Saturday, October 16, 2004

MEDIA NEEDS TO KEEP EYE ON THE BALL THE REST OF THE WAY
James S. McKay- Unpublished Letter to the NYT

The marathon that has been this year’s presidential campaign has been largely squandered by focusing on issues that have too little to do with the historic challenges that await us over the next four years. Nonsense about swift boats and the national guard 30 years ago have taken up far too much of the press coverage and have skewed the public debate away from the Iraq war, the economy, health care, social security, the environment, the deficit, and any number of subjects that will indelibly change our lives and our world.


During these final two weeks of the presidential campaign, I implore the press to keep their eye on the ball, and focus their coverage upon the real issues at hand. The debates have finally provided an unfiltered view of the two men who would lead us and to a significant extent they have laid out contrary views of the directions they each would take. Now is the time to examine their plans and records in detail, and to judge them on the merits. We have a chance to be smart about this decision and the demands of our times are simply too great to continue being distracted by salacious but insignificant sideshows.
I say this now because the press is already being diverted by the "flap" over John Kerry’s reference to Dick Cheney’s lesbian daughter. This story should not dominate the precious days remaining for honest discussion of larger issues. It is a distraction. Kerry was insightful, honest, and supportive of Ms. Cheney and all gay people when he said most gay people feel like they were born that way. His comments were an attempt to dispel unfair notions, often pandered to by right wing conservatives, that being gay is some kind of deviant choice of lifestyles. If Mr. Kerry overstepped his bounds in mentioning Ms. Cheney’s name, his error was harmless. Ms. Cheney and her parents have long been public about her sexual orientation. If Mr. Kerry was "talking about their kid" he was doing so in a positive light.
Other "flaps" will surely compete for the last remaining news cycles in a calculated attempt to toss a critical few votes from one side to the other. We know already that Sinclair Broadcasting will be showing an anti-Kerry diatribe. The Ten Commandments have recently tried to peep into the public debate. These stories are trivial compared to the big issues of war and peace that confront us, yet they have the potential to tip an intensely close election. Now more than ever, the press must resist the urge to chase these red herrings and focus like a laser on the merits of each candidate’s case for America.

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