The Democratic Standard sets itself apart from its Republican Counterpart
In today’s world of right-wing propaganda machines and AI-generated content, misinformation is rampant. However, Ohio Senate Democrats have made it part of our mission to disseminate factual news and stories to everyday Ohioans through our website, The Democratic Standard. Launched in November 2023, The Democratic Standard features political reporting from across the state, highlighting snippets of relevant articles and stories.
The Ohio Senate Democrats are committed to providing transparency and truth regarding public policy and legislation that affects our state. However, according to the Statehouse News Bureau, Senate Republicans may not hold the same commitment to truth and transparency.
The Democratic Standard runs alongside On the Record, a website operated by the Ohio Senate Republicans, which has come under fire for inaccuracies and criticism of Ohio news outlets and journalists. The reason for their creating this website? According to an article from On the Record, Republicans are finding it “increasingly difficult – nearly impossible – to get those papers to publish editorials by Republican state senators representing our side of policy debates.”
The Ohio GOP website claims its senators are censored because of their conservative views, but the truth is that media outlets refuse to publish misleading or provocative content, be it from Democrats or Republicans. Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) told the Statehouse News Bureau, “Part of the reason why they created their website and some of the articles that they put there is that they can't get them posted in other media outlets. We have not had the same experience.”
The article from the Statehouse News Bureau examined the two websites and echoed similar sentiments, reporting that “media outlets have questioned the accuracy of material on that site, most recently around the reproductive rights and abortion access amendment voters approved in November.”
Since Republicans are hard-pressed to find someone willing to publish inaccurate or harmful media, they created On the Record to publish it themselves. On the GOP-backed website, you will find rampant criticism of Ohio journalists and newspapers, and inconsequential ramblings like this one on Kamala Harris’s stove.
Unlike On the Record, The Democratic Standard respects the media's role in informing Ohioans on Statehouse news. We are committed to a higher standard of ethics and integrity to provide truth and transparency for anyone visiting the Ohio Senate’s official website.