Spring Break
Candidates need to cooperate with the media
Freesia Singngam
Issue date: 9/8/08 Section: Commentary
All politics aside, the media needs to be able to do its job. That means asking tough questions and digging deeper into what's going on. The media gives the public information that helps them make informed decisions when it comes to participating in a democratic society.
When the media does its job, it helps politicians further what they say they're working toward, which is a better, freer society.
When Republican presidential nominee John McCain refused to be interviewed on "Larry King Live" this past Tuesday, he highlighted the growing rift between Republicans and the media.
"McCain spokeswoman Maria Comella said the campaign canceled the interview because of 'a relentless refusal by certain on-air reporters to come to terms with John McCain's selection of Alaska's sitting governor as our party's nominee for vice president,'" the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
This "relentless refusal" refers to when CNN anchor Campbell Brown asked McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds what Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin really did as commander of the Alaska National Guard.
During the heated exchange Bounds asks Brown if she means to belittle Palin. Brown, in return, said she was belittling nothing - she wanted Bounds to name one decision Palin made as Commander-In-Chief of the Alaska National Guard.
Bounds then said that as governor, Palin "makes a decision how to equip or how to command the National Guard in Alaska," at which point Brown interrupted him to say that the Pentagon makes those decisions.
Many Republicans believe that the media has focused positive attention on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and has attacked his opponents in its reports and interviews. In turn, they have attacked the media and accused it of being "liberal."
This isn't the first case of Republicans attacking the media. NewsBlues.com compiled these instances in one of their recent articles, "Attack When Cornered." The Web site noted that Lee Atwater, advisor of former U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, "directed a head-on push against the media, confronting aggressive reporting as negative, and coining the phrase "liberal mainstream media" during the 1988 H.W. Bush campaign. That year, at the Republican National Convention, delegates chanted, "Tell the truth! Tell the truth!" to the media skyboxes, NewsBlues reported.
When the media does its job, it helps politicians further what they say they're working toward, which is a better, freer society.
When Republican presidential nominee John McCain refused to be interviewed on "Larry King Live" this past Tuesday, he highlighted the growing rift between Republicans and the media.
"McCain spokeswoman Maria Comella said the campaign canceled the interview because of 'a relentless refusal by certain on-air reporters to come to terms with John McCain's selection of Alaska's sitting governor as our party's nominee for vice president,'" the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
This "relentless refusal" refers to when CNN anchor Campbell Brown asked McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds what Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin really did as commander of the Alaska National Guard.
During the heated exchange Bounds asks Brown if she means to belittle Palin. Brown, in return, said she was belittling nothing - she wanted Bounds to name one decision Palin made as Commander-In-Chief of the Alaska National Guard.
Bounds then said that as governor, Palin "makes a decision how to equip or how to command the National Guard in Alaska," at which point Brown interrupted him to say that the Pentagon makes those decisions.
Many Republicans believe that the media has focused positive attention on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and has attacked his opponents in its reports and interviews. In turn, they have attacked the media and accused it of being "liberal."
This isn't the first case of Republicans attacking the media. NewsBlues.com compiled these instances in one of their recent articles, "Attack When Cornered." The Web site noted that Lee Atwater, advisor of former U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, "directed a head-on push against the media, confronting aggressive reporting as negative, and coining the phrase "liberal mainstream media" during the 1988 H.W. Bush campaign. That year, at the Republican National Convention, delegates chanted, "Tell the truth! Tell the truth!" to the media skyboxes, NewsBlues reported.
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