No BS, Just a Voter Guide

This election season, our reporters delivered a guide that helps voters cut through the noise and rhetoric they are often drowning in this time of the year.

Depending on where you live, your mailbox is probably already filling up with mailers making all sorts of claims about candidates and local measures.

We know it can be overwhelming — especially when so many races are between candidates in the same party. Our guide will help you make sense of the races and understand what’s at stake.

If you haven’t already, you can view our No BS Voter Guide here or download it here.

OK, grab some cafectio. Here’s what you need to know to start your week and some behind-the-scenes information about our editorial decisions.

New chismosos: If you’re a new Cup of Chisme reader, welcome! This newsletter recaps coverage from Voice of San Diego and offers some insight into our newsroom and reporters.

Tenants Strike Over Utility Bills

Environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer and intern Naomi Granata have been investigating how San Diego renters are charged for utilities.

They recently reported that despite a new city law, some landlords are allegedly failing to provide renters with a breakdown of how they are charged for utilities.

Now, they have a new story about a group of tenants who went on strike over utility charges that more than doubled after their landlord started using an new billing system.

You can read the story here. If you’re a renter who’s had a similar experience, you can contact our reporter here: [email protected].

Behind Voice: How the Voter Guide Came Together

It really was a team effort.

Our reporters and editors identified the races and local measures with the highest stakes. (That’s not to say other stuff on the ballot isn’t important. Other news outlets do a great job covering everything on the ballot, which give us the luxury to focus on more complicated proposals and races.)

Our reporters took a crack at explaining the races and then we went through each write up as a group and pushed each other to go deeper.

If you have any thoughts or feedback on the guide, feel free to email me at [email protected].

The Mayor, a Candidate and Angry Instagram Comments

Late last week, our editors published a story about how Mayor Todd Gloria was working behind the scenes to get groups to drop their support of Councilmember Henry Foster.

Foster is running for re-election and is defending his seat against political newcomer Martha Abraham. Both are Democrats.

Our story relied on unnamed sources. Readers who found our story on Instagram, many of whom support Abraham, found that upsetting. They made incredibly serious claims that our story was fabricated.

There are two things going on here.

First, the mayor is not very popular right now. So the implication that he is supporting Abraham, simply because he wants Foster out, is not something that Abraham’s supporters welcomed. (In another other world, a mayoral endorsement would be something coveted by candidates for city council.)

The second is confusion about unnamed sources. We have very strict standards at Voice of San Diego. Such decisions are not made by reporters alone.

When a source asks to remain anonymous, reporters and editors weigh three things: Is this the only way we can get this information, would naming this person harm them and can others confirm that the information they are providing is true?

In this case, the information was credible and we felt it was important to protect our sources.

We work very hard to get our stories right. If you ever think we got something wrong, please reach out to me with your source and point of concern and we will happily correct the record.

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