It‘s that time of year, election season is ramping up! With local media consolidating more each year, it is important for community media centers like CTV to continue covering local politics.

Local politics include City and County level positions likes Council Member, Mayor, or County Commissioner. These positions are vital in our community, and directly influence on how your city or county is run. Personally, I believe local offices are the most hands-on, effective positions in all of government.

Because local politics generally draw a smaller audience, these campaigns aren’t covered by major network media outlets. On top of that, local newspapers are being consolidated at an alarming rate desperately trying to survive the digital era. This is where CTV North Suburbs steps in to provide information to our citizens. 

What do we do?

1. Provide Candidate Profiles

Each year, we invite politicians that are running for local office in our nine cities to come in to the CTV studio and record a candidate profile. This is a series we call Speak Outs.

Each Speak Out is the same length of time, and allows the candidate to talk directly to viewers about their platform. This is a great way for citizens to learn about the initiatives the candidates are passionate about, and the plans they have for the city or county. You can find these profiles our Facebook page and website.

2. Record and Broadcast Forums

The League of Women Voters mission is “Empowering voters. Defending democracy.” The League also assembles and moderates candidate forums in a politically neutral environment. We

work with the league to record and air the forums to engage a larger audience. These forums are available on cable as well as on our website. Follow our social media pages  and subscribe to our E-Newsletter to learn when the candidate profiles and forums will air. Our E-Newsletter will also provide some valuable insight for candidates related to what to expect