Editors toe line with Newsom coverage
Posted October 14, 2009 at 9:30 pm in Opinion
As the race for California governor heats up, the Daily Trojan has yet to cover any candidate other than San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. By covering one candidate and ignoring all others, a newspaper tacitly issues an endorsement for that candidate by suggesting that he is the only one worthy of space on its pages.
If there is a candidate who is far more newsworthy than another by virtue of his geographic location, relationship to the readership or some other characteristic, it is understandable that he might win more attention from the outlet.
Nonetheless, several likely candidates must be included in stories about political campaigns, in the interest of fair reporting, contextualizing and providing all relevant information to the reader.
After publishing two decidedly positive stories about Newsom’s gubernatorial candidacy earlier this month, Daily Trojan editors need to address why these proclamations of support — and no other coverage of the 2010 California governor’s race — made it to print.
With the Nov. 2 election still more than a year away, Newsom was just the second Democrat to announce his candidacy after California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi. Still, current attorney general and former two-term governor Jerry Brown leads the polls (by 20 points according to the latest field poll) as the most likely Democratic nominee.
In the Oct. 1 article, “Newsom already gaining a strong student backing,” it should have been mentioned that despite the conception of a student support organization, Newsom could face serious competition in the primary.
The Republican side, although not the most immediate rival at this point in the campaign, should also have been recognized. Former eBay Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman, former Congressman Tom Campbell and state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner are all viable candidates.
Editor in Chief Alexander Comisar attributed the omission to a temporary lapse in judgment.
“In the story we should’ve acknowledged the status of the other candidates in the race,” he said.
Newsom has been recognized for his particularly strong social media outreach that in some ways mimics the strategy used by President Barack Obama’s campaign to target young voters.
But other candidates’ absence does not nullify the news worth of Students for Gavin Newsom, Comisar said.
“Newsom is the only candidate making a splash on campus in terms of student support. We felt like the showing they made and the support they were trying to garner warranted coverage,” he said.
Also of concern is the participation of two editors in promoting the Newsom campaign.
One editor works directly for the campaign. His job at the Daily Trojan does not allow him to affect editorial content, however, nor make the type of decisions that could have influenced coverage of the candidate.
The other participant, an officer for the USC Students for Newsom organization, was not allowed proximity to the Newsom coverage. Because their involvements did not have any direct effect, their names are not included here.
Editors said they plan to continue following the race.
“It’s absolutely necessary to give students a familiarity with the people who are involved in this all-important race for California,” Comisar said.
Hedging his promise to broaden coverage, Comisar argued that candidates who actively reach out to the university community will inevitably be a more visible part of the story.
“As the candidates get more serious about coming on to college campuses and courting the student vote we’ll be there to cover everything that we deem to be relevant to our campus discourse,” he said.
Keaton Gray is a junior majoring in print journalism, and is the public editor for the Daily Trojan. All questions, comments and concerns about Daily Trojan articles can be addressed to
publiceditor@dailytrojan.com.
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