How the Cibola Citizen will cover the 2026 General Election
Cibola Citizen
As the Nov. 3 General Election approaches, the Cibola Citizen wants readers to understand how we will cover candidates and elections.
Our responsibility is not to help candidates win. It is to help voters make informed decisions.
That means explaining offices, reporting candidate positions, asking questions, examining records when relevant and providing accurate voting information. Fairness does not mean every candidate receives identical coverage. It means applying the same journalistic standards regardless of party.
Recently, Republican Magistrate Judge Division 2 candidate Robert Scott Windhorst accused the Citizen of political bias after viewing our Sept. 2 digital edition.
There was an error. In the printed newspaper, Democratic candidates were identified in blue and Republican candidates in red. A digital rendering problem temporarily caused some red text to display as white, the same color as the page. That page included Democratic nominee Jessica M. Melonas and Republican nominee Robert Scott Windhorst. Our earlier election reporting also identified both candidates and their party affiliations.
A reader contacted us about the problem, and the digital edition was corrected within hours.
The print edition was always correct. The error was not an editorial decision, it was a technical glitch.
The Cibola Citizen welcome criticism, and when we make mistakes, we will correct them.
As Election Day approaches, the Citizen intends to interview candidates in contested races affecting Cibola County. Those interviews will be journalism, not campaign advertising. Candidates should expect questions about the office they seek, their qualifications, their priorities and, when applicable, their records.
Every candidate is entitled to fair treatment. The Cibola Citizen will not give preferential treatment to any candidate or political party. We stand behind our record of award-winning local journalism and fair election coverage.
Our obligation is to the voters of Cibola County, and that will remain the standard guiding our election coverage.