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While it's unclear how many undecided voters were swayed by the presidential debates, the three duels do seem to have set the tone for media coverage in recent weeks. A new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found that in early October, 59% of mainstream news stories about Bush were negative in tone. Only 25% of Kerry stories, in contrast, were negative. Brooke talks with PEJ director Tom Rosenstiel about judgemental campaign journalism current and past.
Since the days of President Jimmy Carter, incumbent presidents angling for another term have had a 50 percent success rate. Not so with candidates further down the ballot. For Congress members, re-election has increasingly become as sure a thing as death and taxes. WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports from New Jersey on the ways media coverage and redistricting have stacked the deck against challengers.
When George W. walked out on the stage in Arizona this week, viewers at home could be forgiven for copping a peek at the president's back. Whether or not they could see something there, between the shoulder blades, under the suit jacket, probably depended on their predisposition to a certain rumor churning through cyberspace. To wit: the President is wired. Slate Magazine's Chris Suellentrop joins Brooke to chart the story of the mysterious bulge, and discuss the challenges of covering a rumor.
The Sinclair Broadcast Group has ordered its 62 local TV stations to preempt their usual programming for a commercial-free airing of "Stolen Honor," a documentary critical of John Kerry. Criticism from Kerry supporters was swift, and activists have targeted local advertisers with a boycott campaign. Sinclair may be guilty of trying to influence the election outcome, but is it doing anything illegal? Brooke sorts through the morass of election season broadcast regulations with Andrew Jay Schwartzman, executive director of the Media Access Project.
Ever since 1980, the idea of an "October Surprise" has fascinated political junkies everywhere. The term originated with allegations that the Reagan campaign made a secret arrangement with Iranian hostage-takers in order to discredit President Carter. As a tactic, it has provided a successful model for election sabotage, and few have forgotten its efficacy. On the eve of another election, Brooke reflects on the long October wait for the other shoe to drop.
CBS is finally crawling out from under the scandal that erupted after its airing of what was most likely a forged document last month. Now, the network appears to be bending over backwards to keep the charges of liberal bias at bay. Last week, CBS announced that its finished story about the Bush administration’s own use of forged documents won’t air until after November 2, saying it would be “inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election." Bob gets the scoop from Newsweek’s Mark Hosenball.
This week representatives from 191 nations gathered for the 59th meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. President Bush gave the traditional welcome, drawing a "polite" reception from those gathered. His remarks came less than a week after U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan agreed that the US-led invasion was illegal. Brooke reviews the response to Bush's speech in the global media with Martin Walker, editor in chief of United Press International.
This summer, 9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean noted that three-quarters of the classified material he reviewed during the investigation shouldn't have been classified in the first place. Since then, we've heard a new round of calls for revising federal guidelines on secrecy, and not just from the usual suspects. Heritage Foundation staffer Mark Tapscott is among the conservatives calling for more transparency. He makes his case for Brooke.
