Election Coverage

Election coverage is exciting, isn’t it? It’s the ultimate competition. We all get pulled in. It’s not like there’s any avoiding it. It’s everywhere - TV, Internet, radio, yard signs, bumper stickers, and even T-shirts. We’re inundated. We can’t help getting caught up in it, but there is a downside. I think we all know by now that it won’t much matter which side of the political spectrum you’re on. When you check your preferred news feed, you’ll find that within two or three minutes you’re likely to hear something that will get you all worked up. Whether it’s straightforward reporting or scorching commentary, there’s a good chance it’s going to land hard. And before you go blaming the messengers just remember – they’re only doing their job.

It’s a well-known fact that there’s a tremendous amount of competition among our news outlets for ratings, and like it or not, the public loves election drama. For that matter, we like just about any kind of drama. We have a huge appetite for that sort of thing, and they’re going to give us what we want. There’s no denying it, and they do a very good job of serving it up day in and day out while we stand ready to soak it in like a sponge. Whether it’s election politics or finance, crime, education, natural disasters, foreign affairs, or whatever else is popping at the moment, we want to be informed. We’re all hooked. I’m no different. I’m afraid I’ll miss something. I tried cutting back, but found that extremely difficult to do, so I simply try not to get too distressed when the news is bad, which all too often is the case

To be fair, there is good news, and it does get reported. It just doesn’t generally dominate the new cycle. I hear there was an outlet that focused solely on reporting the good news, and you want to guess what happened? That’s right. It flopped. Sad, but true. It seems that we prefer the drama, and there is no shortage of that. Something somewhere is always amiss, and we want to know about it. When it comes to elections, however, we want good news. I know we can all agree on that, but it might not happen. So before I sign off, I’d like to say that if your candidate loses, chin up. There’ll be another election coming along right behind this one. Coverage should begin in about a year. Maybe sooner.