Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Editors, Broadcasters:
No matter what happens in the individual races for Congress this fall — who's up or down, who has the momentum or who makes mistakes — the Republican Party will have a built-in advantage as it seeks to keep control of the House of Representatives.
The reason? A years-long plan by Republican strategists to take advantage of the 2010 census and reshape congressional districts in key states to pack large numbers of Democrats into relatively few House districts, while GOP voters are spread out more evenly.
Gerrymandering, as it is called, has a long history in the United States, ardently pursued by both Democrats and Republicans.
But the Republicans' success was unprecedented and largely out of the public eye.
The Associated Press sets the stage for its coverage of this year's midterm elections with a package of stories and interactives that explain the GOP effort, its impact on the nation's polarized politics and the ramifications for 2014 and beyond.
The package, with state sidebars, video, photos, a print graphic and an online interactive, has moved in advance this week for use any time after 12:01 a.m. EDT Monday, March 31. The stories, photos and print graphic have already moved.
The package includes:
— A main story of 1,700 words, slugged GOP ADVANTAGE, and an abridged version for Limited customers, plus 12 glances/short sidebars that can be packaged in various ways explaining elements of the main story. Moved in advance Tuesday, March 25.
— A state sidebar for each state. Moved in advance on state lines March 25.
— An interactive that includes a 50-state map of political and demographic information, plus a deep look at gerrymandering in one critical state, North Carolina. Embed code moving in advance March 27 to Interactives customers.
— A print graphic that looks at 2012 voting patterns, plus gerrymandering in North Carolina. Moved in advance March 25.
— About 10 photos. Moved in advance March 25.
— A video package has run online and on APVUS.
In addition, the AP is packaging the story on its http://bigstory.ap.org website and offering this to customers as a way to link to the material from their websites. The page will integrate links to sidebars, plus photos and interactive and video snippets. We believe this packaged page could prove valuable up to Election Day. The link for the page is now live.
If you wish to further localize the story, we will provide guidance to relevant census and other information. Lead reporter Stephen Ohlemacher can advise on localization resources, plus answer any questions before publication, or appear on radio or video to discuss the story. He can be reached at sohlemacher@ap.org.
Other questions about the package or logistics can be addressed to the Nerve Center at 212-621-1601.
The AP
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