Journalist are always trying to get that inside scoop on the newest developments and hottest news. They are always trying to find ways of "getting behind the spin" and looking for that moment of humility or vulnerability in the story to capitalize on. This is especially true for political journalists in election years who are constantly trying to step behind the facades put on by the campaign in an attempt to find the human story of each candidate.
Because the media is considered to have the important function of checking on government for abuses, journalists and reporters are forever in pursuit of narrative that is least polished by government officials and work to dismantle falsehoods set forth by political "spin doctors."
This creates a tense relationship between the press and politicians, one in which the media can work for or against a campaign at any given time. Each campaign is pushing the media to air their story, not the media's take on their story, which in many cases is quite different and calls out the motives behind each move the campaign makes.
In today's media world of instant access and lightning-speed updates, journalists must stay on their toes in order to deliver captivating news quickly to such a media-hungry society. Journalists are writing multiple stories a day in order to keep up with the ever-changing narrative that is presidential election season.
It is important to understand that journalists not only follow the story, but they also have a hand in shaping the narrative of these campaigns. The news and press releases that these campaigns put out are then processed by journalists who are looking for an edge in which to write a story. That story must be carefully sourced and fact-based while also captivating readers and viewers in order to be successful in it's message delivery.
Some find, however, that journalists in this 2012 campaign are projecting themselves as overly partisan toward one side or another, which works against the abuse checking function that the media is intended to possess.
Seasoned journalists like Bob Woodward and David Maraniss are concerned that the media has become a "gaffe-obsessed" news forum with journalists acting as 'mini campaign consultants' in the daily back-and-forth bickering that is political campaigning. Instead of indulging in the "he-said, she-said" rhetoric that candidates like to use, journalists should be reporting on the facts and putting a focus on the actual issues of the campaign.
In an interview with Politico, Maraniss expressed his concerns with today's media atmosphere and what impact that has on the campaigns and the coverage of those campaigns.
“There’s more of a demand for immediacy, for speed and for attitude, and less of a demand for rational thought and actual reporting,” Maraniss. “If everybody is just tweeting and not reporting, it’s of no value whatsoever.”
Woodward also added his gripes with the way journalists are going about reporting on the stories of this election season.
“Some journalists think of themselves as mini-campaign consultants. It’s our job to ask, ‘What is the plan?’ Not give a plan,” he said. “The media has been too focused on the daily political food fight and not the issues."
If journalists are asking the questions yet making their own conclusions with the answers presented, are they truly 'getting behind the spin' or are they creating a media bias of their own?
Obviously with the past few weeks of non-stop drama in the Romney campaign have given journalists a myriad of material to report on from all possible perspectives. The question is, with the political debates around the corner, how are journalists going to cover the debates? Impartially? Probably to an extent. The best news comes from one with an angle. So if one of the candidates says something questionable or lacks confidence in his answers, it makes sense that the press would pick up on that and write a story trying to explain what this means for his campaign.
The debates bring an entirely new focus to the media in a time when the issues are often pushed aside for more breaking news. The candidates will be given the chance to address the issues and their opponents questions without the mics of reporters in their faces, but rather the eyes of 50 million Americans watching from all across the country. In this forum, the press and the people get to see first hand what the candidate's point of view is, and if they buy it or not.
Sources:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81598_Page2.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/us/politics/cramming-and-pruning-for-first-presidential-debate.html?pagewanted=2&partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/19/political-press-that-cried-wolf/
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/28/analysis-polling-criticism-unfounded/
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