Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps?
This morning's New York Times death spiral watch:
John M. Broder and Adam Nagourney: Obama and Huckabee Win in Iowa Vote: Senator Barack Obama won the Iowa Democratic caucuses tonight in a stunning show of strength by a young African-American candidate who was virtually unknown to America three years ago. He defeated Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady, and former Senator John Edwards, the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee in 2004 by a substantial margin.
On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee, the folksy former Arkansas governor and Southern Baptist preacher, defeated the vastly better funded and organized Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, riding a wave of support by evangelical Christians who said they were drawn to Mr. Huckabee because they believed he shared their values.
The Iowa caucuses drew intense public interest and record turnout on the Democratic side, which featured three compelling candidates waging a fierce campaign that turned on the question of change versus experience. Democratic caucusgoers strongly endorsed Mr. Obama’s vow to change the nature of politics in Washington, decisively preferring his case to Mrs. Clinton’s emphasis on her experience in public life as a senator and the spouse of a president and a governor.
Notice: we are three paragraphs into the story and not a single piece of news except that Obama and Huckabee "won". No numbers about how many people attended the caucuses. No numbers about how Iowans are and are not representative of the nation. No numbers about how caucus goers are or are not representative of party activists, party members, or the overall population.
I would call this "horse-race journalism," but the first words out of any horse-race journalist's mouth are always something like:
War Admiral by two lengths over Scintillator at five furlongs.
I won't insult horse-race journalists.
Broder and Nagourney continue, giving as little information as possible:
Mr. Romney conceded early in the evening after falling more than 10 percentage points behind Mr. Huckabee. Mr. Romney, who outspent Mr. Huckabee by more than four to one, conceded in an interview on Fox News. “Congratulations on the first round to Mike,” he said. But he described Iowa as the first inning of a “50-inning ballgame.”... Mr. Romney sought to frame his defeat as something of a comeback, saying he had trailed Mr. Huckabee by more than 20 points a few weeks ago.... The crowd at Huckabee headquarters was ebullient....
In a caucus at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Des Moines, a record 454 Democrats appeared. The enthusiastic crowd heavily favored Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. Jon Muller, 42, the chief financial officer of an education nonprofit group, was one of the Obama backers. “One of the charges against Iowa is that we don’t really represent the rest of the country,” he said, alluding to the fact that blacks form less than three percent of the caucus participants. “Here’s a chance to make a statement about the inclusiveness of Iowa.”
A sample of early arrivals at the Democratic caucus sites told interviewers that the war in Iraq was the most important issue facing the country, followed closely by the economy and health care. A slim majority of the sample of Democratic caucusgoers said that they were looking for a candidate who could bring about needed change, while only one in five cited experience as the most important.... Those who cited health care as the top issue tended to support Mrs. Clinton, who also attracted strong support from older voters and women. Those who decided whom to support in the last three days tended to back former Mr. Edwards.
And, of course, without numbers of any kind, we have no idea what words like "tended" might mean. Then, finally, we get some numbers:
About a third of Republicans interviewed before they cast their votes cited illegal immigration as the most important issue.... followed by the economy and terrorism. The Republican sample included nearly 60 percent who identified themselves as evangelical Christians, who expressed support for Mr. Huckabee by a two-to-one margin over Mr. Romney. Those who make up their minds in the past three days tended to support Mr. Romney.
"Tended," again. I'll cut it off there, because then the canned blather begins.
Shame on John M. Broder, Adam Nagourney, Julie Bosman in Fort Madison, Cate Doty in Waterloo, Patrick Healy in Cedar Rapids, David D. Kirkpatrick in Fort Dodge, Michael Luo in Bettendorf, and Marc Santora in Derry, N.H. They know damned well they should do a lot better. They just choose not to.
