Everyone seems to be talking about the election these days. Everyone seems to be talking about who each respective candidate will select as his VP of choice. Everyone seems to be talking about how important it is that McCain state how many houses he owns or that Obama state that his really isn’t a Muslim.
However, “everyone” is not the American voters, TV viewers, newspaper readers or your 4th-grade teacher. “Everyone” is just the media, media and more media. I know it is the Olympic season, but I believe there is an event to see who can speculate the most on something that only the speculators care about. When did journalism become a game of guess-volley-pass, guess-volley-pass?!? The only ones who really care about what the New York Times, NBC, FOX, or anyone else masquerading to represent “everyone” are talking about are the same people writing and saying these things. The rest of the American public is going about its day. Why, when fewer than half of Americans eligible to vote actually do so, does the media think they care who Obama’s VP pick will be?
Ken Silverstein, from Harper’s Magazine, has posted a synopsis of a great interview he conducted with Chris Lehmann from CQ and BookForum on the “‘Moronic’ Campaign Coverage and the ‘Press Bubble.’” Here is an excerpt:
“1. I’ve seen many recent headlines about the alleged “feverish speculation” about who the vice presidential nominees are going to be. Is the public really all that interested in these sorts of campaign issues at this point, or is the fever largely confined to the media?
The reporters and editors who are composing these inane pieces are pretty much talking to each other. I saw a Washington Post headline the other day, “Who’s No. 2? Obama Keeps Everybody Guessing.” No—the “everybody” in that construction is you. Imagine if you were covering the baseball playoffs and you wrote that there was massive speculation about who was going to win. It’s manifestly moronic because you’re writing about a scheduled event that is going to take place on a known timeline. You’re contributing nothing.”