Do you know more now or possibly less about the two candidates running for president since the start of the final campaign on Labor Day? The tedium is the message now in an event the media seems determined to cover like a pennant race or a TV sitcom. In fact, the whole civic exercise might be dumbed down just in time for a war in the Middle East and a tanking NASDAQ to spoil the party. Would it take terrorism and maybe a reality check on America’s giddy economic fortunes to sober up the media on its job of covering Campaign 2000?
Will we respect the American TV, print and radio news establishment in the morning after the Oprah phase of the campaign and the Latenight phase and the Great Debate phase? And with 30?? days left and one televised debate until election day, does anyone want to hold these two candidates to a real presidential standard.? The media debrief on the Gore-Bush race is this hour on the Connection.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Jay Rosen, New York University
John Nichols, editorial page editor for the Capital Times
Bob Thompson, Professor of TV and Film, Syracuse University
Alex Jones, Director of the Shorenstein Center.