Baiting the media.

If you’ve read and/or watched any major media these past few months, you know tensions are really high in this upcoming election because of the sorts of audiences the two major candidates attract. You see all the speeches, the rallies, all the smear attacks…everything that does not equate into the calm, moral campaigns we should expect from our prospective leaders.

But why are things so heated? To be honest, I think it’s due to the very media we consume. There are two major points/trends that I feel the media has failed the public dearly on.

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The first trend is how everything has to be a horse race. It’s clear that the goal of mass media these days is less and less about proper coverage and more and more about making money.  When ratings are high and interests are tweaked, life is good.

According to the mass media, this election is a deadheat…way too close to call. So here comes all the news personalities, all the pundits…everyone coming out of the woodwork to tell a nationwide audience why his candidate is better than that other guy or why this guy is a terrorist and why/or either of them is bad for America.

The pundity overkill concerning the race being too close to call is one thing, but it’s another thing when real poll numbers using legitimate statistics say that’s the farthest from the truth. Check out websites like Real Clear Politics or FiveThirtyEight for a more realistic idea of how the election is turning out. National polls mean very little! It’s the state polls that matter! And according to most of the polls coming out of battleground states, things just aren’t all that close.

Yet that reality isn’t exciting enough for the media. Everyone/everything has to be close and the race has to be exciting, or people won’t read or watch their content. It’s incredibly frustrating to me that the mass media has turned into tabloid journalism, where everything has to be exciting and raw for it to be given any sort of coverage. Real news that affects the world is not always exciting, and some people need to realize that.

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And with that, is the second point/trend. You can call it “Joe The Plumber”.

I watched the third Presidental debate and knew the second that John McCain uttered the term “Joe The Plumber” that there was an ulterior motive behind it. I knew it was total “bait” for both the general public and the national media. And sure enough, the mass media took that “bait” and “Joe The Plumber” became a national figure…even when the word got out that he wasn’t remotely what/who he said he was.

“Joe The Plumber” is apparently a voice of some large, mainstream portion of America, so much so that McCain decided to finish off his campaign with “Joe The Plumber” campaign stops. The whole thing strikes me as both intellectually and morally dishonest and frankly embarrassing. And yet the media continues to give him airtime.

So what does this have to do with selecting content for a daily newspaper? Well, the other night there were “Joe The Plumber” AP wire stories. I ignored them. I’m not ignoring “Joe” because he’s supporting McCain, as the same standards would apply even if he endorsed Obama or Bob Barr or even Chuck Baldwin. There were also numerous “attack” stories from both sides of the political spectrum.  I also immediately ignored them.

It’s because the average small-town newspaper has limited space each night, and there are far more relevant things that readers should know about. The financial crisis, things going on internationally, the war in Iraq, things like that. The average small-town newspaper has no room for “Joe The Plumber” or other forms of celebrity news. You can read all of that sort of news on places all across the Internet. When it comes to your daily newspaper, I personally think we have a moral obligation to try and offer as much relevant news as we can with the limited space we have.

But much of that news…isn’t the sort of exciting things some want you to hear about.

Phiiiiiiiiiillllllllllllllyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jerry Lodriguss/Philadelphia Inquirer

The 2-day wait is over.

The Philadelphia Phillies are World Series champions.

And the World Series MVP?

Cole Hamels.

In five playoff starts, Hamels — already the MVP of the National League Championship Series — was 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA, including two excellent starts in the World Series.

The 24-year-old lefthanded starting pitcher, who has now become a household name across the country, could have earned the win in Wednesday’s makeup game, but ended up with a no-decision. But hey, I can live with that. And apparently he can too.

“I’m definitely going to have to enjoy this moment because there’s a lot of times you don’t have everything go your way. To come away with a World Series ring is more important to me than an MVP.”

For now, let’s enjoy a Philly championship. It’s been a long time coming.

Yong Kim/Philadelphia Daily News