How to Fix the Political Media

by: Douglas E. Lindner

Wed Mar 10, 2010 at 23:46:00 PM EST

1. Stop reading Twitter feedback on national television. The world is in deep recession. Our country is at war. Our national government is paralyzed. Most political media outlets have plenty of talking heads who give their talking points without being challenged on the merits; we don't need you to elevate amateurs doing the same in 140 characters or less. It's not even selected insightful comments. Not all information is useful.
   
2. Reality is not subjective. Allowing talking points from each party to be broadcast/printed is not journalism. It is not sufficient to show both sides and assume that truth and common sense lie at the midpoint between the parties. Sometimes, people in politics make claims that are false. Sometimes an entire party stands behind falsehood. When that happens, it is the media's responsibility to challenge those people, even if it means alienating a political constituency. Failure on this point is the reason we've spent the past seven years in Iraq.
   
3. Not all news is in Washington. Politicians react to news. That's part of handling public affairs. When politics consumes the news, a feedback loop is created ensuring that our government is occupied with mindless nonsense. Barack Obama is not the President of a high school student body. Have some perspective.
   
4. Stop creating self-fulfilling prophecies. Voters decide elections, not pundits. When you write off and ignore candidates with less name recognition and less money as soon as the race starts, you ensure they lose the opportunity to catch up. You think Barack Obama was a dark horse for the Democratic nomination in 2008? Tell it to Richardson, Biden, and Dodd, who were shut out from the start. Those three didn't lose in Iowa and New Hampshire come January 2008; they lost in the newsroom in 2007. Do not comment as if with the perspective of history when you do not have the perspective of history.
   
5. When discussing legislation, be specific. Just as it is standard practice to note an elected official's party and constituency, it should be standard practice to note a bill's official name and number. Congress and most if not all states have online databases of legislation that include text, description, sponsors, etc., and this is useful information. It's especially important with respect to legislation whose description could be ambiguous as to a specific bill. How many different bills have been introduced in Congress that could be referred to as "the healthcare bill"?
   
6. There's a reason The Hill is only read on The Hill. If you're not writing/commenting for an insider audience, adjust your focus and perspective. Narrative and messaging would be more in proportion to their actual importance if you didn't devote so much reporting to narrative and messaging. Sometimes it's as if the only parts of politics that get covered are the parts that don't deserve coverage.
   
7. Stop reporting gossip. Political media should not act like Hollywood tabloids. Anonymous hearsay about the President's Chief of Staff using bad words is not news. Where Chris Matthews takes his dry cleaning is not news. Nobody needs to know if Heidi Montag supports Wall Street reform. Basically, if it's on Politico: Click, it's not news.
   
8. Either have an opinion or don't. Commentators are commentators and journalists are journalists. There needs to be a clear line in between. Raising "concerns" with a question mark at the end of the headline doesn't absolve you of bias. Was that a Terrorist Fist Jab?
   
9. Grow up and get over the shiny objects. Balloon boy. Anna Nicole Smith. Natalie Holloway. Michael Jackson's trial. Michael Jackson's death. These are just a few items that received all-consuming wall-to-wall coverage on the 24-hour news channels. That's not news. Some of it belongs on the E! channel, some of it belongs on the back page of a local paper. It's not a Presidential election. And by the way, during the two out of every four years that are now spent in Presidential elections, the earth continues to rotate upon its axis and the world continues to function. Elections should be about more than election narrative.

Feel free to make additions in the comments.