Rosella Melanson: Nothing about us without us

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2024 is being called a boom election year because half of the world population is heading to the polls, New Brunswickers among them.

But more importantly, in 2024, some potential election outcomes could endanger democratic institutions, action on climate change, and the rights of the usual targets, women and minorities.

Partly because the stakes are high, some media are discussing better ways of covering elections. Anything to stop the sports desk from taking over the political desk at election time, I say. Anything to stop the neutering of voters into being spectators. “He’s taken the lead”. “That was a knock-out blow…”. “The odds-makers favour…”. “Tune in for new polls tomorrow”.

Election coverage lately has been mostly about where parties stand in the polls and where parties stand on issues of their choosing. Little about what citizens say are the issues and little analysis of policies.

Voters are made to feel incidental to the big event. And if the outcome is said to be “written in the stars”, voters eventually think, why vote?

We should never be made to feel like spectators in an election. Unlike a final playoff game, the stakes in an election are never just who’s going to win the trophy. They are what problems and what solutions will be the priorities of our government.

In a sense, voters are like jurors in a trial. We’re expected to decide based on the presented information. But who gives us that information? Citizens need to know more than the score. We need election campaigns, and campaign news coverage, to be about the governing, not just the winning.

Media is one of the pillars of democracy. They are public educators, watchdog, and our channel to politicians and power. But media has been made to cower away from that role. Indeed some political players have an interest in media not fully playing their role.

Lately, some media are finally planning ways to get citizens involved in defining what the election should be about and then making media coverage about candidates’ proposals on those questions. Some call it “Citizens’ Agenda”. Setting of the agenda is the first win in an election campaign.

Take a wild example. What if someone tried to make an election about parental rights or carbon tax, when what matters to most people is saving the planet or improving government services. How do citizens get heard?

Media should make us heard.

Rosella Melanson is a writer based in Fredericton