions from our readers. Your inquiries will help guide our coverage, ensuring we address what matters the most to you this election season.
What we are watching and why:
We think it is important to be transparent about what guides our decisions on how and what issues we report on. We also want to prioritize efforts where we can most be helpful. For the Nov. 5 San Luis Obispo County election, we will focus on information about high-interest local races such as the mayoral and city council races.
We generally will not report election races for all of California or the national level. However, we will link to resources on our website, social media channels and our newsletter, The Round-Up.
How do we decide newsworthiness?
- Power. This means we prioritize coverage of races and policies that can influence decision-making processes or have a major impact on local governance. Whether it is a key mayoral race, city council election or pivotal policy change, we will examine how these events can shape the future of our local community.
- Interest. By staying attuned to the issues that generate discussion, concern and enthusiasm, we want to ensure our reporting remains relevant and engaging. This will include monitoring feedback from you and social media conversations. Our goal is to provide coverage that keeps you informed about the topics you care about the most.
- Equity. We are committed to highlighting and addressing disparities in political participation and representation. We will also examine races and issues where outcomes could disproportionately affect historically marginalized voices, often communities of color and low-income.
Why should Mustang News be your go-to place for election coverage?
By focusing on topics like housing, noise ordinances and safety, we ensure our content is not only informative but also accessible and interesting.
Those who live on-campus are not able to vote in local elections—Cal Poly’s campus is an unincorporated territory of San Luis Obispo. About 40 percent of students live on-campus, according to University Housing.
But the other parts of the student body that live off-campus, in the city’s neighborhoods, are eligible to vote and have a large say in these decisions.
As a student-run publication, we want to serve and bring up new topics with campus groups and organizations this election cycle. The staff behind this coverage are independent, curious, respectful individuals who are accountable to you, our audience. You can also find our organization’s general values guide that highlights our decision-making process on what we report on and how we do so.
How you can inform our work
We want you to have questions, comments and feedback to inform what issues or races we cover. Our readers’ questions and needs will shape our priorities and efforts in delivering important information about this election. We want to hear from readers: what do you want to better understand about the election process in San Luis Obispo? In California? If local or state officials could successfully address one issue right now, what would you want it to be? What is at stake this election cycle for you?
If we’re missing something, this is your chance to tell us. And always, thank you for reading Mustang News.