Five nationally distinguished news reporters described the difficulties in maneuvering this year's primary elections during a crowded panel discussion in Silsby Hall on Wedneday. Ron Suskind, a journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and visiting scholar, moderated the panel -- titled "Reporting on the Primaries: There Has to Be a Better Way to Pick a President" -- which covered media blunders from past elections, budget cutbacks for media research and the challenges of deciphering campaign messages.
Karen Tumulty, a national political correspondent for Time magazine, said that with less money and fewer resources available for research, journalists are forced to rely on potentially biased information.
"Demands on our reporting are unprecedented," Tumulty said.
Walter Shapiro, Washington bureau chief of Salon, has covered New Hampshire primaries for the past eight years. Shapiro said that he has experienced the difficulty of gleaning truth from pasteurized campaign messages, delivered in one minute "soundbite" debates.
Panel members expressed concern that, between soundbites and glossy images, the truth behind campaign messages would cease to be heard, though audience members were more concerned with uneven candidate coverage.
Nathan Empsall '09 questioned the lack of media coverage for second-tier presidential candidates like Joe Biden and Bill Richardson. The panelists collectively acknowledged this lack of coverage but stated it was almost impossible to cover each candidate evenly, especially those with little potential to win.
"I don't want to see a nine-month bi-partisan buyer's regret after February 5," Shapiro said.
The panelists also acknowledged the internet as the great equalizer in recent campaigns, allowing for instantaneous access to information about second-tier candidates, especially through the site YouTube.com. David Chalian, ABC News political director, said the power of the internet is dualistic because it can be either enlightening or distracting.
Recent examples of political coverage of YouTube videos include, "I Got a Crush...On Obama" or "Hott 4 Hill," which demonstrate campaign abilities to manipulate the media.
"How do we avoid being manipulated?" Suskind asked panelists.
"We pick apart what [candidates] are selling," Chalian said, but later added that "commercial ratings aren't going away."
The media is constantly competing for new stories and more shocking headlines, said Russ Walker, assistant managing editor at washingtonpost.com. Walker likened recent production trends to the motor-city where mechanics, like reporters, are told to "speed up the line."
Understanding the facts before making decisions, what Suskind termed "informed consent," is a process filtered through the media.
"The season of consent is underway," Suskind told the attendees, even though the New Hampshire primaries are months away.
