Matt Felling of CBS News and Carl Cannon at National Journal are each writing about a subject raised by Cannon when he wondered where media's line is between what is "Relevant" and what is "Prurient." It's an interesting discussion, as the world of instant, interactive, internet, social media has changed the game of politics forever...
The gaggle of 2008 candidates will be acting out their various pathologies in a technological environment more suited for entertainment than for serious policy discussion. YouTube, the blogs, and an unfettered cable culture did not exist in 1988 and 1992, the years that the privacy barriers came tumbling down. They do now.
The upshot is a combustible mix that is prompting political observers to wonder whether the process will dissuade good people from even bothering with politics -- or whether that has already happened.
Frelling responds:
There used to be a "below the belt" in political journalism, but that was when boxing was a national sport. It’s 2007 now and we’re living in Ultimate Fighting America – a culture where there's just "hit" and "clutch" and "grab" and "bite." You 'hit' with the mainstream media; if that won’t work, you 'clutch' through some political agitators on one side – Swift Boat – or the other – MoveOn. You 'grab' through some damaging footage on YouTube and lastly you 'bite' through blogging, anonymously or otherwise.
The media now covers politicians the same way they cover Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears: over-the-top, no-holds-barred, the nastier the better. We can recollect and romanticize the past – take a deck chair next to Gatsby and stare at the green light, if you will – but we also need to devote time and energy to adapting to this new reality. Politicians, strategists and reporters need to evolve with the times. There’s no easy way to say this to candidates and their campaign staffs but to say it: Put down your dog-eared copies of "The Boys on the Bus" and make The Smoking Gun your homepage. Media Darwinism is cruel.
Excellent advice. A campaign that doesn't "get" the new media landscape, and doesn't understand that there are no more rules, is destined to be a losing campaign.
Cannon's article, by the way, is much longer than the bit I excerpted, and well worth the time it would take you to read it.
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