Elections Have Consequences, Let’s Report Them With That In Mind
Months ago, Joe Rosen, an NYU journalism professor and writer for PressThink, coined a valuable phrase, well-aimed at the media, about our upcoming 2024 election: “Not the odds, but the stakes.” A concise phrase, easily memorable, it’d make a great tee shirt. And it ought to be repeated, hopefully helping to create a national “organizing principle,” as he calls it. We most certainly need an organizing principle to replace the near universal betting sheet analysis of election 2024 by media outlets.
Personally, I enjoy and like MSNBC’s Steve Kornacke, yet he epitomizes the genre, and in his case, his on-air delivery at breakneck speed resembles nothing less than the running of the Kentucky Derby. This approach creates a sense of emotional excitement that short circuits viewers’ more considered thinking about the election. As a country we often view elections as sports events, in candor, there is more than a scintilla of horseracing about elections. But in a crucial election, when this characterization becomes primary, as it is in this upcoming election, it can have a numbing effect on the mind’s ability to view elections soberly: too much adrenalin as an election year lifestyle.
Now, Perhaps More Than Ever Before
Most importantly, this election is truly, explosively, undeniably crucial. Though it’s trite to say so, a trite observation isn’t always and forever wrong, particularly when Donald Trump is the likely GOP candidate. As I wrote in “Is This Election “Crucial”? You Bet It Is!”:
We don’t need to wonder if this election is crucial. No waiting for hindsight is required. Drop the debate about it. Use time, especially air time, more productively. We’ve already witnessed Trump and company at work; they openly showed their cards to the entire nation. He earned two impeachments, 90 some odd criminal charges for actions he feels entitled to, and near universal disdain here and abroad for using the nuclear option against our electoral college and his own Vice President. If this was the warm-up act, imagine the main event. Despite my admission that hindsight plays an important role in labeling presidential elections “crucial,” we don’t need hindsight to label this election crucial. We’ve been to the circus and we saw the elephants.
Hopefully, Professor Rosen’s memorable phrase will explode off the Twitter/X page and infiltrate editorial and producers’ weekly meetings of media actors everywhere. Let’s replace the odds with the stakes, and soon.