Written by Mary Robbins, Program Assistant
National Women’s Law Center
I’ve started to wonder why, after reading countless stories about the upcoming election, is it that I can so easily carry on a well-informed and articulate conversation about what Hillary Clinton wore during her latest appearance or Rudy Giuliani’s numerous marriages, but when someone brings up the nuances of the candidates’ health care reform proposals or plans for saving the sputtering economy the conversation is cut short.
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I recently graduated from a respected college of journalism. A basic tenet of journalism is that journalists should not sacrifice ethical standards for watered down, superficial "news" pieces. Everyone knows journalism is about fair, balanced reporting, stories filled with facts that serve as checks on the powerful and give voice to the voiceless...right? Then why am I left digging for displays of these journalistic principles?
There is so much at stake during this election cycle for women and their families. Women care about how much they will have to pay for their children to receive care when they are sick. Women care about their right to make decisions about their bodies and being treated equally in the workplace and in schools. Women care about whether they’ll be able to make their mortgage payments when their adjustable interest rate fixes.
We need less analysis of the inane, less creating and feeding a desire for gossip and drama and more about what ideals each of the candidates holds dear, and how these ideals might manifest if the candidate is entrusted with the highest office in the land.
Indeed, the 2008 election will be historic for many reasons, and it’s fair to have a public discourse about the life and experiences of each candidate and how this could shape his or her presidency. But journalists should not reduce campaign coverage to verbal missteps or sexism v. racism.
The press is called the Fourth Estate for a reason. Every day, these gate keepers dictate what is important and what we should care about most. It’s as simple as where an article is placed on a newspaper’s front page or the number of times a story is mentioned during a 24-hour news cycle. With so much at stake, it shouldn’t be more difficult to find the answers to the issues we care about most than to learn about the latest tiff between candidates.
But we are not the ones who should feel ashamed for not knowing who can bring the changes we want to see in our country. The media are the ones who should be red in the face for not taking this opportunity to rouse substantive, and necessary, dialogue. They have the ability to take us away from examining a candidate’s misty eyes or $400 hair-do and make us think about how the candidate will address America’s priorities. And I know we will pay attention.
Crossposted from Womenstake