TV: Building Innovative Election Coverage for 2000
By Dave Iverson Executive Editor Wisconsin Public Television Last October, teen mom Taranda Brown, an “A” high-school student, walked to a microphone in North Minneapolis and put the candidates for Governor of Minnesota on notice. Taranda was at Lucille’s Kitchen, a neighborhood restaurant. The candidates were in KTCA’s studio in St. Paul. “Do you think […]
Covering Elections, Making it Worthwhile
By Nick Pappas Managing Editor/News The Telegraph of Nashua, NH Two years ago, while preparing to kick off coverage of what promised to be a long summer of political rhetoric, The Telegraph came to a startling conclusion. We couldn’t do it. Press conferences and sound bites. Sound bites and press conferences. Candidate A attacks Candidate […]
NY Senate Race Triggers a Public TV Coalition
By Gary Walker Vice President, News & Public Affairs WXXI-TV, Rochester, NY In Syracuse, people are worried about lagging behind the rest of the state. In Buffalo, border crossing is a growing concern. In New York City, citizens are bracing for a nasty and negative U.S. Senate race. The Empire State is home to an […]
TV Election Initiatives Seek New Ideas
By Walter Dean Associate Director, Pew Center Pilot partnerships have formed in 11 major markets to develop innovative election coverage as part of the Best Practices 2000 project, a partnership of Wisconsin Public Television, the Pew Center, RTNDF and PBS. The Best Practices 2000’s (BP2K) national workshops and partnerships have “demonstrated how eager people […]
Campaign 2000: Pressure is on the Traditional Press — Will We Reform Coverage? Or Will We Continue Our Old Ways?
Keynote by Pam Johnson Senior Vice President-News and Executive Editor The Arizona Republic Amid this year’s “predictable” and traditional presidential primary coverage were some positive signs that favored citizens, “signs that we should be watching and reacting to,” asserted Arizona Republic editor Pam Johnson. “We chased Bush and cocaine and we chased Gore and campaign finance […]
The Presidency and the Media
Luncheon Keynote by Robert Dallek Presidential Historian Boston University Today’s White House press corps cover the nation’s Presidents far more adversarially than they did before the Vietnam War, when journalists limited disclosures about health problems or sexual indiscretions, took pains not to endanger national security and even overlooked policy contradictions, asserted B.U. presidential historian Robert […]
Meeting Citizens’ Needs: What’s Next? Can the news media do more to inform citizen choices?
Moderator Robert Zelnick engaged panelists David Shribman, the Boston Globe’s Washington Bureau Chief; Jeannine Guttman, Editor of the Portland Press Herald; Candy Altman, News Director of Boston’s Channel 5 television; Chris Satullo, Editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial pages; and Joe Sciacca, The Boston Herald’s deputy managing editor for politics and investigations. Zelnick (right): David, what’s […]
Did the Media Do the Right Thing? Has the primary coverage been useful to voters?
Moderator Lance Morrow questioned Bill Kovach, Curator of The Nieman Foundation; Mary Jo Meisner, Vice Chair, Community Newspaper Co.; Sam Fleming, News Director, WBUR-FM; and Yvonne Abraham, Boston Globe reporter. Some highlights: Kovach: In terms of citizen information about the candidates, this primary process probably was as informative as any I can remember. But, it was […]
The Election Civics Lesson: Sharpen Your Number Two Pencils
By Michael Schudson Author, “The Good Citizen. A History of American Civic Life” The 2000 election, it has repeatedly been said, was a remarkable civics lesson for all of us. “The American public is being treated to a great moment of civic education,” Harvard political theorist Michael Sandel told the Los Angeles Times. I agree. But […]
Anchoring the People in TV News Coverage of the Political Campaigns
By Dave Iverson Executive Director Best Practices in Journalism In Dallas, KERA-TV’s Rick Thompson wants to reach Latino voters who previously felt locked out of the state’s political debate. In New York, WNBC-TV’s Jay DeDapper wants to cover politics in a way that focuses on people not polls. In Seattle, KING-TV’s Robert Mak and Mike […]