Last Updated: February 03, 2000
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The 2000 campaign
Inside-the-Beltway editors say compressing the campaign
schedule has meant more stories earlier about the candidates
Campaign coverage for the 2000 presidential elections already differs
markedly from 1996 for Washington bureaus and newspapers inside the Beltway,
simply because there already is so much of it.
Because candidates started serious campaigning as early as last summer,
Washington reporters felt obligated to gear up coverage early. Although
readers don't yet feel a sense of urgency in learning about the candidates,
"we really don't have a lot of time to frame the issues," said Gannett
News Service Editor Caesar Andrews. "There is some danger in being premature,
but there is still an obligation to keep the public informed. ... Part
of our role is to give readers access to information even if the public
is not intensely interested at this stage."
The Washington Post has been on the campaign trail "just about full
blast certainly since Labor Day," said Merrilee Schwartz, deputy national
editor. "Even through the spring and summer we've done many profiles of
each candidate."
The challenge for newspapers is to provide the necessary information
without overwhelming readers a year before Election Day. Schwartz said
the Post is using comparative reporting of candidates' stances on issues
and biographies to introduce readers to the candidates.
"One thing we're doing at this stage is just trying not to do too much,"
said Michael Oreskes, Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. Looking
at the pace of campaigns and news coverage, "you might think it's October
of next year. We're trying to go a little more slowly."
But even when the election is closer, it may be hard to engage readers
in news about the presidential campaigns. Several bureau chiefs pointed
to the strong economy and the lack of a dominant national crisis as barriers
to getting the public interested in political stories.
Oreskes predicted that if readers don't think the election matters,
they won't pay attention regardless of journalists' best efforts. "If the
country is prosperous and the candidates are talking about nothing terribly
important, I think people won't be that interested. On the other hand,
if the economy dips or the candidates find issues and we report it well,
then the public will engage."
David Westphal, chief of McClatchy's Washington bureau, agreed. "I do
think the fact that this country is only a few months away from the longest
economic expansion in its history has much to do with voters tuning out."
Hearst Newspapers Bureau Chief Chuck Lewis noted the public's overall
distrust of politicians as an added barrier.
"In addition to the oft-bruited truth about peace and prosperity dulling
the electorate, there's also a huge, and alarming, dose of cynicism across
the land about politics and politicians," he said. "The gurus of voter
turnout are getting ready to descend to new depths of gloom."
However, inside-the-Beltway editors and bureau chiefs have plans for
new types of campaign coverage aimed at drawing in reluctant readers. And
nearly all mentioned the Internet and special campaign Web sites as major
factors in their coverage, particularly the bureau chiefs at Reuters and
The Associated Press.
Said Sandy Johnson, AP's Washington bureau chief: "The best opportunity
for change is in our Internet coverage." AP plans an expanded Web-based
political site with historical information, polls, calendars and other
data. It also will offer special election news - text, audio and video
- on its multimedia product.
"This is the first true multimedia election," said Reuters Executive
Vice President Stephen Jukes. "For us, it is an important challenge, to
get all of that - text, audio and video - together on one Web site and
to have true multimedia coverage."
All Cox newspapers will contribute to the Cox News Campaign 2000 Web
site, which also will have cartoons from its papers' cartoonists, columns
from its op-ed pages, weekly polling and extensive links. It also will
report on the role of the Internet in the election and offer interactive
features such as forums and guest essays from readers.
Knight Ridder will create an online political package that's a compilation
of its newspapers' coverage plus resources from Knight Ridder's new media
division. It will have a short daily update as well as depth for those
who want it and can be customized by state or issue.
Other Washington bureaus and national papers also have long lists of
innovations in campaign coverage that they plan for the coming year, although
some proven devices will be dusted off again as well. For instance, The
Washington Post will revive its quadrennial voter project to talk to voters
in depth and learn what's on their minds.
Knight Ridder's Washington bureau intends to have one reporter on its
team who "will have a totally non-insider's perspective ... someone whose
view is like that of an average American," said Bureau Chief Kathleen Carroll.
Already, the bureau's science writer has reported on the phenomenon of
celebrities considering presidential bids.
USA Today will pay more attention to "groups that are underserved -
women, younger voters," said Political Editor Gwen Flanders.
McClatchy "plans to make the engagement and participation of citizens
one of the focuses of our coverage," Westphal said. "One way is tracking
closely how campaigns hoe to do this. The Internet will be particularly
interesting to watch. ... I have the feeling that we'll all be behind in
gauging its impact and ability to mobilize in this campaign. Another, of
course, is keeping a close eye on the tentacles of the Third Party movement."
Scripps Howard News Service already has started its monthly paginated
issues pages, which will continue through Super Tuesday in March. "Our
thinking for doing this project was that this would be an easy-to-digest,
visually appealing way for readers to become informed about the candidates
and their positions," Managing Editor Mark Tomasik said.
The New York Times is doing more "reporting as distinguished from analysis
and punditry," Oreskes said. "We're trying to not predict so much as just
reporting what they're telling us about it and backing away from the effort
to be cosmic and say what it all means. It's more of an effort to get us
out of the business of seeming like we're defining the election."
For The Dallas Morning News, the election is about "W."
"Our biggest challenge is to balance our need to cover our home state
governor, George W. Bush, in detail with the need to be fair to the others,"
said Bureau Chief Carl Leubsdorf. "We have tended in the past couple of
campaigns, to keep pre-election year coverage within bounds by concentrating
on announcements, profiles and major events. We're doing that again, but
staffing Gov. Bush wherever he goes, though not always writing daily."
Reuters is continuing its monthly Zogby polls, although they are conducted
more frequently around primaries, said Jukes and Chief Political Correspondent
Alan Elsner.
"They are essential for us. Internally, they give us tremendous data
to write our stories," Jukes said. "They also make news."
Elsner said the wire service also intends to pay attention to the congressional
races because control of the House could change, examine presidential campaign
advertising in-depth and devote more reporters to campaign coverage than
ever before.
Gannett's Andrews echoed other bureau chiefs in saying his reporters
will emphasize issue-based coverage over "horse race" coverage, although
Elsner defended "horse race" stories, noting that who wins is what the
election is about.
Medill News Service reporter Allison Stevens contributed to this
story.
Shearer, co-director and editor of Medill News Service in Washington,
is co-author of "Nonvoters : America's No-Shows."
