What did you expect going into coverage of Shasta County elections?
Voting matters and it matters a lot. Since January 2023, we’ve been reporting on ongoing changes to our county’s elections system, including what machines are used to count the votes and even whether machines will be used at all.
The process has required months of in-depth reporting including stories on how election machines work, why that matters under federal civil rights law, and who has the power to make decisions when it comes to local elections processes. And all the changes and uncertainty in Shasta County over the last ten months have led to increasingly high emotions amongst our local population.
That’s why, as the Nov. 7 election approached, we were very much feeling community tension and pretty concerned about how high emotions might impact people’s ability to vote freely and fairly.
What were you particularly worried about?
As a community reporter who focuses on government accountability and local religious and political movements, I am very aware of the deep distrust of the elections process among certain parts of our community.
As a general principle, distrust and fear combined with anger and for some, mental instability, can easily lead to violence. To add to that, we work in a part of California where a citizen run militia is active. Some individuals involved in that movement have publicly expressed the willingness to use violence in defense of constitutional rights such as voting.
As the election neared and local officials said they wouldn’t follow a new state election law that applied to Shasta County, I started to worry about the potential for violence at the polls or at the elections office. And when statewide advocacy organizations called on California’s Secretary of State to send monitors to ensure local election security, that confirmed for me that my concerns about violent or non-violent resistance at the polls or elections office on election day were legitimate and justified fears.
As a managing editor, I was also significantly worried about the safety of my staffer and I as we reported on the ground on election day. It’s not unusual for me to receive threats or be the subject of intimidation. And I’ve certainly been monitored at public meetings, had my car watched and been followed home.
As reporters, our documentation of what’s happening in real time is one way that we provide the kind of accountability that can prevent or hold people responsible for violence. And what I’ve learned from security experts is that the time when violence is most likely to occur is when those who are unafraid to use it feel backed into a corner. So I definitely felt my presence on the ground reporting during elections increased my risk.
How did you prepare?
I talked to my single staff member about my concerns and we made a plan for her to stay in the office while I went out into the field so that we wouldn’t both be caught up in something.
We also reviewed our usual protocols for safety. On the day of the elections, I planned to use the buddy system that’s always part of our routine when reporting on the ground in potentially dangerous situations like tense public meetings: notifying someone of where I am, telling them what risks I’ve assessed and creating check in points approximately every fifteen minutes, thirty minutes or hourly, depending on level of perceived danger.
Because our local law enforcement also has some connections to the militia, and because tense reporting often requires challenging law enforcement on site, I made sure my staffer had access to the most critical phone numbers in case of a reporting-related emergency. Those include the cell phone for our contact at the First Amendment Coalition in case we needed urgent updates on our rights to stand and report and the cell phone for our contact at Lawyers4Reporters who would activate the help we needed if jailed for any reason.
I also reached out across my news startup networks to find more support. I was able to connect with a group of women who work with similar populations at increased risk for domestic security incidents and who have also been threatened and harassed online and in person for their reporting.
We met virtually and they provided a safe space for me to share the details of my situation and my fears without burdening my staff member or my family or close friends with secondary trauma. I cried when I told them about the fears I had for my kids’ safety. They supported me by understanding my emotion, sharing their own experiences, and confirming that my fears of danger are rational fears. They also asked what steps I had taken already and brainstormed next steps with me that they’d developed through their own reporting.
How did the experience actually go? Were there any hitches or roadblocks? How were you able to anticipate and overcome obstacles?
Shasta County’s Nov. 7, 2023 election day went really smoothly. It was a tiny election affecting less than 10,000 of our county’s population and there were no incidents of violence or unrest. Monitors from California’s Secretary of State were on the ground in Shasta County that day as were monitors from statewide advocacy organizations including Disability Rights California and the League of Women Voters.
Our plans to monitor the elections were impacted by an important public meeting held the same day — a real challenge for our team of two. By the time late afternoon rolled around I was already exhausted. With a full evening of reporting on the elections office ballot delivery and counting process still ahead, I made a strategic decision to defer reporting more on what had happened so far and instead head home, take a nap, and eat a nourishing meal.
That decision turned out to be absolutely critical to my staying power as I continued to report on elections that night and over the next few days.
Anything else that indie publishers can learn from your experience?
Fear is a powerful motivator to working quickly and efficiently. But even when both we and those we report on remain safe, the after-math of tense, dangerous reporting remains with us in the form of overwhelming exhaustion and high emotions that can lead to burnout.
Stopping to actually do the work of taking time to care for ourselves in the aftermath of fear is one of the most important things we can do as leaders both for ourselves and for the health of our organization.
Over the next week I worked from home whenever I could, took more time for power naps, and fed myself nourishing food. I found myself crying often as I released the fear that had built up during the previous months and I looked to my friends, my children, and my pets for the comfort they always provide.
Do you have any tips on how to prepare for this experience?
As a result of what I learned from the cohort of women I met with before elections, I took additional steps for long-term safety that I think others in the industry may also want to consider. Those included signing up for DeleteMe and booking a threat assessment through the International Women’s Media Foundation and accessing other resources through PEN America.
I also reached out to local organizers to begin putting in place a network of local support that I hope will serve not only our Shasta Scout staff but also others at risk from the threat of political harassment and violence. Right now we’re specifically working towards developing a local network of resources for our staff that include public meeting buddies available to show up at tense public meetings, safe rides home, safe houses, peer support, and more.
It’s never too early, or too late, to begin planning for your staff’s safety and implementing the systems that will reduce stress when things get difficult. To do so, utilize all the connections you’re building across the media ecosystem nationally and reach out to the organizations I’ve listed above for the help you need.
