The media on politics
The casual observer assumes the media does a good job covering politics among other things. But when they don't even cover the Independence Party CD 5 convention or the endorsement of Tammy Lee they are not doing a good job, and when they write an article on the CD 6 DFL convention, mention that Michele Bachmann has been endorsed by the Republicans, but don't type 7 or 8 extra words to inform the reader that John Binkowski is the Independence Party endorsed candidate they are not doing a good job covering politics. When there is of yet not a single article including US Senate candidate Robert Fitzgerald that is not a good job of covering politics in Minnesota.
Sure politics are about who's in power, but when your talking about who is seeking power I think it is vital that every candidate from any party that has elected a governor in the last 20 years (gotta stretch that out long enough to include the DFL) gets at least a mention in the paper when that is consistent with the coverage the other parties are getting. All to often the media underestimates their importance in November, and the result is someone like Jesse Ventura is electable, but it is very difficult for a Tim Penny or Peter Hutchinson.
posted by mike @ 7:07 AM
3 Comments:
Hi Mike-
success! The StarTribune has done an article on Tammy. A very kind and respected senior journalist over there came upon the situtation and apparently fixed it. Thanks for the posts.
Is it reasonable to expect that a party with zero state officeholders to get comparable coverage to the DFL and GOP?
When I made the suggested of an 8 word indication that John Binkowski be included in an article talking about the 6th district race when did I show an expectation of equal treatment? When I asked about one article regarding Robert Fitzgerald where did I request equal treatment?
There is no doubt the Independence Party and it's candidates must show that they can go above the 7-15% level consistantly if they want equal treatment. All I ask is that the media makes it a point of informing the public of all the major party options.
What triggered this post was a lack of an 8 word indication that John Binkowski was the Independence Party candidate in the 6th district, in articles in both the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press.
Like I said while I liked Jesse Ventura compared to who we typically elect, it is pathetic that the media creates an enviorment where it's easier for him to get elected then more qualified candidates.
Mary Kiffmeyer seems to think the Indepenedence Party is a Major party, to me that suggests the sentance John Binkowski is the Independence Party endorsed candidate belongs in any article on the race that mentions candidates of more then one party. And a minumum of 1 in 20 Probably closer to 1 in 2)readers expect that sentance in the article, the only reason they aren't getting more calls and E-mails on that failure is because most members of the public are lead to believe the media will inform them on things like that.
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