American Press Institute is reporting daily this week on how to cover democracy, or civics in a democratic republic

"How do local newsrooms cover elections at a time when democratic principles are under attack, basic voting procedures are questioned, and many people fear the future of personal rights?" So asks Jane Elizabeth of the American Press Institute, starting a report "meant to help news organizations think about their politics and campaign coverage in different and more effective ways."

"From community meetings in Ohio to “democracy reporters” and a focus on diverse voters, journalists are experimenting and finding better ways to cover an election like no other, Elizabeth reports, in the latest installment of API's Election Coverage & Community Listening program, which gives grants to organizations to "create journalism that better serves the needs of the public." It will add new chapters to the report every workday this week, each with a different focus that we believe is essential for any media organization covering elections and democracy. The full report, with a comprehensive list of resources, will be available Friday, Sept. 23, at americanpressinstitute.org.

Elizabeth writes, "Many local newsrooms aren’t ready to deliver more powerful coverage. Massive layoffs, hedge fund ownership, dwindling budgets and a lack of training and experience in covering an intensely divided culture — those realities have left media leaders distracted and unprepared." She suggests a refresher course for newsrooms and their audiences on what democracy is all about, and transparency by new organizations about how they cover it.

One challenge is terminology, especially after President Biden used "democracy" 34 times in a "partisan-tinged speech in Philadelphia" this month, Elizabeth notes. Some argue, "We don’t have a democracy. We have a republic." Yes, but it's a democratic republic, points out civics podcaster Sharon McMahon, who uses history lessons and plain-language explainer from the Customs and Immigration Service. She suggests using the word “civic” to describe the new beat, with repeated references to “the democratic principles of our republic.”

The urgency of the topic was illustrated Sunday by The Washington Post and The New York Times, which found several Republican nominees for statewide office unwilling to say that they would accept the certified election results. The latest large-scale journalistic treatise on threats to our democratic system comes from David Leonhardt of the Times; his essay is analyzed by Jon Allsop of Columbia Journalism Review, who says the topic "should inflect day-to-day coverage of American politics." To be crystal clear: Allsop wrote "inflect," not "infect." In other words, influence, not disrupt.