Help BBC Radio Five Live cover the US Elections
It's not long till the US mid-term elections and we'd like your help telling the story. We'll be visiting Connecticut and Pennsylvania and on election night (Nov 7th) in Washington DC - but we can't be everywhere and there many fascinating races we'd like to cover. So we'd like your help in reporting the election - polls and the results on the night of the race will only give us half the story. We'd like to know what it looks like from the ground.
We're not limiting this to people in the US although that will be our primary focus. If you'd like to be a Five Live "Citizen Reporter" during the election drop a note to upallnight@bbc.co.uk. The kind of things we're looking for are:
- Personal views of the race from people with an interesting perspective (perhaps you are a recent immigrant or an Iraq vet for example)
- Bloggers, podcasters and vloggers who are covering their local race.
- Anyone with a real interest in local politics and an ability to tell the story of the race in their town and state.
- People from overseas with a real stake in the result.
If you think you could give an interesting perspective on the election to a national UK audience then drop us a note. There are lots of different ways you can contribute here are some suggestions:
- Phone or skype interviews
- Emailing us an audio report
- Emailing a short written report that we can read on air
- Pointing us to a blog, podcast or vlog you've made covering the election.
- Point us to a story you think we should be covering
Our hope is that by enlisting your help we'll have coverage that isn't just about pundits and experts but gives us a real flavour of what the race is like for ordinary Americans that cuts through some of the stereotypes about politics in the US.
UPDATE: World Have Your Say will also be in the US. I'm sure we'll be sharing guests and programme ideas. You can read about their plans here
UPDATE: Comments have been a bit slow updating on the blog..apologies for that.
UPDATE: We now have a Frappr map. If you like add a pin and tell us a bit about the race where you are.
UPDATE: You can see Howard and Rhod's video's from the trip here. Think Primary Colors meets Thelma and Louise meets Strangers on a Train
Technorati Profile : Citizen Journalism : BBC : Politics : US : Mid Terms
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© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~52~RS~)
I saw some cars promoting the Libertarians and Greens here in Miami Florida.
While in a restaurant, I saw two Democrats [supporting their candidate for Governor Davis] and Two Republicans [supporting their candidate for Governor Criss]trade insults about their candidates]. It confirms why I am Independent.
Thanks to the BBC for breaking the story about the Republican Candidate who threatened to deport Hispanics if they voted. I heard that story on BBC Five Live Up All Night.
On TV [America Teve], Carlos Alvarez backs Criss [Republican for Governor]. On C-Span, there is a debate on Florida Public Television between Katherine Harris and Bill Nelson. More on alvarezgalloso.blogster.com. I will keep you posted.
http://alvarezgalloso.blogster.com/florida_soap_opera.html
More on the details of Criss VS Davis and Nelson VS Harris with an article on Evangelista
http://alvarezgalloso.blogster.com/elephants_donkeys.html
Another report of the day.
Is this some kind of joke. another five live freebie? What a ridiculous idea.
To Ken and Roger: While BBC Five Live is for a British Audience, I consider his idea of blogging about the US Midterm Elections necessary. BBC and BBC Five Live [including Up All Night] have had superior reporting when it comes to US Politics and it is necessary to get other points from the people who have to put up with the crazies in our country, Cheers Roberto
Roberto, you might want to up date your comments it's "Charlie Crist" running for Governor not "Criss"
Palm Beach County is the home of the “hanging chad” and now in the last couple of weeks the District of the Mark Foley scandal, I’d like to help out, if needed. The main news on the Foley seat is that the courts have stopped Republicans from putting up signs at the elections stations stating that a vote for Foley is really a vote for Joe Negron the new Republican candidate, once your name is on the ballet it has to stay if though Foley resigned. Will it affect the now empty Foley seat, which has been Republican for many years? Or will the republicans rally, this is one of the crucial Congress seat the Dems need if they are to gain control of Congress. The other race of note here is the senate race between Katherine Harris (Rep) and Bill Nelson (Dem), although seen as a close race Harris has a weak platform, while Nelson (Dem) the ex-astronaut is a strong contender, Harris is seen by many Republicans as a spoiler in this race.
Hi, my name is Robert and I am very interested in US politics, so much so that I will be doing a degree in politics covering a lot of the US perspective. I read lots around it and blog for the Blogger.com. By doing this blog for the BBC it will greatly benifit my education and people reading it too. I have a range of very interesting - and at times - controversial opinions.
It looks like this is going to be a carbon copy of Roberto Carlos Alvarez-Galloso's other blog. (BTW, Roberto, the BBC didn't "break" the news of that So. Cal. Vietnamese immigrant (r) sending out a ham-handed letter to dissuade hispanic illegal aliens from voting).
I'm with Ken.
M. Fernandez, CPT, U.S. Army
To Enigelator:
I would like to thank you for "Crist" instead of "Criss". I have written heavily in my blog about the races between Harris and Nelson as well as other races of interest.
To Capt. Fernandez:
I heard the news on the BBC first before I heard it on the domestic TV. If I want serious news, I go to the BBC or the Independent Press. If I want comedy, I go to most of the US TV and Radio Stations.
For Chris:
Regardless, I still support the BBC in its desire to transmit freedom. So that there is not a carbon copy [as per Capt. Fernandez] I am just leaving the webpages so that people could see for themselves.
I think this is a very good idea. I lived in the US for 8 years (until a year ago) and found that European news outlets (including the BBC) were better, more comprehensive, and less biased sources of information that local ones. It really made me feel sad for democracy in the US... Americans are really democratic in spirit, but perform poorly in practice...
I will be working the election in my state of Arizona supporting my Representative in the Arizona House of Representatives. I'll be my my precinct all day long, hopfuly helping WHYS with the coverage from Arizona if they are up to the fact. I regulary contribute to WHYS, so I'd be more than happy to help. I've got access to skype, email, phone, so let me know what I can do... Thanks
I would love to help out in any way possible. I'm from Nebraska, which has over 200,000 more registered republicans than democrats. As a liberal, this election will be interesting, for me it is the litmus test to see if the republican base of traditionally red states (such as Nebraska) will move their votes to democrats. There are a few races in Nebraska in which it is possible for democrats to pull a victory. Currently, we have 1 democratic senator, and he is campaigning to retain his seat against his challenger and has a huge lead.
Anyways, I'd be glad to be of any help to BBC! I rarely go to US news sources anymore...Fox is obviously biases and CNN/MSNBC seems to afraid to ask any challenging questions.
Lindsay
The thing that gets me is that Bush and all the other Christian fundamentalists call themselves Christian and then go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. I go to church and read the Bible and murder and war is not about christianity. It is so hypocritical of them.
Rob
You "can't" understand or don't want to? If you can connect Japan and Germany to Pearl Harbor and understand WW2, you can understand September 11th, Afghanistan & Iraq. You may disagree about Iraq, but surely Afghanistan is a no-brainer.
[No responses please. I'm so tired of everything degenerating into Iraq arguments and there are plenty of other blogs for that. Let's just agree to disagree.]
As for your polital studies: You'll never understand American politics if every Christian is a fundamentalist or every Republican is a NeoCon. BTW, Bush is neither. [He is Episcopalian (an American version of COE) and not very conservative.]
Would any post-election pieces be relevant for you? I'm working on a column, and I know a lot of up-and-coming journalists who are also writing post-election pieces...
I may not be able to report prior to the election. (I currently reside in pretty-much a one-party area...though that may change...), but I am a poll worker, and I can tell you what I go through on Election day (interesting stories, how the machines work, etc.). I've emailed Five Live about it...but do you guys and gals think it's a good idea?
I have a podcast up about a flap in Minnesota where a Republican blogger wrote the St. Paul Pioneer Press' endorsement for Republican Congressman John Kline. (MN02) It was only revealed that the blogger was the author of the newspaper's endorsement when the Pioneer Press had to print a correction to it because it contained a factual error. Since then, I've discovered it had several factual errors and the entire content was not vetted by the Pioneer Press Editorial Board.
The podcast is here.
The latest reports on the scandal are here.
You have my permission to use the audio and the text.
I'll be covering the Minnesota elections for Governor, US House and US Senate on my podcast. You're welcome to pull audio from it as long as you give the podcast credit. Podcast feed is here.
Michael McIntee
Inside Minnesota Politics
I'm a freelance writer/editor and photographer living near the city of White Plains in Westchester County, NY. We're located about 40 minutes north of New York City.
I'll be blogging (with words and photos) local election coverage. The New York State races could be unusually dramatic on local and state-wide levels. A Republican governor has reached his term limits, and a popular, well-known Democrat will most surely take his place. Will town and village council Republicans also be swept out and replaced by the Democrats? Tuesday will tell.
I'm intrigued by your show; I used to be a college radio DJ, and my first time slot was 2-6AM.