Howard Kurtz, the media critic at The Washington Post quotes from one of my South Carolina posts in his January 29, 2008 column.
At CJR, Gal Beckerman watched Obama in action and was not blown away (is that allowed?):
“There was something slightly gimmicky about his presentation. In my notebook, I wrote twice, ‘How will he [...]
Entries from January 2008
January 29, 2008
A Mention in the Washington Post
January 29, 2008
Nuance And Narrative in SC
CJR.ORG — January 29, 2008
I wasn’t in South Carolina long before the rush of national media arrived to cover the Democratic primary last Saturday. But even from the perspective of being there a day or two early, it was something to see the circus sweep into town. A small tent city went up opposite the [...]
January 27, 2008
Mass Media Criticism
CJR.ORG — January 27, 2008
One of the narratives that could have emerged from last night’s primary results in South Carolina would have been extremely destructive to Barack Obama’s future chances: that he was only a black candidate, just another Jesse Jackson. As we quickly found out, there was nothing to support this interpretation. Obama won [...]
January 26, 2008
Waiting for Obama
CJR.ORG — January 26, 2008
Columbia, SC — By the time I arrived at the late-night Obama rally yesterday at South Carolina University’s Koger Center, the doors had been locked. A stony-faced secret service man, arms folded over his chest, looked out through the glass at the cold, damp night. In addition to myself, half the [...]
January 25, 2008
Seeing the Light in South Carolina
CJR.ORG — January 25, 2008
I read the New York Times endorsement of Hillary Clinton late last night in my hotel room in Columbia, South Carolina. I’d just driven back from attending a Barack Obama event 120 miles south in the gym of North Charleston High School (“Home of the Cougars!”). It was everything everyone said [...]
January 22, 2008
Insta-Analysis Takes Another Hit
CJR.ORG — January 22, 2008
What to make of that debate last night? It seems it left a lot of political analysts confused and scrambling for an interpretation. Even our most astute observers of the race, like Josh Marshall, were left scratching their heads. Ben Smith, at Politico, issued a simple “Wow.” No less an Obamaniac [...]
January 21, 2008
A Sight for Fresh Eyes
CJR.ORG — January 21, 2008
There’s probably no one more jaded about politicians than the reporters who have to chase them around the country. They hear the same folksy stories a thousand times, told in exactly the same way, see the effort exerted at projecting genuineness in every handshake and smile. By now, the third or [...]
January 18, 2008
More Candidate Bloomberg
CJR.ORG — January 18, 2008
How much larger and fruit-flavored can the Bloomberg for President bubble get? Evidence this morning came in the form of an NPR segment that was accompanied online by your very own “Candidate Bingo Card.” No, I’m not kidding. Robert Smith, the NPR reporter, sat in on the New York mayor’s State [...]
January 17, 2008
Recommended Reading
CJR.ORG — January 17, 2008
One central narrative in the presidential campaign thus far, on both the Republican and Democratic sides, has been the success of insurgent candidates. Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, in particular, whose chances looked slim a year ago, are now firmly in the mix. Journalists often don’t have time to dwell on [...]
January 15, 2008
The Bloomer Mill
CJR.ORG — January 15, 2008
While most of the country is focused on Obama and Clinton, McCain and Romney, and big issues of race and gender, war and the economy, the sliver of island called Manhattan, just off the coast of America (where it rightly belongs, some would say) is busy getting frustrated with the non-candidacy [...]
