media-covering the 2008 presidential campaign

The ever-expanding media universe offers a wealth of sources of information about the upcoming presidential campaign: wire services, the networks, local news, cable, radio, newspapers, newsmagazines, and opinion magazines. The Internet has come to play an increasingly prominent role. In addition to strong online presences of many traditional news organizations, the Internet allows any motivated individual to become a publisher. Information rapidly circulates in the blogosphere and is minutely diced and sliced; readers must take care to ensure its veracity.

More Resources | Return to Main Page

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
Marc Ambinder "A Reported Blog on Politics" (The Atlantic)
Chris Cillizza "The Fix" (Washington Post)
Mark Halperin "The Page" (Time)

ABC News "The Note"
CBS News Politics
NBC News "First Read"
CNN "Political Ticker"
FOX News Elections
National Journal "Hotline On Call"
Univision
Comedy Central "Indecision"
C-SPAN "Road to the White House"

PBS Vote 2008
CNN "Election Center 2008"
Washington Post "Campaign '08 Highlights"
New York Times "Selected 2008 Campaign Multimedia"
Frontline: "The Choice 2008"

Politics1.com's Presidency 2008
4president.org

Think about where you get your news from. There's a lot of it out there. As a news consumer you should try to avail yourself of a number of different sources, including from time to time some you might not normally look at. Read, view or listen with a critical eye and ear and consider how well the story portrays the reality of a situation or event.

Among the factors that affect the quality and quantity of news and election coverage a particular outlet presents are the available resources (financial, talent, equipment, and commitment), the needs of advertisers and the audience, established news practices, habits and conventions, the peculiarities of individual media, and technology. Thus a local newspaper has a set of strengths and weaknesses that differ from those of a major network.

Different media have fared better or worse in recent years. In "Lessons of the Election," a special report in the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism's "The State of the News Media 2009," Tom Rosenstiel and Bill Kovach write of "converging trends of shrinking newsrooms, changing technology, the growing ability of campaigns to communicate directly with the public and a continuing explosion in polling." Print media have suffered from a marked drop in advertising revenue, while more and more people are turning to the web for news about the campaign. The American Society of News Editors reported that in 2008, "American daily newspapers shed 5,900 newsroom jobs...reducing their employment of journalists by 11.3 percent to the levels of the early 1980s." (April 16, 2009 press release) Meanwhile, a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey found that "55% of the entire adult population...went online in 2008 to get involved in the political process or to get news and information about the election."

Depending on the ideological biases of the publisher and the editorial staff, information may also be slanted toward or against various viewpoints. (See Media Research Center and Media Matters for America). And, while the major party candidates are guaranteed coverage, even of their trivial activities, third party candidates typically have a hard time getting coverage. (See Ron Paul statement).

For any given medium, information about the campaign can be packaged in a variety of ways. For example, on a network there are the flagship evening newscasts, morning shows, magazine programs, Sunday morning newsmaker programs, occasional specials, and so forth. Similarly, in a newspaper one finds hard news articles, news analysis, long features, lighter, "Style"-type pieces, photographs, columns, editorials, and editorial cartoons.

Just as campaigns vie for support from voters, news organizations seek to gain loyalty of viewers, readers and surfers. Promos in their own pages or broadcasts, or ads placed in other media highlight programming and personalities and establish brand identity.

A campaign unfolds along a fixed chronological path, with clear markers along the way, and there are only so many approaches a news organization can take in covering it. There are, however, huge differences in the quality and consistency of coverage.

Organization and Focus
For many news organizations, the election may not be a major focus until Election Day approaches. Stories about the campaign appear haphazardly here and there. A news organization can help its readers or viewers better understand the campaign if it provides some order to its coverage, for example by running its campaign stories in a consistent place or on specific days of the week and by using a recognizable graphic to draw attention to them. Regular series of articles can also helpful.

Candidate Profiles
At different stages in the campaign, many news organizations will run in-depth profiles of the major candidates. A first set of candidate portraits typically appears early in the campaign, perhaps a couple of months before the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. After the primaries are over, heading into the conventions, the soon-to-be nominees are profiled again. Finally, toward the close of the fall campaign, a news organization may choose to run a final profile. A noteworthy example from television is Frontline's "The Choice." Writing or producing a candidate profile is a real art. Consider what anecdote is used to begin the profile, who among the candidate's realm of acquaintances is interviewed, what images are used, and how well the profile captures the essence of the subject.

Issues
It is relatively easy to report on campaign strategies and tactics, daily charges and countercharges and the latest poll results. More difficult is the task of explaining "the issues" in a fresh and understandable way. To untangle complex problems such as retirement security or tax policy, to lay out the candidates' proposals for addressing them, and to make it all relevant requires a great deal of research and thought from the reporter. Even after all that work, readers may, given human nature, skip over the well-written story on trade policy to find out about the most recent candidate controversy.

Polling
The media are firmly addicted to polls and devote substantial resources to conducting them. Political reporters argue that polling data can suggest stories. For example if poll numbers show a candidate is weak among particular demographic groups, the reporter might do a story about why this is so. Sometimes however it seems that reporting poll numbers is a substitute for providing explanation of complex issues. Horserace coverage adds nothing to understanding of the candidates and issues.

Ad Watches
Given the importance of TV advertising in modern-day campaigns, many news organizations now run ad watches. These analyze the accuracy and fairness of candidates' claims and may provide broader information about where an ad fits in a campaign's strategy. Ad watches have generally had a positive effect. Campaigns now release their ads with documented fact sheets. However, in the case of emotion- tugging "feel good" ads, doing an ad watch may be comparable to trying to dissect a soap bubble.

On the Scene
In the fall, the major party campaigns will typically institute a "protective pool" arrangement to ensure that reporters will be on hand to cover any activities by the candidate. The same kind of arrangement is in place to cover the President at the White House. The Obama campaign instituted a protective pool on June 29, 2008; and the McCain campaign started the arrangement on August 3, 2008. The McCain protective pool includes three wire reporters (AP, Reuters and Bloomberg), a wire photographer (AP), a TV crew of three (rotation among ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC), and a newspaper print reporter.

Media on Media
A number of news organizations have writers or reporters who focus specifically on media, or even on media and politics. This type of reporting can be quite enlightening, reminding the audience that news presents only a version of reality; it is the product of many individuals' efforts and perceptions. As another example, some newspapers have a weekly "Magazine Reader" type section which draws attention to feature articles; this can be an invaluable service for busy readers.

Endorsements
In the closing month of the campaign, many newspapers make endorsements. Newspaper endorsements may cause a significant difference in less-publicized races where voters are not familiar with the candidates or the specifics of a ballot initiative, but at the presidential level they probably do not have much impact. That is not to say a newspaper endorsement has no effect. When candidates are striving for credibility in the pre-primary period or the early primaries or seeking to persuade swing voters in the fall a newspaper endorsement may count for something. A newspaper's endorsement is generally decided by the editorial board, although sometimes the publisher may weigh in. Some newspapers have a policy of not making endorsements, at least at the presidential level. Examining the reasoning used in various papers' endorsements can offer clear insights into the candidates' strengths and weaknesses. Primary | General

Many Other Aspects
There are many other aspects of campaign coverage to consider. As an exercise, take a specific campaign event, such as a speech or a rally, and compare how a number of different news organizations cover it.