Voters to Press: Tell Us Where the Candidates Stand

The political news landscape is expanding, becoming more immediate, and becoming more customizable. So Fry was struck, when speaking with voters in the run-up to last week’s GOP primary in South Carolina, how many said they turned for information about the candidates to the most old-school and embattled of media outlets: the local newspaper.

The lesson isn’t that the media should shrink from an active role in identifying and pursuing important stories. When there’s a story that merits scrutiny, national (and local) press should jump on it, even when that means aggravating voters who have been primed to resent the “elite media.” Meanwhile, as the circle of insiders expands, it makes sense that more media outlets will compete for a share of the “politics junkie” audience. But it’s worth remembering that one of the first things voters need to know (and want to know) about the campaign is simply where the candidates stand—and that, even in a fragmented media landscape overrun with never-before-seen quantities of “paid media,” many readers still turn to trusted local sources for that information. Political reporters should aspire to do more than the basics, and to bring scrutiny and skepticism to bear on the messages coming out of the campaigns. But that process begins with helping voters learn what those messages are.