Local Reporters Disappear from the Campaign Trail

[babylonsister]

This is something to keep in mind.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/06/12/local_reporters_disappear_from_the_campaign_trail.html

Local Reporters Disappear from the Campaign Trail


After encountering few local reporters when covering the Kentucky and South Carolina primaries, Walter Shapiro notes that one of the big untold stories of this political year is that the death spiral of newspapers has really begun to shape politics.

"As a veteran of eight presidential campaigns, I know there is a virtue to being there in person rather than virtually. Reading the polls and watching TV ads may equip you to loudly opine on cable news shows, but it is no match for interviewing the candidate, listening to the stump speech, gauging the mood of the crowds, and quizzing voters in diners and BBQ joints. Traveling with candidates (particularly in states like South Carolina and Kentucky where personal campaigning matters) gives you a sense of nuance about who they are as people and politicians."

"The gradual abandonment of on-the-ground campaign coverage means that polls are fast becoming the only way to glimpse voter sentiment. Since most polls in statewide races (particularly primaries) are automated short-answer surveys, it becomes easy to jump to blunderbuss conclusions like 'all incumbents are imperiled' or 'the Tea Party movement is all-powerful.'"

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Scary, scary , scary.

[Brickbat]

2. Frankly, I could do with a lot fewer interviews at the diners and BBQ joints. If I gave a shit about

what those people said, I'd ask them myself. I want the journalists to do things I can't do -- talk to the candidate directly, sit down and analyze positions and votes and quotes, and follow along throughout the campaign to see how the candidate evolves. Which is of course what this article recommends. But I just hate "main street" reporting.

[IndianaGreen]

3. Local newspapers have broken more stories than the national media

This trend is truly tragic and it poses a threat to our liberties.

[kenny blankenship]

4. Local reporters? What is their competence-if one may be so bold? Are they trained and vetted?

What do they know about? If there is some issue of timely importance or some question that needs to be asked and answered, our lifetime appointed cadre of highly specialized and reliable Washington press corps, and the various campaign press release officers, and/or pollsters attached to campaigns or to the major networks, and even, occasionally, the candidates themselves will handle it. This is our system.

Are you...are you questioning the marketplace of ideas?