TV slighted election
One contributor to low turnout in the recent election certainly must be the lack of TV coverage by local network affiliates. The candidates poured thousands of dollars into yard signs for name recognition and postcard mailings to outline their positions. The print media pre-election coverage was commendable – interviews, commentaries, endorsements and reader letters.
About a dozen community forums were held where voters could hear the candidates. City Cable 5 broadcast candidate debates. However, network affiliates were missing in action.
TV is the best medium to bring the personality of the candidates to the voters. Many voters rely solely on TV broadcasts for local news, but the recent election campaigns were more neglected by these stations than women’s sports – no interviews, no commentaries, no viewer participation, not even a mention of candidate names on their Web sites.
This is not just a Spokane problem. In 2008, the Federal Communications Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking cited testimony on a decline in local political coverage and asked “whether it would be appropriate or permissible for the Commission to take additional steps to enhance broadcasters’ coverage of local political candidates and issues.” Viewers can make comments to the FCC when these stations next renew their licenses.
Pete Duffy
Spokane