The Role of Political Reporters

Excerpt from Salon article "The Role of Political Reporters"

Glenn Greenwald
Monday
January 7, 2008 09:58 EST
The role of political reporters

Original:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/07/media_coverage/index.html

[snip]

Edwards -- who, just one week ago, was 10 points behind Obama nationally
among Democrats -- is now only two points behind him. Less than a month ago, he
trailed Clinton by 29 points. Now it's 13 points. He is, by far, at his high
point of support nationwide. Apparently, the more exposure Democratic voters get
to Edwards and his campaign positions -- and that exposure has been at its high
point during his surge -- the more they like him. By contrast, Obama is more or less at
the same level of support nationally, even having decreased some since his Iowa
win (for most of mid-Decemeber, he was at 27-28 points).

Yet to
listen to media reports, Edwards doesn't even exist. His campaign is dead. He
has no chance. They hate Edwards, hate his message, and thus rendered him
invisible long ago, only now to declare him dead -- after he came in second
place in the first caucus of the campaign.

There are certainly
horse-race counterarguments to all of this. This is only one poll. Obama is ahead in New
Hampshire, where his support has increased, etc. etc.

But I'm not
focusing on the accuracy of horse-race predictions here, but instead, on the
fact that the traveling press corps endlessly imposes its own narrative on the
election, thereby completely excluding from all coverage plainly credible
candidates they dislike (such as Edwards) while breathlessly touting the
prospects of the candidates of whom they are enamored. Their predictions (i.e.,
preferences and love affairs) so plainly drive their press coverage -- the
candidates they love are lauded as likely winners while the ones they hate are
ignored or depicted as collapsing -- which in turn influences the election in
the direction they want, making their predictions become self-fulfilling
prophecies.

It's just all a completely inappropriate role for political
reporters to play, yet it composes virtually the entirety of their election
coverage.

[snip]

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