My assignment for the week was to monitor three days worth of media coverage regarding the 2008 election from the same media source. The task here was to look through the articles and find the roles the media fulfilled in them. Using Toulmin’s model, I found the roles played in the articles while using the theory’s found in Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman’s book “The Press Effect.”
Although the Register-Guard did a fine job of providing election coverage over the last three days, I believe that the stories could of provided more of a “press as a custodian of fact” role. I read six articles regarding the election. Three of those stories took on the “press as a storyteller” role, two took on the “press as a psychologist” role, and just one took on the “press as a custodian of fact” role. In addition, five of the articles seemed to have plenty of scrutinizing coverage of the Republican Party, while just one article covered the Democratic Party. Certainly, it seemed as if the articles favored the Democratic Party and provided ample criticizing coverage of the Republican Party.
The first three stories I read took on the “story teller” role. One was the report that Sarah Palin was being investigated for abusing her power by firing her ex-brother-in-law from the police force. The second story is about how John McCain’s supporters vented anger with harsh words for Barrack Obama by calling him a traitor and a terrorist. Lastly, the third “story teller” role explained how Republicans were worried about McCain’s comeback ability. Clearly, these three stories portrayed criticism on the Republican Party more so than the Democratic Party.
The second media role I found in my reading of the election coverage was the “press as a psychologist” role. The first article of this nature portrays the character of McCain, with which he tries to set a respectful tone toward Obama. The story downplays this tone by featuring a quote from Obama saying, “I can take four more weeks of McCain ads, but not four more years of McCain-Bush economics.” The other article taking on the role of a psychologist exists in a report regarding the character of Palin’s spouse. In the article, Todd Palin is regarded as a power hungry husband who spends half of his time in the governor’s office. While these two stories could be “story tellers” in there own right, the fact that they try to show the true nature of McCain and Palin’s spouse reveal that they take on the role of a psychologist.
The third role I found in my reading of the election coverage was perhaps the most crucial role in media today: the “custodian of fact” role. The article that contained this role investigated the relationship between Obama and former real estate developer Antoin Rezko. The story explains the relationship between the two men, while revealing that Obama has in fact cut off ties with Rezko.
The “press as a custodian of fact” role is the most important role in the media today because it looks to find the truth and clear up any misperceptions or errors. In this role, as stated by Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman, reporters help readers understand conflicting ideas by defining terms and informing the public of any misleading or false statements.
I believe the “press as a custodian of fact” role is most crucial because it brings up history such as promises versus governments, and provides a true analysis instead of a simple description of the facts. While the election coverage from the Register-Guard is adequate, I think it could of used the “custodian of fact” role in more of its coverage and provide a fair analysis for both political parties.
The late Tim Russert was a major proponent in the role of press as a custodian of fact. (Photo courtesy of newsday.com)
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