GlassBooth

It takes a different perspective. Next time you are watching or reading a story about the election, ask yourself, “what is this really about?” Do it often enough and you will not only be a person that talks to yourself, but you will realize that the vast majority of election coverage has nothing to do with the issues and everything to do with who is winning, who is losing, and what political tactics are being employed.

To sum it up Kat Seelye (who was nice enough to give Glassbooth a shout out) breaks down a 2007 co-study by The Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Kennedy School at Harvard. The findings reveal a media obsessed with the horse race, and unconcerned with the issues. A few select gems:

- Almost two thirds of all stories (print, television, radio and online combined) focused on the political aspects of the campaign, while only one percent focused on the candidates’ public records.

- Only 12 percent of stories were considered relevant to voters’ decision-making; the rest were inside baseball, more relevant to the candidates and operatives.

- The campaign coverage has been sharply at odds with what the public says it wants, the study found, with voters eager to know more about the candidates’ positions on issues and their personal backgrounds, more about lesser-known candidates and more about the debates.

And so on.

With trends in election coverage like these on the rise since the television press, it is with moments of reflection and study provided here that we can ask “why?” and “to what effect?” By far the easiest way to access the candidates is through the media, so what does it mean when the media avoids the issues? At Glassbooth we are remixing this affair. While the issue-based coverage is sparse, we have spent the last months finding it, compiling it, and delivering it in a fair way. There is a void here and we are playing our part in filling it. Enjoy.