Extraordinary Journalism

McClatchy journalists played a vital role as record numbers of Americans cast their votes this fall, helping their communities understand the players, the stakes and, once the voting ended, what happened and what to expect. Our newsrooms were essential to the process, providing strong explanatory and accountability journalism, and giving readers different ways to access the news, including a live video and interviews on election night from Sacramento.

The Miami Herald and McClatchy DC collaborated with a U.K. news program to reveal how the Trump campaign used big data to manipulate Florida voters in 2016. The DC Bureau and the Sacramento Bee explained how Vice President-elect Kamala Harris of California made history. And opinion writers in multiple markets fearlessly called out state and local officials for their role in unfounded election fraud claims.

Our newsrooms told important stories outside the election as well. The Idaho Statesman doggedly tracked down what happened when air traffic controllers fell asleep or went missing at the Boise airport. In Columbia, The State served up timely, in-depth reporting on the dismissal of South Carolina’s football coach, and what the move could mean for football and finances in the popular program.

And Fort Worth and Tri-Cities traced terrible teen tragedies – one, a cold case murder that resulted in the arrest of a local man after 46 years, and the other a tragic reminder that COVID-19 isolation can mean despair and death for children who already feel like outsiders.

Read on for the latest edition of Extraordinary Journalism.