It’s perhaps worth noting, courtesy of the NYT’s Caucus Blog, that the Democratic National Committee has Got The Media’s Back. No, I’m not talking about the Starz Green Room. The committee is thoughtfully providing a parting gift—a “survival kit” for those reporters who will, poor souls, move far away from the massages, smoothies and yoga sessions currently offered up in Denver, and next week enter into the wilds of St. Paul.
What’s in it? We’ve been hearing about the GOP’s war room; well, the Dems will have one of their own, called “More of the Same” (a phrase that, despite Biden’s efforts last night, doesn’t quite roll off the tongue), and the package includes a media credential for it that features a photo of McCain embracing Bush. (I mean, do you have to have one to enter the war rooms?) But get this: “Attached to the credential is a flash memory drive pre-loaded with research documents, images and videos meant to provide a counter-point to the McCain campaign’s message.”
Whoa, there. I probably shouldn’t be surprised. Still, I wonder what TechPresident, a blog that monitors “how the candidates are using the web, and how the web is using them,” will write about this. Doesn’t it just seem like an extension of the “watching MSNBC coverage from the Google Tent” phenomenon, in which sedentary journalism is encouraged and material given is too often material used? Just because reporters shouldn’t use the stuff on that flash drive wholesale doesn’t mean they won’t.
Jane Kim is a writer in New York.