The real problem with the media’s political coverage

Plenty has been said about the McCain camp’s exploitation of this whole lipstick-on-a-pig thing—it’s petty, it’s divisive, and it’s not the type of political conversation this country needs right now. I’m not going to get much further into that, but you can read some of my thoughts over at Ablogistan.

The media’s culpability in the whole matter, however, is something worth exploring more, because this sort of things happens every election season. Controversies like these are why I’ve never bought into claims that the media has an inherent liberal or conservative bias—it implies the media puts a lot of actual critical thought into its political coverage.

Most news outlets seem to cover politics like a pack of dogs chasing a flashlight beam. They don’t care where that bright spot on the wall is coming from. They see it and think, “Go get it!” Then it moves to the floor, and they run as a wild pack, barking at the top of their lungs, coming up with nothing. Over and over. Meanwhile, the guy sitting in the chair with the flashlight is doubled over in laughter at how easy it is to fool these simple beasts with such a basic tool.

Chuck Todd basically admitted as much this morning, on Morning Joe:

“I think the McCain campaign is laughing their butts off this morning. That any of us have taken the bait on this lipstick thing, I mean, this is a joke … They have beaten the Obama campaign on these little — what I call — sort of shiny metal object days, right? They’re able to say, “Oh, look, shiny metal object.”

I suppose we, the consumers (and the bloggers who get all worked up in a frenzy as well), share some of the blame. If scandals and dirty politics didn’t generate so many viewers, readers, and links (and as a result, advertising revenue), maybe the cycle would stop.

But didn’t journalists at one time have higher standards? It wasn’t always just a business. I like to quote Thomas Jefferson, who put the press up on a pedestal and considered it the greatest asset of a free nation. He said, “Our citizens may be deceived for awhile, and have been deceived; but as long as the presses can be protected, we may trust to them for light.”

Today’s media has let that light burn out.