It's worth it sometimes to think about the treatment of political claims by the media. Here are a few good examples. Think how the media should respond to each.
1. A candidate for governor used to work as CEO of a company that makes payday loans. His opponent says that this proves that the fellow was trying to take advantage of the poor and this makes him unfit to be governor.
2. A candidate for statewide office is accused by two former girlfriends of having abused them mostly by beating them. There are police reports from when one of the girlfriends sought help after a particularly severe beating. The candidate denies the claims and just goes on with his campaign.
3. A candidate for governor tells interviewers that he wants to raise taxes, put tolls on highways and create a new tax on automobiles. When his opponent starts talking about cutting taxes, the first guy announces that he is a tax cutter who will reduce the tax burden. He acts as if he never made the prior contradictory statements.
4. A candidate for the top law enforcement position in a state says that if elected there will be no investigations of the governor's office unless such investigation is requested by the governor.
5. A candidate for governor is under investigation by the FBI. There is incontrovertible proof that the candidate took "gifts" from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for favors given to the FBI agent.
6. A candidate for governor is revealed to have been arrested for burglary and also DUI. That candidate is also reported in the police records to have tried to flee the scene of the DUI but was restrained by witnesses until police arrived.
7. A candidate for governor says he thinks that it is a good idea to keep illegal aliens out of the USA. The candidate announces support for a border wall.
These are all state races, so I'm going to discuss the reactions of the state and, if applicable, the national media.
The items that got extensive coverage in the state media were numbers 1 and 7 above. Items number 5 and 6 got some attention from the local media, but not very much. Items 2, 3, and 4 were left essentially uncovered by state media.
Think about that. Keith Ellison is trying to be elected Attorney General of Minnesota as a Democrat. He has been the subject of some very credible allegations that he beat two former girlfriends. The Minnesota media has treated the story as if it did not exist. That's item 2.
On the other hand, Bob Stefanowski was brought in as CEO of a company that had big problems. That company, among other things, made payday loans. Stefanowski revamped the management, lowered the interest rates charged and brought order out of the chaos at the company. Stefanowski is the Republican candidate for governor of Connecticut. The state media has treated this story as if it is some sort of scandal that disqualifies Stefanowski.
The truth is that the allegations against Ellison are 100 times more important than the issue of the payday loan company and Stefanowski. Ellison, however, is a Democrat, so there's no coverage. Stefanowski is a Republican, so there's coverage of something that really doesn't matter. In fact, each of the allegations regarding Democrat candidates list above got scant media attention. Each one the dealt with a Republican was treated as if it was the end of the world.
It would be nice to see, just once, an election in which the media behaved fairly.
1. A candidate for governor used to work as CEO of a company that makes payday loans. His opponent says that this proves that the fellow was trying to take advantage of the poor and this makes him unfit to be governor.
2. A candidate for statewide office is accused by two former girlfriends of having abused them mostly by beating them. There are police reports from when one of the girlfriends sought help after a particularly severe beating. The candidate denies the claims and just goes on with his campaign.
3. A candidate for governor tells interviewers that he wants to raise taxes, put tolls on highways and create a new tax on automobiles. When his opponent starts talking about cutting taxes, the first guy announces that he is a tax cutter who will reduce the tax burden. He acts as if he never made the prior contradictory statements.
4. A candidate for the top law enforcement position in a state says that if elected there will be no investigations of the governor's office unless such investigation is requested by the governor.
5. A candidate for governor is under investigation by the FBI. There is incontrovertible proof that the candidate took "gifts" from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for favors given to the FBI agent.
6. A candidate for governor is revealed to have been arrested for burglary and also DUI. That candidate is also reported in the police records to have tried to flee the scene of the DUI but was restrained by witnesses until police arrived.
7. A candidate for governor says he thinks that it is a good idea to keep illegal aliens out of the USA. The candidate announces support for a border wall.
These are all state races, so I'm going to discuss the reactions of the state and, if applicable, the national media.
The items that got extensive coverage in the state media were numbers 1 and 7 above. Items number 5 and 6 got some attention from the local media, but not very much. Items 2, 3, and 4 were left essentially uncovered by state media.
Think about that. Keith Ellison is trying to be elected Attorney General of Minnesota as a Democrat. He has been the subject of some very credible allegations that he beat two former girlfriends. The Minnesota media has treated the story as if it did not exist. That's item 2.
On the other hand, Bob Stefanowski was brought in as CEO of a company that had big problems. That company, among other things, made payday loans. Stefanowski revamped the management, lowered the interest rates charged and brought order out of the chaos at the company. Stefanowski is the Republican candidate for governor of Connecticut. The state media has treated this story as if it is some sort of scandal that disqualifies Stefanowski.
The truth is that the allegations against Ellison are 100 times more important than the issue of the payday loan company and Stefanowski. Ellison, however, is a Democrat, so there's no coverage. Stefanowski is a Republican, so there's coverage of something that really doesn't matter. In fact, each of the allegations regarding Democrat candidates list above got scant media attention. Each one the dealt with a Republican was treated as if it was the end of the world.
It would be nice to see, just once, an election in which the media behaved fairly.
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