CONGRESS AND MEDIA: SOME SUGGESTIONS

Recommendations for editors for congressional coverage: reject cynicism, rethink assignments, give Congress as much coverage as the president, educate your reporters

When it comes to finding flaws in how the U.S. Congress gets conveyed to the American people, there's plenty of blame to go around.

For example, you might blame headline-seeking congressional rebels who make bashing the institution part of their game. You could blame cynical editors who aren't interested in stories about things that work and think the only thing that motivates politicians is self-interest. You could blame reporters who believe their interpretation of events is more important than the events themselves.

Or, you can move beyond blame games. That was the point of a session on the "contentious connections" between Congress and the media, buttressed by a Freedom Forum study authored by veteran Washington reporter Elaine S. Povich.

Session panelists liked some of the potential improvements suggested in the study. And they agreed that no matter what, some amount of contention will remain. Given the need for the press-as-watchdog, that's not such a bad thing. What's bad is when cynicism replaces skepticism.

Povich noted that not all of that cynicism is in the press corps. (The study said editors at home tend to be the most cynical among journalists.) Some members of Congress have led the charge in criticizing the institution. By campaigning against it, they contribute to the low esteem in which many hold the institution. Newsday reporter Bill Douglas called it a "self-cycling cynicism," and posed the rhetorical question: "Do we not write about that?" The Freedom Forum's John Seigenthaler, chairman of the First Amendment Center, says such cynicism reminds him of reporters standing on chairs on their tiptoes, obsessively peering into rooms on the chance that something shady might be happening. Isolated flaws are put under a microscope; substantive work gets less attention.

"Criticism we accept. Cynicism is when it crosses the line," said Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., who is leaving Congress. "Reporters on the Hill are fairer than the ones we see at home," she added.

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., agreed. "I work here eight, nine months a year. I've met the political editor for the largest paper in my state one time by chance in the airport."

Schroeder freely acknowledged that she has become adept at mouthing the sound bites that get attention.

Legislative accomplishments, she said, don't get reported or reported enough. "People don't believe it because it wasn't reported," she said. "Not having more comprehensive coverage contributes to cynicism."

In the study, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., put it this way:

"I do not remember a time when the press was as negative as it is. I am now enjoying the best press of my life, and it's because I am attacking people and being negative. I get much more attention for three wisecracks and a point of order than I get for a full compromise to a difficult legislative solution."

Lott sees a relationship that is naturally and appropriately adversarial, but also sees a press corps that increasingly puts opinion and reporter-generated spin into stories.

Povich gave one example. If she reported House Speaker Newt Gingrich's rationale for eliminating his regular news briefings, she said she'd feel compelled to add her perception on other reasons - unattributed to anyone else.

Lott thought the media would be less cynical if elected officials gave reporters more material. Conservatives, he said, are gun-shy sometimes about offering their side of stories. "We haven't always been accessible," he said.

The presence of television is a constant challenge, he added. "Once you put those cameras out there, things change. They (the reporters) start performing; we start performing. I start thinking I can't give a substantive answer. I have to give a couple sentences."

Although radio talk-show hosts and conservative politicians regularly complain about liberal bias, neither Lott nor Schroeder thought it was a particular problem. Schroeder said she doesn't see it, particularly in coverage of women's issues, while Lott said most reporters work hard to reach above their biases.

Schroeder had this piece of concluding advice for the press:

"Remember there are people there [in Congress] with hearts larger than a pea."

Recomendations For Congress:

Members of Congress should recognize that their campaigning against the institution has taken its toll on the reputation of Congress as a whole.
Individual members of Congress will improve the flow of information to their constituents if they rely less on press secretaries as news filters and more on face-to-face contact with the media.
As an institution, Congress should develop a mechanism for organized responses to the White House, including the naming of a primary spokesperson on major legislative issues.
To improve the public understanding, congressional leaders should find a way to reinstate regular press briefings before the daily opening of the House and Senate.
Congress should give C-SPAN control of television cameras in both the House and Senate chambers.
Congress should permit television cameras to go anywhere the print media are allowed to go,
Congress should put more and better-quality information on the Internet and other electronic systems.

For the media:

Reporters and editors need to reject knee-jerk cynicism in response to Congress and its actions.
Editors should rethink the basis for assigning and selecting stories about Congress. News organizations should emphasize stories about how congressional legislation affects ordinary citizens and de-emphasize political coverage.
A systematic training program on issues and the legislative process should be developed exclusively for editors.
Editors should continue the trend begun in 1995 of giving Congress at least as much coverage as the presidency.
Local reporters and editors should strive to be better informed on congressional issues.
Readers and viewers need better updates on how their senators and representatives voted.
News-media organizations should consider restating or updating policies on conflicts of interest and outside income. Congress should make no law concerning reporters' outside income.
More reporters with expertise on specialized issues should cover Capitol Hill.

Hetzel is editor and publisher of the York (Pa.) Daily Record.