Media sensationalizes election
Campus Times
October 18, 1996
In two weeks, American voters will cast their ballots for the United
States President who will lead the nation into the next century. Voters
will want to choose the candidate who will make decisions that will have
a positive effect on their lives. They will turn to the media for information
on the candidate who will best suit their needs. And the media will not
deliver.
In these final weeks before America chooses its president, the news media
is focusing not on the issues that will affect American voters, but on the
personalities of the candidates who are vying to control these issues.
On Oct. 11, both the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal featured
front-page articles speculating on why Bob Dole refused to attack Bill Clinton's
character in the Oct. 6 presidential debate. Neither newspaper ran front-page
articles on other election issues such as welfare reform and taxes, even
though these issues will certainly affect voters more than Bill Clinton's
alleged extramarital affairs or Bob Dole's failed first marriage.
Character matters in an election. Voters should scrutinize a candidate's
personal views with the same intensity they grant his political views. After
all, when America elects a president, it elects a human being whose human
flaws will affect political behavior. However, there is also a time for
the issues, and the media is lacking in this regard.
Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh was quoted in the Times article as saying
that Dole's avoidance of character issues in the debates was "a disaster."
Later in the article, Everett C. Ladd, executive director of the Roper Center
for Public Opinion Research at the University of Connecticut, agreed, saying
that character attacks are "a genuine issue... that I don't think was
handled well from a Republican standpoint."
Since when is a debate based solely on issues that concern the American
people "a disaster?" Since when are character attacks a more genuine
issue than economic policy?
Perhaps the media believes that voters will lose interest in a campaign
that is richer in social issues than in scandal. Perhaps they are afraid
that, if they fail to report the details of each personal attack, they will
lose their audience. However, research has proven this is not true.
Voters are growing tired of campaigns based on verbal blows. Dole's debate
ratings dropped when he personalized his attacks on Clinton.
By avoiding personal attacks, Dole gave the American public a clean debate
that stated exactly where he stood on issues that will affect voters.
Unfortunately, this was not the debate the media wanted, and because of
this, American voters may not receive information that will help them make
an informed decision when it comes time to choose the leader of the nation.