Regional Voices: Reliable News Before Municipal Elections

We will focus on three municipalities in Latvia where news deserts pose the greatest risks ahead of the municipal elections: Riga (the capital), Daugavpils, and Rezekne (located in Latvia’s poorest region – Latgale). The primary target group is regional residents, especially young voters and women.

The project aims to provide independent, reliable news to regions in Latvia facing news deserts, particularly in the run-up to the June 2025 municipal elections. The project will focus on Riga (the capital), Daugavpils, and Rezekne (located in Latvia’s poorest region, Latgale).

The main objective is to provide reliable, independent information to citizens, enabling them to make informed decisions in municipal elections, especially in regions where news deserts pose the greatest risk of voter manipulation.

To achieve these goals, funding will support the creation and distribution of journalistic content tailored to the needs of vulnerable groups: youth, women, minority communities, and, hopefully, elderly residents. Main project activities include regional open newsrooms, investigative journalism, a political humor video series, "City Chronicles" (available on platforms like YouTube), and printed materials distributed through local libraries to reach older audiences.
To ensure inclusivity and media pluralism, all content will be translated into Russian, reflecting the high percentage of Russian and Belarusian speakers in the target cities—Riga (37.12%), Rezekne (42.1%), and Daugavpils (53.21%).

Community engagement is one of the key elements of the project. Mobile newsrooms will be organized in each municipality, offering residents the opportunity to participate in content creation and share their perspectives. These one-time events aim to build trust and make journalism more accessible and relevant to local audiences. The project will reduce news deserts in regions where they pose the greatest risks during municipal elections, thereby limiting politicians' ability to manipulate voters.

Goals (expected) of the project

Our project addresses a critical gap in quality and independent regional journalism in Riga, Daugavpils and Rezekne.

Our goal is to fill this gap by providing accurate, accessible, and trustworthy journalism tailored to the needs of regional audiences ahead of the municipal elections in these regions where regional news deserts pose the greatest risk of voter manipulation. All residents in our target regions face the risk of lacking access to independent regional news. However, this issue particularly affects the older generation, who, due to limited financial means, rely on free municipal publications that offer filtered perspectives aligned with the ruling political powers. Similarly, young people, who primarily obtain information through unreliable social media channels, are vulnerable. 

Moreover, the last group mentioned—voters aged 18–24—were not yet even born when Latvia regained independence in the 1990s and lack accessible and comprehensible information about political forces now attempting to win the elections. Given their active presence on social media, it is evident that the younger generation has become a primary target for these political forces.

Our project promotes media pluralism and strengthens democracy by engaging local communities in Daugavpils and Rezekne through mobile newsrooms and inclusive content. All materials are translated into Russian to reach minority audiences. We support regional journalists and involve an intern to build local media capacity. Most of the team are women, with several from minority backgrounds, ensuring diverse perspectives. Content is tailored for different groups—videos for youth and women on YouTube, and printed materials for the elderly via libraries. This approach ensures equal access to trustworthy, independent information for all.