The 2012 US Presidential campaign is well underway and so is the media coverage of the media coverage. Each 4-year cycle produces a President and a Vice President as well as its share of media stories, campaign books, new reporting stars, and plenty of coverage of the press talking about themselves.
Hopefully for journalism watchers we get stories, great writing and dramatic narratives as good as The Boys on the Bus, The Making of the President, 1960, or Game Change.
But if the NY Times is right, the odds of a great book are getting longer. The Times says that due to budget cuts and readership declines, political reporters are getting younger. Younger can often mean less experienced and with perhaps less perspective. The other factor impacting political reporting is the rise of blogs and a larger number of partisan web sites.
This can mean more “noise” rather than sound political reporting. Partisan journalists/bloggers/commentators then create the spiral effect of political interest groups who will try to discredit reporters and news organizations. Sean O’Keefe is just one example of a “investigative” reporter/partisan trying to shed light on groups he doesn’t believe are impartial.
As a former journalist and a media coach, I’m hoping to see as much factual reporting as possible, the return of fact checkers (not likely) and web site and publications identifying their biases.
What are your wishes for news coverage for the 2012 elections?