Politics is the New Baseball

It goes without saying that political news and sports news should be very different. Nevertheless, if you watch CNN or MSNBC, chances are you’ll see political coverage that looks a lot like sports coverage, focusing on which candidates (or teams) are doing well this season and therefore have a chance to make it past the primaries (or to the playoffs) in order to become president (or World Champion).

Let’s take a closer look to see why this is the case. The purpose of Pardon the Interruption or Sunday NFL pre-game shows is to give the viewers enough analysis to determine whether their teams have a good shot of winning, or whether their fantasy players will likely perform well in the next game. The sports media reports on the statuses of injuries and how they will affect a team’s performance and discusses players’ past performances in order to determine how they will fare in the upcoming game. Commentators analyze how each team’s momentum, the weather, and home-field advantage will impact the outcome. In short, the sports media crunches every number and looks at every statistic to tell the viewer one thing: who will win?

The goal of political coverage on CNN or other major news networks is not all that different of late. A quick look on CNN Politics, for instance, will reveal extensive coverage of who will win or lose come next November. For instance, a top story is all about how a new poll indicates that Americans are displeased with Congress, which apparently means that “the battle for control of Congress will heat up next year.” Others discuss how evangelical voters may not be as loyal in November to the GOP as they have in the past, or how Republican candidate Mitt Romney is making gains in South Carolina. Features analyze Americans’ top priorities for the ’08 election, and what subsequent ramifications might be for the race. Another is concerned with how the Bernard Kerik scandal will affect Giuliani’s run for the White House. Each of these articles, it appears, is trying to figure out the same thing as the sports analysis: Who is going to win the big match?

While it certainly is entertaining to follow every step of the campaign, track every poll to see which candidate is winning in which state, and examine every scandal and its possible effects, this is not the role of the news media. The job of the news is to inform the American people which candidate will best represent their interests or shares their values and goals for the United States in the coming years. As opposed to telling me which candidate is doing well in what state in the manner of a sportscaster reporting a baseball score, the news media should tell me what campaign promises each candidate is making and how they could affect my well-being in coming years. Instead of analyzing the potential implications of a scandal as a sports reporter would discuss the ramifications of an injury, news reporters should examine the candidate’s past in more depth in order to predict the likelihood of more scandals in the future.

The goal of political coverage should not be to predict the winner the way Chris Berman predicts winners of a football game. That does not help Americans make informed decisions on Election Day. It does not keep them abreast of all the information necessary to determine which candidate will do the most good for this country, or for their own individual interests. This country has already experienced a really horrible president for more terms than necessary. This time around the news media should take the race seriously, and arm Americans with everything they need to know to figure out if they prefer Hillary to Obama or Romney to Giuliani.

The author, a Spectator Opinion associate, is a Columbia College sophomore.