CAMPBELL PUBLIC AFFAIRS INSTITUTE Commentaries on the American Presidency April, 2004 The Press and Presidential Politics Charlotte Grimes When it comes to the press and presidential politics, it’s necessary to consider both the ideal and the real. Knight Chair in Political Reporting In the ideal, journalists pursue the press’ classic roles of witness and watchdog. They see themselves as serving as a surrogate for the public in following candi- The Newhouse School of dates’ campaigns. They record events. They are fact-checkers on candidates’ claims. They are professional devil’s advocates, testing the hypothesis of candidates’ pro- Public Communications, posals by seeking diverse perspectives and the insights of experts on complicated Syracuse University issues. They dig into candidates’ records, character and rhetoric – holding them accountable to the public. They provide what press scholar Michael Schudson calls “public knowledge”: our shared information about people, issues and events.1 They
[email protected] see themselves as gathering, checking and disseminating the independent, disinter- ested, impartial information necessary for people in a democracy to be self-govern- ing. Leonard Downie Jr. and Robert G. Kaiser of the Washington Post put the journal- ists’ view of their work vividly: “Independent, aggressive journalism strengthens American democracy, improves the lives of its citizens, checks the abuses of pow- erful people, supports the weakest members of society, connects us all to one anoth- er, educates and entertains us. News matters.”2 In the real, the roles of witness and watchdog are sometimes – and increasingly – distorted, subverted and manipulated. Today, journalists function in a craft that’s being profoundly reshaped by the relentless 24-hour news cycle, pressure from Wall Street for profits, the Internet and increasing acceptance of virtual journalism – a simulation of the real thing that blends entertainment, gossip and commentary with the news.