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March 8, 2004
How will they choose?...
The Pew Research Center says swing voters are open to persuasion in the 2004 election. The survey shows that such voters tend to agree with Sen. John Kerry on the economy and with President Bush on the war in Iraq. Kerry leads Bush in this survey by less than two points above the MoE.
My question is this: What will persuade these swing voters?
Let's remember one very important fact: Most Americans experience politics by watching television and, to a lesser extent, reading newspapers and magazines.
A survey published in National Journal (Re: "The Media, I." National Journal. 32(30) 22 July 2000) in 2000 shows that news consumers (85 percent of respondents!) want the press to publish and broadcast more stories about candidates discussing their views on the issues. Why? I assume because policy actually affects people's lives. Journalists, however, still operate on the assumption that policy articles are boring and no one wants to read them. And, besides, insider horse-race coverage is so much more fun (easy) to produce. Plus, you get to spend time inside the campaigns hobnobbing with the political elite instead of wearing out shoe-leather running down the nuances of policy analysis, performance auditing, and anecdotes pertinent to citizens' lives.
This takes me back to my j-school days; I remember my professor telling me: "There are no boring stories, only boring reporters." And let's not forget the lazy ones.
These swing voters will find journalism politically useful when journalists begin telling a different story. For an excellent recent example, read Off the Grid Journalism, by Jay Rosen. Until we see more journalism of this sort, I'm left to wonder: What will persuade these swing voters?
Posted by acline at March 8, 2004 10:34 AM | | Spotlight