We believe informed voters are the point
We publish political coverage because elections are where public life becomes real. Budgets turn into buses and bridges. Ordinances shape neighborhoods and businesses. To us, a newsroom is only useful if it helps people vote with confidence. That starts with clarity and ends with accountability. Everything between those two is our daily work.
A startup’s promise on accuracy and speed
We are a small team. We will make mistakes. You will see typos and the occasional wrong figure. When that happens, we fix it, note the change, and link to the underlying source when one exists. Our rule is simple: the correction should travel at least as far as the error. If you spot something off, send a note to our editors. We read every message and we respond.
How we report elections
1) Put the voter first. We prioritize what changes a ballot choice might bring. If a measure raises or reallocates funds, we translate the numbers into household terms and show the tradeoffs.
2) Track the process. Filing deadlines, early voting windows, and certification procedures matter as much as speeches. We publish timelines and check them twice.
3) Source it. When we reference a statute, a budget line, or a campaign filing, we provide a citation and keep copies where possible. If a candidate says the city can do something, we look for the authority that allows it.
4) Call the question. If a claim is accurate but missing context, we add the context. If a claim is wrong, we say so. If the answer is complicated, we explain the path through it.
5) Separate reporting from analysis. Our straight reports are clean and tightly sourced. When we publish analysis, we label it clearly and show our math.
Corrections, clarifications, and the paper trail
Corrections and clarifications appear at the top or bottom of a story depending on impact. We timestamp changes, describe what changed in plain language, and preserve previous versions in our archive. When possible, we attach original documents or provide links to official repositories. If something is still unresolved, we say that as plainly as we can.
What we won’t do
We won’t traffic in rumor. We won’t publish opposition research without verifying it. We won’t dangle anonymous quotes to juice a headline. We won’t tell you how to vote. We will tell you what a vote likely means in policy, cost, and timeline.
How you can help us be better
Send us documents, agendas, filings, and public notices. Invite us to neighborhood forums. If you think we missed an angle, explain it and point us to the record. Democracy is a team sport and the box score is public. We are building this with you and for you.
Our ecosystem, briefly
The Charlotte Mercury and Strolling Ballantyne are our local newsrooms under the Mercury Local banner. The aim is to serve readers where they live and vote, then bring that work back into a regional picture. If you want to track what we are building across the network, the best place to start is our blog.
How we decide what to cover
Coverage decisions begin with impact. We ask who is affected, what authority is being used, how much it costs, and when it lands in real life. We write with the city budget on one screen and the neighborhood map on the other. We do fewer pieces and try to make them count. The goal is not volume. The goal is utility.
The line between scrutiny and fairness
Public officials deserve fair treatment and hard questions. We prepare, we read the documents, and we ask for the receipts. If a candidate or agency needs time to respond, we give it and note when responses arrive. If a claim cannot be supported, we say so and show why.
The startup advantage
We are nimble. We try new formats. We build tools that help readers see what is at stake. Some ideas will flop. When they do, we retire them and move on. The only metric that matters is whether you learned something that helped you participate.
About the Author
I’m Peter, usually fueled by cold brew and a stubborn belief that local government is where the action is. If you want to argue about a footnote or send a tip, message me on @pc51.bsky.social. For more on how we work across our network, drop by the Mercury Local blog.
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This article, “Why Our Political Coverage Looks The Way It Does,” by Peter Cellino is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.
“Why Our Political Coverage Looks The Way It Does”
by Peter Cellino, *Mercury Local (CC BY-ND 4.0)