Discussion ’96
Norfolk, VA 1996
Partners:
The Virginian-Pilot
The Harwood Group
For the 1996 elections, the paper completely re-imagined and refashioned campaign coverage, moving from traditional horse race coverage to the innovative (and, later, much-copied) concept of candidate as job applicant. Pew helped fund a new kind of poll that aided this coverage. Rather than a market-driven poll, the Harwood Group conducted a deliberative poll of 672 adults for the paper, one that offered a range of choices and asked respondents the “why” behind their answers. It revealed that voters were as concerned about leadership and character as about candidates’ stands on issues.
The paper did little direct reporting on the poll but used the results to frame its coverage. The theme of coverage became “What’s got to be done and who’s up to doing it?” Candidates were given unprecedented opportunity to speak directly to voters through a “job application,” where they described in their own words how they saw the office they were seeking and their qualifications for holding it, and through answers to questions on the issues voters found most important. Virginian-Pilot reporters profiled candidates and reported spot news but framed it within the theme of the campaign as job interview.
The paper explored the issues uncovered in the poll – leadership, economic life, crime, education – both through news stories and through grids that showed candidates’ responses to questions surrounding the issues. Innovative graphics were used to make coverage more useful and easier to digest. The paper reported that voters frequently expressed appreciation for the new approach.
Contacts:
Dennis Hartig (Former Managing Editor)
Editorial Page Editor
The Virginian-Pilot
150 W Brambleton Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23510
TEL: (757) 446-2126
FAX: (757) 446-2414
EMAIL: hart@pilotonline.com
Tom Warhover (Former Deputy Managing Editor)
Executive Editor
The Columbia Missourian
PO Box 917
Columbia, MO 65205
TEL: (573) 882-5700
FAX: (573) 882-5702
EMAIL: warhovert@missouri.edu