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Tuesday’s midterm elections remove the last procedural barrier between a hungry political press and the presidential feast it craves in two years. Congressional and gubernatorial races don’t typically drum up the same dramatic, us-vs.-them narrative as do national contests. And with potential 2016 hopefuls such as Hillary Clinton, Sen. Rand Paul, and others on the trail to support their political allies, reporters seemed to take every effort opportunity to look ahead rather than focus on the actual races in the works.
That’s not to say there’s been a dearth of coverage this election season. Sophisticated forecasting models predicted early that control of the Senate could change hands, creating a partisan tug-of-war for Congress’ upper chamber. What’s more, the results of a handful of gubernatorial races could have ripple effects on national politics for years to come. Some of the coverage this election cycle has been cringeworthy, but still more of it praiseworthy. CJR is serving up a sampler of Darts & Laurels, respectively, to reflect on the campaign season.
What election?
Evening newscasts on ABC, NBC, and CBS, which combine for about 23 million viewers a night, largely avoided politics during the final stretch of the campaign. The programs aired just 25 full or partial midterms stories between Sept. 1 and Oct. 20, according to an analysis by the conservative Media Research Center. Regardless of the reasons for The Big Three’s lack of coverage — no nationally unifying issue, a lack of political star power, or a new editorial slant toward softer news, to name a few possibilities — November’s elections will impact viewers all the same. There’s certainly a sweet spot for the right amount of political coverage. But the evening newscasts deserve a DART for woefully undershooting the mark.
Backslapping
Another DART goes to Fox & Friends for failing to disclose New Hampshire Senate candidate Scott Brown’s former ties to the cable network. Brown was showered with praise in two interviews on the program, one in September and another on Wednesday, less than a week before the conclusion of his close-fought race against Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
In neither instance did Fox & Friends indicate Brown had been a Fox News political analyst as recently as March, earning $136,000 since last year. Co-host Brian Kilmeade seemed more concerned with Brown’s debate on Thursday, asking, “Do you feel you’re going to get a fair shake?”
Out of its league
Though Deadspin’s attempt to influence a tight Colorado Senate race was bold, the sports site deserves a DART for its failed exposé on Republican candidate Cory Gardner. Deadspin reported that Gardner, a GOP congressman, lied about his high school football career while on the trail. He didn’t. Deadspin staked its piece on an interview with the team’s longtime statistician, who reportedly couldn’t recall Gardner’s playing days.
But the statistician recanted his story after the article’s publication, and Gardner soon released photos of himself in pads. Deadspin reporter Dave McKenna didn’t speak to the Gardner campaign before the story ran, Erik Wemple reports. To Deadspin’s credit, it ran a lengthy editor’s note about the story the following day. “As serial collectors of media fuck-ups,” it said, “we add this self-portrait to the gallery.”
On the spot
Though scripted events typically dominate campaign schedules, a well-timed policy question can still cut through partisan talking points. NY1 reporter Courtney Gross demonstrated just that after congressional candidate Domenic Recchia met with New York labor leaders in September and expressed opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. After Gross asked Recchia to actually define the TPP, aides immediately whisked the candidate off-camera. He returned about a half-hour later and gave Gross a half-baked answer. Her simple question merits a LAUREL for exposing a lack of policy expertise.
Too good to be true
Like many candidates, Texas gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis made a compelling life story the centerpiece of her campaign. The state senator burst onto the national scene last year during an 11-hour pro-abortion-rights filibuster. And she soon attracted Texas voters and liberal donors with a by-her-bootstraps biography stretching from childhood poverty, to teenage motherhood, and eventually to Harvard Law School. But Davis had blurred key facts of her story, according to a January profile by The Dallas Morning News’ Wayne Slater. The piece is worthy of a LAUREL for being the first to suck the authenticity out of her sales pitch.
Driving the conversation
The Willamette Week, Portland’s alt-weekly, dropped a potential October surprise into the Oregon gubernatorial race. Reporter Nigel Jaquiss earns a LAUREL for his steady stream of scoops on Cylvia Hayes, Gov. John Kitzhaber’s fiancee who could be, Jaquiss writes, “the most influential first lady in Oregon history.”
Under Fire Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber addresses reporters before an Oct. 10 gubernatorial debate, his first public appearance since fiance Cylvia Hayes admitted to an illegal marriage in 1997. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)
His Oct. 8 profile spotlighted potential conflicts of interest in the governor’s office, where Hayes has worked as both an adviser to Kitzhaber and a private consultant on energy and economic issues. In reporting the story, Jaquiss also broke news that Hayes had married and quickly divorced an 18-year-old Ethiopian immigrant in 1997 (Hayes subsequently confessed that she was paid $5,000 to do so, a federal crime). After a follow-up public records request, Jaquiss reported that gubernatorial staffers had long quarrelled over Hayes’ potential ethics violations, and eventually “Kitzhaber’s office shaped the standards applied to Hayes.”
#CosmoVotes
Cosmopolitan has expanded its political offerings this midterm season, and its #CosmoVotes social media campaign is the latest move to engage readers with hard news historically lacking from the publication. Cosmo’s huge audience of young, female readers gives it an ideal platform in the national debate over issues such as reproductive health and equal pay. Its political content has been short on reporting and long on opinion — 12 of 35 articles since Sept. 9 have been candidate endorsements. Still, Cosmo’s effort this election season deserves a LAUREL for a step toward a more dynamic women’s magazine.
Forcing the issue
In May and June, Alaska Public Media and the Alaska Dispatch News filed respective public records requests for information on how Gov. Sean Parnell handled a sexual assault scandal in the Alaska National Guard. Those requests were denied in late September. But on Oct. 8, the outlets filed a joint lawsuit against the governor in the hopes of obtaining at least some of the records — more than 12,000 emails — before his re-election bid Tuesday.
A judge last week ruled in the news organizations’ favor, ordering Parnell’s office to begin turning over batches of the records on Friday afternoon or explain why it could not. The state complied. Though the documents released so far have been highly redacted, both Alaska Public Media and the Alaska Dispatch News began reporting on them by Friday evening. The latter has also posted them online in their entirety. A governor’s response to such a scandal — or at least his refusal to explain that response — is information voters need to know at the ballot box. The two news organizations share a LAUREL for fighting to provide it.
David Uberti is a writer in New York. He was previously a media reporter for Gizmodo Media Group and a staff writer for CJR. Follow him on Twitter @DavidUberti.