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[Wednesday at NAB]
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Top Reporters: 2008 Election Like No Other
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by Sanjay Talwani,
~ April 16, 2008
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TV TECHNOLOGY
In January, pundits said the Democrats and Republicans would pick their nominees within a month.
“Instead, here we are in April with the candidates in one party still fighting it out and the prospect of a contest that could go all the way to the convention,” said RTNDA President Barbara Cochran as she introduced an all-star panel of political reporters at Tuesday’s Super Session, “Election 2008: The Home Stretch,” sponsored by Advanced Broadcast Solutions.
“It’s enough to make a recovering political editor like myself wish I were back in the newsroom,” Cochran said.
Add in competition from new media sources and rapid change in technology, and this political year is breaking plenty of the old molds of how stories are reported.
For starters, the reporters noted that the kerfluffle of the moment — Obama’s statement about Heartland frustration, guns and religion — was broken not by a professional reporter but by an Obama supporter who heard the statement at a fundraiser and blogged about it on The Huffington Post, said Linda Douglass, contributing editor to National Journal.
NBC News Correspondent Ron Allen, who has been covering the Clinton campaign, said that the use of small cameras on the campaign plane has changed a key dynamic: In-flight banter used to be off the record; now it’s mostly on.
Legendary ABC Correspondent Sam Donaldson said gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who gets some 9 million hits daily, endorsed Clinton just before the California primary. Clinton not only won, but won the youth vote that has generally gone for Obama so far.
The reporters agreed Obama will be the Democratic nominee, barring a major series of mistakes. But the general election won’t be a layup for Obama.
“If you’re the Democrats ... if you’re at 30,000 feet you’ve got to look and say, ‘What are we doing wrong?’” said CNN Chief National Correspondent John King, the session moderator.
After the 2006 Democratic capture of Congress, it seemed the Democrats would have to work to lose in 2008, said Politico.com Executive Editor John Harris. “And I think it’s entirely possible they are up to the job.”
As for the issues themselves, CBS News White House Correspondent Peter Maer said he went to Iowa thinking the Iraq War would top the issue. Instead, most people wanted to talk about the economy.”
The reporters agreed Obama is very likely to hold off Clinton. “She has to hope the Obama tsunami ... somehow can be brought back,” Donaldson said. “And if it’s brought back, I don’t think she’ll do it; he’ll do it.
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