A word about our coverage of the 2020 election from our founder and editor.
The 2020 election is the first contested local election we’ve been able to cover since West St. Paul Reader started in 2019. With that in mind, I wanted to explain how we’ll be approaching it.
Our Coverage
We’ve started a series of questions for candidates in the mayor primary, we’ll run stories on interesting aspects of the campaigns (such as campaigning during COVID-19), we’ll cover issues and forums, and ultimately we’ll share the election results.
In all our coverage we do our best to be fair and truthful. We’ll ask questions, we’ll check facts, we’ll report what’s happening (and that won’t always mean perfect balance). We’ve already attended a few campaign events and will attend the ones we can regardless of the candidate.
No Endorsements
We’ve already informed the candidates that we will not be endorsing any candidates this year. Many newspapers and other outlets will often endorse candidates and I did that on my personal blog during previous election cycles.
But in this case it feels too challenging to provide official endorsements while still providing fair coverage.
Advertising
West St. Paul Reader is supported by readers like you as well as advertising. We do accept political advertising and sponsored posts. It will always be clear who is paying for advertising and when posts are sponsored. We retain full editorial control of sponsored posts and hold that content to the same standard of accuracy and fairness we hold all our content to.
Personally
Given my new role with West St. Paul Reader, I won’t be volunteering or supporting any local campaign this year (though I may support candidates in races outside of West St. Paul’s municipal elections).
I’ll point out that my wife did not sign up for a nonpartisan election year. She will volunteer for, donate to, and support whomever she likes. So when you see a campaign sign in the yard, that’s my wife’s sign. (If you know my wife’s teacher voice, you’ll understand why I’m not crossing her on this.)
Support
If you appreciate coverage of local elections, please support us. Local news is dwindling and it’s harder and harder to find sustainable models for hyper-local community news.
West St. Paul Reader and all of our election coverage can’t exist without your support. We’re grateful for the backers, ongoing patrons, and advertisers who continue to support us.
Thank you,
Kevin D. Hendricks
Founder & Editor
West St. Paul Reader 