Rural Journalism Collective to host virtual conversation on reporting during an election year.
Election Year Reporting webinar
2 p.m. ET
June 20th
Register
Rural voters are surrounded by a particular mythos in American politics, especially during an election year. Often, intentionally or not, their stories get muddled by the media. Join the Rural Journalism Collective for a conversation on how journalists can tell more accurate stories about rural voters with panelists Dee Davis; president of the Center for Rural Strategies, Pauly Denetclaw, political correspondent for ICT; and Cathy Darling Allen, registrar of voters and Shasta County clerk in rural California. We’ll touch on voter polling conducted by the Center for Rural Strategies, Native and Indigenous voters, and how journalists can support rural poll workers with their reporting, among other things.
About our panelists
Cathy Darling Allen,
Shasta County Clerk
Cathy Darling Allen served as the Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters 2004-2024. Appointed to fill the remaining term of retiring County Clerk Ann Reed, Cathy was elected to her fifth term of office in 2022. She oversaw the administration of 41 elections and counted more than 1.8 million votes. Cathy administered elections using electronic voting, paper ballot voting, and steered Shasta County elections through major changes in California election law and regulation.
More about Cathy
Cathy has always been an active member of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials (CACEO), served on the Elections Legislative Committee, the Board of Directors, and as President (2012-2014). She received certification from CACEO as a California Professional Election Administrator in 2005 and from the Election Center (a national professional association) as a Certified Elections Registration Administrator (CERA) in 2016. Cathy is also an originating member and Advisory Board member of the Future of California Elections (FOCE) collaborative, a member of the Elections Verification Network (EVN) and Board Chair for the California Voter Foundation (CVF). She lives in Redding with her husband and granddaughter.
Cathy Darling Allen served as the Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters 2004-2024. Appointed to fill the remaining term of retiring County Clerk Ann Reed, Cathy was elected to her fifth term of office in 2022. She oversaw the administration of 41 elections and counted more than 1.8 million votes. Cathy administered elections using electronic voting, paper ballot voting, and steered Shasta County elections through major changes in California election law and regulation.
Cathy has always been an active member of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials (CACEO), served on the Elections Legislative Committee, the Board of Directors, and as President (2012-2014). She received certification from CACEO as a California Professional Election Administrator in 2005 and from the Election Center (a national professional association) as a Certified Elections Registration Administrator (CERA) in 2016. Cathy is also an originating member and Advisory Board member of the Future of California Elections (FOCE) collaborative, a member of the Elections Verification Network (EVN) and Board Chair for the California Voter Foundation (CVF). She lives in Redding with her husband and granddaughter.
Pauly Denetclaw, Political Correspondent at ICT
Pauly Denetclaw, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, is Haltsooí (Meadow People) born for Kinyaa’áanii (Towering House People). She is a political correspondent for ICT and based in Washington, D.C. She has a weekly political segment on the ICT Newscast called IndigiPolitics.
More about Pauly
An award-winning reporter from Gallup, New Mexico, she has worked for the Navajo Times and Texas Observer covering Indigenous communities, and her radio pieces have aired on KYAT, National Native News, NPR’s Latino USA and Texas Public Radio. She is a former board member of the Indigenous Journalist Association where she served as secretary.
Dee Davis, President, Center for Rural Strategies
Dee Davis is the founder and president of the Center for Rural Strategies. Dee has helped design and lead national public information campaigns on topics as diverse as commercial television programming and federal banking policy.
More about Dee
Dee began his media career in 1973 as a trainee at Appalshop, an arts and cultural center devoted to exploring Appalachian life and social issues in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
Dee is on the board of the Kentucky Historical Society, Fund for Innovative Television, and Feral Arts of Brisbane, Australia. He is also a member of the Institute for Rural Journalism’s national advisory board. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Work and the Economy. Dee is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship. Dee is also the former Chair of the board of directors of Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.
About the Rural Journalism Collective
Presented by The Rural Assembly and the Daily Yonder, the Rural Journalism Collective is open to everyone working in, or simply interested in, rural journalism. Our aim is to network, talk shop, share ideas, and uplift excellent work.
