In a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, one commentator laments that the media is spending too much time reporting what is happening in the elections race, and not enough time explaining what it would mean if the Democrats take control of the congress...

From If Democrats control Congress, then what? Don't ask the media. (Christian Science Monitor):
...If even one house flips, it will have a big impact on what happens in this town in the next two years.

The problem with the media coverage in 2006 has been the lack of context concerning what those changes - if they actually happen - would really mean.

People may be mad about Iraq and may want change there, but unless someone has secretly altered the Constitution, new leaders in either house of Congress won't mean much. Congress doesn't bring the troops home, the president does. True, Congress appropriates money for the fighting, but even if Democrats get control, denying money to the troops in Iraq is not probable when the war opponents' motto has consistently been, "Hate the war, support the troops."

So the ultimate impact on Iraq of a change in congressional control overall is fairly small.

That hasn't stopped the media from focusing on it, however...

This prompted me to send the CSM a brief letter in response. You may not agree with what I had to say, but here's what I said:

I can barely trust news outlets to accurately report what did happen, and I'm going to take their word for what it would mean to have a Democrat congress next year?

Reporting what is happening is the job of the news media, theorizing about what congress will do next year is not. The former is journalism, the latter is editorializing. An appeal to see more of the latter sounds like it springs from a desire to affect the election instead of just report on it. If you want to affect the election, I encourage you to go to the polls and vote.

Of course Americans are uninformed about the future--nobody knows the future. All we can look at is the past, and unfortunately there's a lot to look at isn't there?

The government works for us. When you hire someone who turns out to be incompetent, you don't give them another chance because you aren't sure someone else will do better. You throw the bums out. That's a stark message to the next employee that they must do better.

If the Republicans lose the congress, it's because they deserved to lose, not because the media didn't do its job.

Chuck S.
Fitchburg, MA

What do you think?