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.

Tempest in the Teapot

by: Jennifer Daler

Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 17:37:10 PM EST

The gist:

Amy Kremer, who had been a founder and top staffer for the Tea Party Patriots -- one of the central, newly-created groups organizing the early protests -- emailed the group's supporters, and wrote on her blog this week, that she'd been forced out by the group's board in September, and was now subject of a lawsuit.

Apparently, there is much money to be made amongst the tea party "patriots". There are tee shirts (tea shirts?) and other accoutrements for the tea partier who has everything.

The irony of "The Powers That Be" in this movement using governmental structures such as courts to solve their disputes is not lost on Eric Odom an organizer of the related "Tax Day Tea Party" group:

"Talk of intellectual property, movement ownership and legal threats as a response do not belong in this movement."

For more, see this diary.

Pants on Fire

by: susanthe

Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 20:55:55 PM EDT

The NH GOP is unhappy about losing their divine right to run our state. Despite steady losses in the last 4 years, they have not been able to come up with a new message. They're still saying "no taxes and cut spending." It was a great message in 1910. In 2010 the reality is somewhat different. Things cost more, an elementary concept that the NH GOP is unable to embrace. Sure, there are ways to spend less money. At a time when many states are eliminating the costly death penalty as a way to save millions, NH is the only state looking to begin executions. The budget for lead paint testing has been cut recently, but we'll be building a death row and an execution chamber.  

Villagers: Asleep at the Wheel or Just Boringly Desperate?

by: Jennifer Daler

Tue Oct 20, 2009 at 14:36:49 PM EDT

I see it as showing how out of touch with New Hampshire the national press, or at least Politico is. Or maybe they're just running Republican press releases?

The gist of the article is that former grass roots activist Rep. Carol Shea-Porter is part of the Washington establishment because she didn't hold any so-called "town hall" meetings last summer until "pressured".  If she hadn't held the meetings, who could blame her? They were less about explaining issues than providing a forum for disruptive, bordering on violent, behavior, brought to you by the health insurance lobby, among others. Astro-turf, in other words. Oh, and the DCCC spent money on ads for her.

So in the GOP's desperation to get something going next time around, now Shea-Porter is being painted as an inside the Beltway type by those inside the Beltway. (and those who wish to get back there)

Politico is a Journalism Black Hole

by: Dean Barker

Fri Feb 20, 2009 at 05:48:15 AM EST

The Obama Cabinet is a CEO black hole
By EAMON JAVERS

In President Barack Obama's Cabinet, there is a Nobel Prize winner, a former mayor, and a veteran CIA agent. Surrounding him in the White House West Wing are a former four-star general, one of the nation's most eminent economists, and a handful of this generation's most talented political operatives. This constellation of talent, however, has something of a black hole. There is virtually no one on Obama's team with outsized achievements or a high-profile reputation earned in the world of business.

There are no former CEOs in the Obama Cabinet. And among the people who make up his daily inner circle, there is only a dollop or two of top-level private sector experience.

This is a notable absence, particularly for an administration whose domestic reputation will hinge on whether it can reverse one of the steepest economic downturns in decades.

The problem here is much deeper than the issue in that article.

The "John Smith doesn't own a TeeVee in his home, and maybe this makes him a terrorist" meme is not reporting. It doesn't even make good blogging.  It's suggestive for no purpose other than to throw smoke onto a subject where there's no fire and to get the reader reading Politico.

Give me the cartoon monsters on FOX or RW hate radio anyday over this insidious, poisonous, spawn-of-David Brooks trend.

Stoopidico

by: Dean Barker

Mon Feb 02, 2009 at 06:12:33 AM EST

1. Unnamed "Democrats" defining the narrative:

Democrats said Sunday that they were willing to accept Lynch's appointment of a Republican so long as the new senator is either a caretaker who would step aside in 2010, leaving an open seat, or someone who lacks statewide appeal.

2. Andy Smith's customary GOP handicapping early in the cycle:

"If Gregg stays in the Senate and runs in 2010, he likely wins," said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire's Survey Center.

3. A state that voted by almost 10 points for Obama, and with decisive victories for Democrats Shaheen, Hodes, Shea-Porter and even Lynch would looove another Republican, and minority-member senator in the Senate:

Lynch, a moderate with approval ratings north of 70 percent, could bolster his image of staying above partisan politics by picking a Republican or independent for the seat.

Adding: elwood found Number 4.

I Do Not Think "Centrist" Means...

by: Dean Barker

Wed Jan 21, 2009 at 20:51:20 PM EST

In breaking with the rest of the freshman class [on releasing the second half of the TARP money with no strings attached], Shaheen has signaled that she may be positioning herself as a centrist Democrat and be willing to break with her party on key political issues.

It would be "centrist" to go along to get along with a new president.  Kudos to Senator Shaheen for wanting more accountability than "trust me".

"Clinton may still hold the edge overall, but Obama is closing in rapidly."

by: JonnyBBad

Thu Feb 07, 2008 at 07:12:54 AM EST

Although the friends did not have details, they believe she may go ahead with the campaign shake-up she had been planning just before her surprise victory in New Hampshire.

Her team is girding for trench warfare, telling reporters that the nomination will not be decided until at least the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, if then.

Clinton aides told reporters on a conference call today that the Democratic Party's complex delegate allocation rules mean that neither candidate is likely to take a sizable lead in the foreseeable future.

While Clinton's campaign gloated about having the most total delegates for the cycle so far, her staff nevertheless recognizes that Super Tuesday was no triumph. Here's why: