U.S. Democracy Day celebrates two years of impact with first-ever report
We’re excited to announce the release of U.S. Democracy Day’s 2022–2023 impact report.
Crafted by Mission Partners, the report highlights the evolution of U.S. Democracy Day from an idea in a Twitter thread to a 163-member collaborative with participants across 43 states.
From its inception in 2022, Democracy Day has posed the question: What does it mean for newsrooms to defend democracy?
The answer — as we’ve learned over the past two years — can look like a lot of different things.
U.S. Democracy Day asks newsrooms to commit to producing one piece of pro-Democracy journalism on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy. In 2022, nearly 200 journalism organizations stepped up. And in 2023, 163 committed to doing so.
That commitment has looked like launching a Documenters chapter or fundraising for two permanent democracy reporting positions. It has looked like service journalism that explains how to vote if you’re incarcerated, investigations into the Arizona GOP’s attempts to malign election workers, explainers on how dark money has infiltrated local politics, and other high impact journalism that is accessible, engaging and unerring in its commitment to upholding democracy.
It has also looked like newsrooms training one another on how to create sustainable pathways for civic journalism. U.S. Democracy Day has produced 13 trainings and how-to-guides, which included webinars on how to hire for democracy reporting roles, a guide for coverage mission statements, and a college journalism and civics curriculum.
Now, we are looking to further grow U.S. Democracy Day into a year-round movement — guided by the strategic and financial support of Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, Democracy Fund, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
To us, journalism that defends democracy is journalism that is highly collaborative, working in tandem with community members and civic organizations to understand how democratic backsliding is trickling down across the U.S.
In 2024, we hope to encourage and fund more community-media partnerships, expand our efforts in regions that lack democracy coverage, and make inroads with broadcast stations, the Black press, and—yes— legacy media. We are actively seeking funders currently to help us make these dreams a reality. In total, we need to raise about $150,000. If you can help contribute, let Stefanie Murray know: murrayst@montclair.edu.
These goals are lofty, but attainable — with a little grit, a lot of planning, and even more collaboration.
We hope you’ll join us. The health, safety, and future of our democracy depend on it.
✨ Click here to read U.S. Democracy Day’s 2022–2023 impact report, or find the full version embeded below.
Beatrice Forman is the project coordinator for U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide, pro-democracy reporting collaborative. Contact her via email at beaformanwrites@gmail.com.
About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a primarily grant-funded program of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism, and in doing so serve New Jersey residents. The Center is supported with operational and project funding from Montclair State University, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, NJ Civic Information Consortium, Rita Allen Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation and the Independence Public Media Foundation. For more information, visit centerforcooperativemedia.org.
