A Few Pointers on Politics for the Mainstream Media
Courtesy of IowaPolitics.comDear Mainstream Media Punditry,
I'll choose my own winner from the Republican presidential candidates' performances from now on, thank you very much. You media pundits helped select the eventual nominees from both parties in 2008, and let me just say, both picks didn't turn out too well. Maybe it's time you took a back seat, reported more objectively, and let social media and the blogosphere offer the "expert" commentary. Or if you still refuse fact-based journalism, at least allow me to offer some constructive criticism, so we don't have a repeat of the played-out media cycles that we could all do without this election year.
First, stop commenting on whether someone looks "presidential" or not. This blatant superficial suggestion that someone can or cannot win a democratic election because of their looks needs to go. It is not the early 1960s any more. Thanks to incredible advances in information technology, America is now the most intellectually free society that has ever existed. Our political system should place more importance on a candidate's ideas, not their ability to look nice on TV or correctly read from a teleprompter. We need our elected decision-makers to actually have intellectual courage and concrete policy ideas more than the vague, emotionally charged notions of ideologues.
Second, stop over-hyping every single development just to feed your ratings driven 24 hour news cycle. Here's a news flash for you, the election is still 16 months away. Sorry, no matter how excited you get, the Iowa straw poll is just not that big of a deal. Can anyone remember the top three Ames Straw Poll winners from 2007 without the help of Google? Didn't think so. John McCain finished next to last in Iowa four years ago and still got the party nomination. I don't care how many Sunday morning talk shows on which Michelle Bachmann repeats herself in zombie like fashion, it's almost certain she won't win the GOP nomination, and she's even less likely to present a challenge to President Obama in a general election.
Finally, if you are calling yourself a news outlet, please report all the facts first, and then you can focus on just those that can be twisted to fit your viewpoints. Michelle Bachmann was not the only candidate who deserved press coverage this week. Ron Paul finished just behind her by a margin of less that two percentage points in the Ames Straw Poll, and he did it with half the amount of media attention that you've given to Romney and Pawlenty. People in the media do not get to tell us who is "electable" and who is "unelectable." This is a democracy where anyone who is a citizen is eligible for election. Let the polls speak for the will of the voters.
Just because you toss labels like "fringe" at people, does not make them stick. In fact, characterizing someone as an outsider actually does more to polarize politics, rather than give our government any chance of productive compromise. Can you name one candidate who champions an issue that could bring both sides of the electorate together? I can. Ron Paul. His anti-war stance has the potential to unite the far left voters who were sick of the Bush (now Obama) foreign policy doctrine last election, with those on the far right who want to reduce unnecessary government spending and focus on fixing critical domestic issues.
Did you offer us any coverage of this pro-peace message with the potential for consensus building in your Iowa debate analysis last week? No, instead we heard hackneyed observations of how presidential Romney looked as he stayed above the fray, and gleeful indulgence of a childish spat between one candidate who's already dropped out and another who looks like a loon to anyone outside of evangelical circles. Talk about "electable" and "unelectable"! maybe this year America needs someone who doesn't fit into either of those categories.
Listen, media punditry, although I have complaints about last week, at the end of the day, I do still like you. You're entertaining, keep me somewhat informed, and remind me of a consistent colleague who I always know what to expect from. But this year, you have to tone down the commentary, turn up the objective journalism, and zoom out the camera lens to let others into the picture. How about instead of interviewing each other day after day, or asking the candidates the same questions on every network, you interview some normal, everyday voters? You know, get out of the echo chamber for awhile. Hear some other folks' voices. What they are thinking and saying may surprise you.
Just think about it, okay? Maybe it might not be so bad to upset the status quo on the presidential election coverage this year. In fact, if voters see that they can actually elect an "outsider" who doesn't care about party labels, then we just might be able to get America out of the current mess it's in. Now that'd be amazing story for the cable news networks to talk about.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Voter
James Dugan
As you probably are as sick as I am with Iowa and New Hampshire and the whole presidential race, even before the race begins, we probably can thank the media. Why would we really care nationally, and I believe most of us don't, about a small state's choice? It is just a national media frenzy. We need to put the civil back in government. This piece makes a good call for this.
Reader Comments (2)
I dislike Iowa and New Hampshire straw polls or whatever they are called. Remember the fiasco a few years ago of everyone wanting to move up their primaries so they could get the money the news media brings in. You are right in saying it is 16 months away and you are right about Ron Paul. I did not even hear his name mentioned, though I am as skeptical about his notions as Bachmann.
I just want to be left alone by Washington for awhile. They should all take a vacation after the budget fiasco and yet with Iowa and Obama on a bus tour, I can not escape it. The political media is a swamp to get lost in and this is the worst time. It is candidates trying to find a base and make headlines, so everything seems to superficial and confrontational and pointless. This is what the conventions were for!
It is a good letter and a reminder that everything on TV, radio, and web is not gold. They need to fill up space and get hits. We have to filter for ourselves if we are ever going to get a candidate we can honestly back. If we did, we could support them.
Biting humor and I love Santorum looking bad. How can he be back?
I hope most traditional media folks are just doing their jobs. Politics by nature lends itself to opinion and as informed readers we need to be able to distinguish between news and op-Ed or opinion pieces. You iterate an excellent point: we can all contribute to a candidate's press image or public presence by using social media or even letters to the editor. Good post, and it's high time more folks take active roles as voters and employers of public servants. Express your opinions early and often. If the media strays from its ethical responsibilities as the Fourth Estate, call them on it as you have done here.