Category Overview

Media — Election Security Glossary

3 election security terms in the Media category, with definitions sourced from NIST, CISA, EAC, and 30+ authoritative documents.

Browse all 3 terms in Media

Deepfake

A digital picture or video that has been maliciously edited using an algorithm in a way that makes the video appear authentic.

Medium consensus4 sources

Media Sanitization

The actions taken to render data written on media unrecoverable by both ordinary and extraordinary means.

Medium consensus2 sources

Sanitization

Process to remove information from media such that information recovery is not possible.

Low consensus2 sources

By ESG Editorial Team · Drawing on press associations, journalism research, and 25+ sources on election coverage and reporting standards

Media covers the press coverage, reporting standards, and journalism that surrounds elections. The category includes election reporting by traditional news outlets, the rise of independent and citizen journalism around elections, the technical infrastructure that supports real-time election night reporting, and the professional standards that govern accurate election coverage.

Why this category matters for election security is that the press is the principal channel through which voters receive information about elections. A free and professional press reports on candidates, covers voting procedures, scrutinizes results reporting, and provides accountability. A press that is constrained, partisan, or unable to access accurate information reduces the quality of the public discourse around elections.

Election offices work with the press as a primary channel for communicating with voters. Press briefings, embargoed results, official statements, and post-election interviews are the routine infrastructure of election communications. The press covers not just the outcome but the process, and the work of making the process visible to the press is itself a discipline.

The terminology in this category covers both the press and its relationship to elections. The concepts here are practical. They describe the work of reporting on and being reported to by the institutions that run elections.

How These Terms Relate

These concepts together describe the role of the press in election administration and public discourse. The terminology covers both the press itself and the relationship between election offices and the journalists who cover them. The unifying theme is transparency. A free and professional press requires access, accuracy, and timeliness. The election-specific application of that principle is the work of providing the press with the information it needs to inform the public about how elections work.