COVERING THE CONVENTION

August 3, 2000
		Terence Smith conducts a panel discussion on the media coverage of the Republican convention. The NewsHour Media Unit is funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Online Special: GOP Convention 2000 Text of the 2000 GOP Platform Election 2000 Media coverage has a new look Browse the NewsHour's coverage of politics     GOP 2000 Convention George W. Bush	TERENCE SMITH: Joining us are three journalists who cover television. Martha Moore of USA Today; Elizabeth Jensen of the Los Angeles Times; and David Bianculli of the New York Daily News. Welcome to you all. David, you have covered these conventions since 1976. They used to be great television. Is this great television? DAVID BIANCULLI, New York Daily News: No. But I don't think it has to be great television. I think West Wing has to be great television. This has to be informative television, and interesting television. TERENCE SMITH: That's a good point because it's against what do you judge it to be great television? Entertainment? News? Events? What's the answer, Martha? MARTHA MOORE, USA Today: Well, I think it has changed from being a news event to being more of an entertainment and spectacle. And so if you evaluate it on whether it's interesting and entertaining in that way, it is okay television. It is not television where something is going to happen.
	Caught in the middle
	TERENCE SMITH: Elizabeth, what do you think? ELIZABETH JENSEN, Los Angeles Times: Well, I think part of the problem becomes when the networks don't really know how to cover it. They are caught in this middle thing here. Before it used to be straight news, at the same time it was very entertaining. Now, the standards have changed, the parties are presenting it as pure entertainment. They are caught in the middle, and they are going back and forth. Some of it can be very unsatisfying television. You know, CBS says, well, there is no news here, so we're going to go to the convention and we're going to go to a little news magazine rerun of a health piece and we're going to go back to the convention. And the viewer doesn't know what they are getting. TERENCE SMITH: What signal does that send if the networks approach it that way? What signal does that send to their viewers? DAVID BIANCULLI: Well, the first signal is this is not as important as it used to be, not even to us and certainly shouldn't be to you. But yet what happens is all of these high powered broadcast networks, they still have the staffs; they still have the clout. They still have the drive to want to compete. And so, instead of it being about seeing as many politicians as possible and as many issues, it is getting the face time for all of the correspondents and bouncing back and forth, as they constrict their own time on the air, they look clumsier with what they have left. TERENCE SMITH: You know, the Republicans have focused like a laser -- to use a Clintonian phrase -- on their message. Have they got it across? MARTHA MOORE: Well, I think if their message was, we're an inclusive party, yes, they have because, as we all know, what is important in television is the pictures, and they have controlled the pictures well enough so that all you have seen is a stage full of diversity. And while we have tried to report the audience is not necessarily as diverse, I think they have gotten the pictures that they wanted to. ELIZABETH JENSEN: And even the networks, the stories that they are reporting, they are saying, they are talking about that whole issue. They are repeating the message and asking whether the party has gotten the message out. So it only reinforces the message.
	Analyzing the chatter
	TERENCE SMITH: CBS, for example, has emphasized the money, the money here, the fundraising, that sort of thing. So there's a certain sort of practical politics, some would say even skeptical. DAVID BIANCULLI: I'm old fashioned. I still think there is value to having analysts and commentators sitting there at certain times cutting away from the podium when it is not compelling to make points that you might not otherwise get. It is a chance to focus on the political process in America. And - go ahead. MARTHA MOORE: But, you know, one thing that's interesting is, C-SPAN is putting out a daily tally how much each network spends focused on the podium, and their point being, of course, that they spend all of their time focused on the podium when someone is at the podium. And it shows just how much chat there is versus how much of the convention is actually shown. And I think that's an issue because it is hard when you tune in to see the convention and you don't get to see the convention. You get to see people chattering. ELIZABETH JENSEN: Fox actually told me today they are going to for the Democrats, they're probably going to go back to showing a little bit more of the convention because they think it gets unsatisfying for the viewer when they can't figure out what's going on on the convention floor. TERENCE SMITH: In fact ABC made a decision during Colin Powell's speech. DAVID BIANCULLI: This is my favorite goofy moment of this convention. And I have been watching these things forever it seems and I have never seen anything like this. And it was because of the squeeze of minutes. You had Colin Powell giving a really compelling speech, I think there is no argument there, not much argument. Anyway, ABC cuts away early from it to have Cokie Roberts - whom I really like -- on the floor talking about what a great speech it was - TERENCE SMITH: And it was still going on. DAVID BIANCULLI: In the past tense. It was still going on and she's talking about the reaction, and there's applause. And you can't hear him, because you're hearing her talk about what we're not able to see. If it's that good a speech, shut up and show us the speech. MARTHA MOORE: But that's part of the - it's always a battle between the networks and the parties to control the amount of air time that's going to be devoted to the conventions. And one thing the networks I think feel the parties routinely do is try to schedule it so they have no time to talk about what has been mentioned so the analysts have no time to say anything -- to evaluate anything so it can be a pure message for the party. TERENCE SMITH: You know, the networks have made an editorial decision not to run the biographical film that will be shown tonight that will precede the acceptance speech by George W. Bush. Is that right? Is that a good decision? ELIZABETH JENSEN: This has been a debate for many years and I guess about 12 years ago this first came up that some of the networks decided they were not going to. Their point is that it is an infomercial; that it's something the party wants to you see. There are two schools of thought: Indeed it is a marketing tool. At the same time, it can be valuable to see how the party wants to you see the candidate.
	Looking for an audience
	MARTHA MOORE: And if that's the argument for the whole evening, you know, where do you draw the line between which part of the infomercial do you show and which part don't you; and especially if one part of the infomercial has better production values. TERENCE SMITH: David, do you think the networks with all their talent and production values could make a show -- a better show, and one that would find an audience out of the convention if they tried? DAVID BIANCULLI: Well, they could make a better show. Whether it would find an audience, I don't know. I think, well, NBC as a network has been embarrassingly absent, at least it was for the first couple of days, over on MSNBC in prime time, they were doing a good job. And yet ratings for MSNBC were abysmal. And so, you know, if you go somewhere else to some alternate source in order to do a better job and viewers don't follow you, what's the point? TERENCE SMITH: Final quick thought. The Internet was the new player here this time, has it made a difference? MARTHA MOORE: Totally unclear. But I don't think even the media companies that are engaging in the Internet know how it is working out. But they feel like they have to do it. It is a big experiment for them. ELIZABETH JENSEN: Lots of bells and whistles, but some of them work; some of them don't. TERENCE SMITH: Thank you all three very much.

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