The CCN Elections & Democracy Reporting Initiative brings together news-academic partnerships at colleges across the country to facilitate reliable and impactful reporting during the 2024 election cycle and beyond.

Join our cohort

How We Can Help

The CCN Elections & Democracy Initiative helps faculty at U.S. colleges and universities who are running student reporting programs and want to cover upcoming races, large and small. We connect program leaders to a community of peers, provide free teaching resources, facilitate collaborative reporting projects, and promote the exceptional work of your students.

How You Can Join Us

• Join our cohort
• Email Sarah Gamard to register for upcoming virtual collaboration sessions
• Check out our free teaching resources including templates for student election coverage
• Share your student reporting for our National Student Reporting News Site
• Tell us what you need by taking our survey

Assignments and Resources

CCN Guide on Student-Led Political Reporting

Tips On Getting Student Reporting Published By Local Outlets

Assignment 1: Profiling first-time and/or young voter attitudes on campus

Assignment 2: Profiling voter attitudes in underserved communities off-campus

Assignment 3: How do I cast my vote? A how-to guide for first-time voters in the 2024 election

Assignment 4: Student-made voter guide project

Assignment 5: Pitch a feature story on the 2024 election to your “editor”

Elections & Democracy Program: All Assignment Templates & Handouts

Template for voter guide candidate questionnaire – use for any races

Case study: University of Maryland finds success in student-led statewide voter guide

Stay in Touch

Sarah Gamard
Program Manager, CCN Elections & Democracy Initiative 
scbgamard@gmail.com

Meg Little Reilly
Managing Director, Center for Community News
Meg.little-reilly@uvm.edu