The Incredible Shrinking Democratic and Republican Conventions
Suppose there were political conventions and the media were nowhere to be found. It may look like that in Denver and the Twin Cities late this summer.
Severe cutbacks and buyouts at newspapers, large and small, and similar budget woes at the networks are forcing media organizations to scale back their coverage.
This comes at a time when conventions are largely scripted affairs anyway. There is little in the way of unpredictable events or surprises. The vice presidential nominees, once selected during the conventions, will be revealed ahead of the meetings. No floor fights are predicted.
Consider some evidence of the falloff this year in media presence:
- A sizable West Coast daily is sending no one. Another is assigning one reporter where five have gone before.
- A daily on the East Coast, once a paper with many foreign bureaus, is sending only two writers.
- Cable TV outlets will have fairly large contingents with their minute-by-minute, but the networks have good reason to scale back this time around. C-Span may be the only way to watch the entire convention, if anyone is interested.
Barring a controversy of any size, the only real news will be the acceptance speeches of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama.
At the Democratic convention, die-hard delegates supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton might kick up a fuss, but Obama's forces will have the strength to put it down. At the GOP meeting, the backers of Rep. Ron Paul are staging a big separate rally in what could be an embarrassment to McCain.
On the subject of costs, there are reports that airfares to Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul and hotel rates have risen. Those are other reasons for number crunchers at media organizations to pare back manpower.
The bottom line here is that conventions in the future may center on New York City rather than sites in other sections of the country. The major TV organizations are based there, and there is always ample hotel space in the New York City area.
Horace Greeley may have advised folks to "go west", but it may be too expensive in coming years.
Tags: Democrats | politics | presidential election 2008 | Republicans | Democratic National Convention
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Reader Comments
The death of main stream media.
The death of MSM is eminent. Everyone knows they are nothing more then propagandist and manipulators of public opinion. Had MSM been honest about the qualities of the candidates our next president would be the only honorable man in Washington, Dr. Ron Paul. All of the media who refer to his campaign as the failed bid fro the presidency, think again. Dr. Paul did not just seek office he started a Revolution. We are taking back the country from the destroyers of liberty. It matters not what CFR candidate is elected by the manipulated vote. The people will rise up and Liberty will prevail. This is only the beginning. MSM can write their own obituary.
Heads up -
Actually, a lot of media is headed to St. Paul to cover an event that might just offer up some 'shock and awe'... this Constitutional Republic is fighting for its life, and I hope journalists, reporters and readers will pause to consider the things we've not considered or been asked to contemplate for far too long... what is the role of government? What is the rule of law? What are the principles this nation were founded upon, and are those logical and compassionate principles important to our freedom, liberty and safety? Could it be that we simply need to get 'back to basics' in order to secure promises made to generations of hard working USA citizens, while allowing younger generations to conclude that system does not belong in their government's hands?
Obama lost a lot of supporters after campaigning against FISA and then voting for it - I'm not sure the media is aware of that, but large groups of Obama supporters are concerned that he may break other campaign promises. This is leading them to seek out an alternate candidate to vote for this November. People really are paying more attention this election season, which is very promising for this nation to get back on track. It won't be easy, no matter who is elected, as there's a lot of work to do in order to fix the numerous mistakes made over the past century - but if any nation can do it, it's the USA - of the people, by the people, for the people.
I for one am very excited about the coming collapse of the media.
You have become nothing more then parrots for large corporations and especially the government. Where were the "reporters" when Bush lied us into attacking Iraq? Where were the reporters when our own government was spying on us?
No, the media has been transformed into couriers for the rich and powerful in this country.
Your readership is declining because people are starting to see through your lying. Every time you parrot the governments "inflation statistics" at some rediculously low number they doubt you. Every claim that "things are under control" is met a day later by another bank collapse.
The internet will be news from the people, by the people, for the people. You will not be missed.
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John W. Mashek covered politics in Washington for four decades with U.S. News & World Report, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Boston Globe. His primary beats were Congress, the White House, and national politics. He covered every presidential election from 1960 to 1996. He was a panelist in three televised presidential debates in 1984, 1988, and 1992.