Media coverage of the 2012 presidential campaign is not promising if the handling of the Michele Bachmann shoving episodes are any indication of what's ahead.
That coverage sounded more whiny than the usual complaints from candidates who think their campaigns have been wrecked by an uncomplimentary headline or photo selection. Only this time, it was the media that was whining.
In August, at least some segments of the media made a very big deal of a few shoves that Bachmann aides reportedly made against a network reporter. A similar incident in July with a local newsman was reported, but received less attention.
Media Ratings Already Low
Question: Who, other than the reporters in question, really care? Most Americans probably couldn't care less. Media approval ratings are down there with the Congressional popularity scores. There were probably even some "attaboys" and "attagirls" among Bachmann followers when they heard of the shovings. It’s doubtful that the stories improved media images very much.
Truth is, if reporters are doing their job, they're probably doing some shoving, too. That's tradition. Some of us have been shoved and elbowed by pretty good reporters, including women.
To put the story in perspective: Although Democratic strategists would probably love to see her get it, Bachmann is still a long shot for the Republican nomination. Sure she won the Iowa straw poll. But which Republican won the Iowa poll in 2008? Don't remember, right? So why is a little shoving by her aides that important? It’s not like she’s the president yet.
Bachmann Wasn't Shoving
Besides, it wasn't her doing the shoving. It was the people assigned the task of protecting her, including two women. If they're aides, that's their job. Anyway, this candidate is a woman. American men, and apparently women too, try to protect women.
If by chance Bachmann should get nominated or elected president, you can bet next year's taxes that there will be some federal agents pushing people around if necessary to protect her. So maybe her aides were just trying to get her adjusted to such handling, to feel safe out there while trying to make her way through large crowds.
How many shoving matches occur in the United States every day? How many get national media coverage? Such incidents can usually be settled by an editor’s call to the candidate. After that warning, all bets are off. Of course, there was once a time when a reporter would have been ashamed to report a shoving to his editor, who would have been interested only in whether the reporter got the story he was assigned to get.
Few Good Reasons for Shoving
True, there are very few good reasons for pushing reporters around, if you exclude the obnoxiousness of a few of them. We have to assume that Bachmann cautioned her aides and husband, at least after the second incident, if for no other reason than to head off bad publicity. If there are repeated complaints about her husband, he may have to be schooled in the difference between a Congressional district campaign and a presidential campaign, as well as the behavior of a wannabe president's husband.
A few days later Chinese police reportedly locked arms and pushed reporters out of a room where Vice President Joe Biden was speaking. That incident merited coverage, of course, because it involved the VP in a foreign country and fisticuffs were reported. Another shoving incident occurred in Dallas when a county commissioner put a reporter out of his office. That deserved at least Texas attention because it directly involved an elected official. And the video showed that the physical ouster was really intentional.
If someone had been intentionally hurt by a Bachmann aide, that would have been a story worthy of attention. Then you start thinking in terms of hoodlums, political or otherwise.
57 Reporters Killed in 2010
Reporters, some of them Americans, get beaten, jailed and sometimes even killed in other countries. According to Reporters Without Borders, 57 reporters, were killed around the world in 2010 alone, and that was down from the previous year. Those cases deserve attention, if for no other selfish reason than they are not able to keep us informed. Danger is not in a reporter's job description, but it does come with the territory. It goes far beyond shoving at a political rally.
In both Bachmann casee, the reporters were obviously able to file their stories. Not getting your questions answered is not unusual, especially if they are posed to a politician. That’s a non-story. Politicians are trained not to answer questions, which you know by now if you watched the Republican debates.
Bottom line: The little shoving matches had nothing to do with the campaign issues and would be very difficult to relate to the Congresswoman's character. And it will probably all be sensibly forgotten by the end of 2011.
Maybe the media will toughen up a little as the campaign progresses, and focus on real issues.
Sources:
The Associated Press, ABC News Claims Reporter Was Shoved by Bachmann staffers, The Post and Courier, July 20, 2011
Julie Bolcer, Marcus Bachmann Shoves Don Lemon at Campaign Event, Advocate.com, August 13, 2011
2010: 57 Journalists Killed, Reporters Without Borders.org
