Covering New Jersey Politics

by: Hopeful

Mon Oct 20, 2008 at 04:30:41 PM EDT

Matt Stoller quoted Josh Zeitz on the Philly Inquirer:

the Philadelphia Inquirer never covered my race once. Never interviewed me. Never sent a candidate questionnaire. Never responded to any of dozens of press releases. Purports to oppose the Bush tax cuts, the war, the bankrupcy bill, homophobia, and the Christian Right. But endorsed Chris Smith. This is the state of journalism today. They endorsed someone without even interviewing by paper or in person his opponent."

Having our news dominated by Philadelphia and New York media organizations that don't care about us is one of the many structural problems of New Jersey politics. Reading the quote above reminded me, though, that I've been meaning to thank the Press of Atlantic City for actually covering the NJ2 Congressional Race year. Besides commissioning a poll of the 2nd district race, here's a selection of articles in which the Press (mainly the reporter Daniel Wash) actually covers the candidates regularly:

Kurkowski claims LoBiondo broke 'Contract with America' (Oct 11)

LoBiondo votes against revised bailout bill (Oct 4)

Kurkowski says LoBiondo failed to oversee Coast Guard project (Oct 3)

LoBiondo's surprise: He'll debate (Sept 20)

Kurkowski challenges LoBiondo's long record (Sept 20)

Kurkowski challenges LoBiondo's effectiveness (Sept 11)

Now in my local paper, there is usually only a couple of articles covering the incumbent and the challengers. Here we see regular press coverage, which is essential to an informed citizenry.

Hopeful :: Covering New Jersey Politics

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The press gives my local New Jersey Congressional race:

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Tags: NJ2, philadelphia inquirer, Press of Atlantic City, media, Josh Zeitz, Dave Kurkowski, Frank LoBiondo, (All Tags)

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Covering New Jersey Politics | 2 comments

problematic coverage (4.00 / 2)

By local paper, I'm just guessing that you mean Today's Sunbeam, though I could be wrong. The Press of Atlantic City and the Courier Post are covering these races with a decent amount of articles, though there could be more. The Courier Post has been having the Kurkowski-LoBiondo contest on the front cover of the South Jersey section, and I think they've done well with NJ02, even though I disagree with the LoBiondo endorsement.

Both the NY Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer have cut back operations in N.J., so Zeitz's response is troubling because it shows a lack of substantial coverage of local campaigns, but it's not surprising. And the Inquirer's endorsements today (three Republicans, one Dem, Adler) were very superficial endorsements, with precious little depth and breadth of the races. They also seem to bend over backwards to support "moderate" Republicans (though Smith arguably is anything but moderate) to make up for their general Democratic leanings. So, yes, Phil and N.Y. coverage of N.J. house races has been abyssmal.

by: Martin @ Mon Oct 20, 2008 at 18:15:03 PM CDT