Here’s how The Bee Editorial Board makes recommendations on who to vote for in June
April means the start of a new baseball season, which I greet with eager anticipation as a faithful fan. I am so glad the billionaire owners and millionaire players got their recent contract dispute out of the way.
This year, the first full month of spring also signifies the launch of a new political season — the dash to the June 7 statewide primary election. The top two winners in state and federal races advance to the November general election. That happens in local races, too, unless a candidate manages to get 50% plus one of the votes in the primary and so wins outright. Jerry Dyer managed that difficult feat in 2020 when he ran to become Fresno’s mayor.
The Bee’s Editorial Board, of which I am a member, takes election season seriously. It is our time to do the legwork of figuring out which candidates deserve voters’ support, and then make recommendations to the readers.
We encourage all voters to study the candidates and issues as thoroughly as possible to make wise choices. Knowing how time-pressed most people are, however, the editorial board offers its recommendations as a help and guide.
How do we go about arriving at a recommendation? Let me explain the process.
Interviews and research
The first step is interviewing the candidates. Before the pandemic, interviews were done in person at The Bee. I draw up a set of questions, and my colleagues join me in asking the candidates about the issues. We typically hold one interview session per race, with all the candidates at once, unless there are too many candidates; if that is the case, we will do multiple sessions.
As a result of COVID, we have been conducting sessions online. That will remain our practice for the June primary. By fall, we may be able to once again conduct in-person interviews.
The sessions are not debates, but rather, question-and-answer time with those running for office to better inform the editorial board of their positions and values.
I may conduct more research about the candidates as needed. I share those findings with my Editorial Board colleagues, and we discusses the candidates and arrive at our recommendations.
I am sometimes asked: Does The Bee try to have a liberal-leaning compass, or a conservative one? My answer comes from a former publisher: Our goal is to be right; sometimes we achieve that, sometimes not. Every time, we strive to be thoughtful and explain our reasoning. Recommendations are the Editorial Board’s view of who is best suited for the office.
Who is on The Bee’s Editorial Board? Besides myself, the board consists of Bee Editor Joe Kieta; Juan Esparza Lóera, editor of Vida en el Valle, a bilingual language weekly that, like The Bee, is a McClatchy Co. publication; and Vida staff writer María G. Ortiz-Briones.
Key races
The Bee Editorial Board actually got a head start on elections by already interviewing the six candidates who want to replace Devin Nunes in Congress and serve out his term to the end of this year. That election was held Tuesday.
And we interviewed the four candidates looking to represent the Fresno High area on the local school board. That election is April 12.
The June races in which we will be offering recommendations are Fresno City Council, Fresno County sheriff and Fresno County schools superintendent. We will wait until the fall general election to consider state and congressional races. The fall ballot will also include school board contests.
Here’s something important to know: The Bee’s opinion is actually that — an stated point of view. The Editorial Board exists to offer an opinion; that is our job. Sometimes readers get confused and send emails to complain that we are being biased. Grousing that the opinion section is biased is like complaining that the sky is blue. It’s supposed to be.
This is in contrast to the stories done by my colleagues on the news side. Their job is to be fair, objective and unbiased. They have no role in setting The Bee’s opinion. We keep a strict separation to ensure they remain impartial in the news coverage.
Baseball season is here, and so is campaigning. Both are fun and have exciting moments, but only one has real importance. Make your votes count this spring by paying attention to the candidates and their positions. The Bee will offer its recommendations as a help; look for them in May. May the best candidates win.
