Why we started Democracy Today

Democracy Today begins publishing days before a national election, at a moment of deep distrust in news and in public institutions. We do not think the answer to that problem is another loud voice. We think it is a simple, demanding discipline, practiced every day and in public.

That discipline starts with showing our work. Every news story we publish carries a byline and a date. Every factual claim that matters links to the place it came from — a court record, a government data release, a published study, an on-the-record interview — so that readers can check it themselves. When we cannot confirm something, we will say so, or we will leave it out.

It continues with keeping opinion where it belongs. Pieces like this one, which argue a point of view, are labeled as opinion and kept separate from our news reporting. The Opinion and Ideas sections exist so that arguments can be made openly, by people and institutions that put their names to them, and judged on their merits.

It means correcting our mistakes where readers can see them. When we get something wrong, we will fix it, note the correction at the bottom of the story with the date and time, and explain what changed.

It also means being plain about who we are. Democracy Today is published by Atlas Media Network, LLC, based in Hartford, Conn. We are not affiliated with any other news organization or program with a similar name. Our coverage will focus on U.S. politics and government, elections, Latino communities, and the world, alongside essays, conversations and books about the ideas that hold a free society together.

On elections, our role is limited and specific. We are not an election authority. For registration, deadlines, polling places and certified results, we will always point readers to vote.gov and to state election offices, and we will report results only as they are released by official sources or called by news organizations we name.

We will be judged by whether we live up to these commitments. We invite readers to hold us to them, and to tell us when we fall short, at info@atlasmedianetwork.org.