 |
|
Arianna Huffington
|
Arianna Huffington is a nationally syndicated columnist and the author of ten books, including 2004’s Fanatics and Fools: The Game Plan for Winning Back America. She is also co-host of the radio show “Left, Right and Center” on KCRW-Santa Monica. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16, and now lives in Los Angeles. She spoke with Campaign Desk at the “Take Back America” conference in Washington, DC, as part of our continuing series of interviews with reporters and commentators covering the election.
Brian Montopoli: A recent poll by the Pew Research Center showed that journalists are more likely to identify themselves as liberal than conservative. Do you think that the poll will cause journalists to be more reticent to criticize the president over the course of the campaign?
Arianna Huffington: Journalists have already been too reticent to criticize the president and criticize his policies. The New York Times’ mea culpa about their coverage leading up to the war in Iraq is very disturbing — more disturbing than the Jayson Blair revelations. I think the press’ performance is one of the problems of the dampening down of dissent.
BM: You’ve been on both sides of the political divide — both as a candidate and commentator. What did running for the California governorship teach you about the press?
AH: It taught me that the press follows narratives. If a story fits into a narrative, it gets coverage. If it doesn’t fit into a narrative, it doesn’t. So it taught me how important it is for John Kerry to make sure his narrative is clear and that it connects with the people. And then whatever the campaign puts out will be part of the narrative, and the media will cover it.
BM: To that end, then, is the press too quick to pick up on storylines about candidates — and then cling to them, regardless of the facts?
AH: Yes, absolutely. They pick up storylines — that Kerry’s a flip-flopper, for example. That was a storyline that the RNC [Republican National Committee] and the Bush campaign put forward, and the press is clearly following it.
BM: What has been the worst aspect of the coverage so far, and how does it compare to the 2000 campaign?
AH: For one, there’s the herd mentality — how the same aspects of the campaign are being followed by everyone. And, as always, process over substance. If I have to pick just one thing, though, it would be the way polling results drive coverage. Even though we see how they change, how transient they are, how ephemeral they are, they still drive coverage.
BM: And, finally, where is politics stranger — California or DC?
AH: It doesn’t get stranger than in California.
–Brian Monotpoli
Brian Montopoli is a writer at CJR Daily.