Major Newspapers To Get Tougher On Presidential Candidates
PAPERS GET INTERNAL PUSH FOR TOUGHER SCRUTINY OF NOMINEES:
–WashPost Ombudsman Patrick B. Pexton in tomorrow’s paper, “Time for a closer look at Mitt Romney”:
So now that Mitt Romney is the presumptive presidential nominee for the Republicans, it’s time for The Post to take a closer look at his record and what kind of president he might be
“This week I reviewed 700 stories about Romney published by the Boston Globe during his campaign for, and first year as, governor. … [H]e tried many messages before finally landing on themes along these lines: I fixed the Salt Lake City Olympics and I’ll fix the patronage and budget deficits of Massachusetts. … As governor, … his aloof management style turned off a lot of people. … Globe columnist Brian McGrory said Romney in his first year (he got better later) didn’t have just a ‘tin ear’ to the schmoozing and politicking necessary to get things done on Beacon Hill but a ‘steel ear.’”
–N.Y. Times Public Editor Arthur S. Brisbane, in last Sunday’s paper, “A Hard Look at the President”: “[T]he general election season is on, and The Times needs to offer an aggressive look at the president’s record, policy promises and campaign operation to answer the question: Who is the real Barack Obama? … Based on conversations with Times reporters and editors who cover the campaign and Washington, I think they see themselves as aggressive journalists who don’t play favorites. Still, a strong current of skepticism holds that the paper skews left. … I applaud The Times’s stated commitment to doing these kinds of stories. Readers deserve to know: Who is the real Barack Obama? And The Times needs to show that it can address the question in a hard-nosed, unbiased way.”
