Political news doesn't mean boring news. That was the message April 19 when winners of the USC Annenberg Walter Cronkite Awards converged to accept their awards at USC and discuss the state of political coverage on local television news.
"It's our job to make political coverage interesting and construct stories that are relevant and well done," said Brian Ross of ABC News, who helped break the Mark Foley scandal on the ABC News Blotter.
The purpose of the Cronkite Awards "is to encourage and showcase television journalistic excellence in political coverage, particularly innovative, issue-focused coverage that informs viewers about their electoral choices." A full list of the winners can be found here.
"A theme here is politics can be interesting," said Norman Lear Center director and Norman Lear Chair holder Martin Kaplan, who moderated the discussion. "But you have to know how to do it."
Robert Mak of of KING Seattle said he's learned over the years to have a "deep toolbox." The box consists of tools that allow him to use creative ways to broadcast news without using "boring talking heads."
"Political reporting on a local level is more important than ever," Kevin Benz of News 8 in Austin said. "I think what we're lacking is good creative thinking in covering politics."
All the winners agreed that political reporting is important. However, they disagreed on the monetary cost of covering politics.
"We need to acknowledge that covering politics is more expensive because it takes a more experienced reporter, research and production value," Mak said. "You can plop any reporter down in any city and have them cover a fire, but not everybody can go cover politics."
Said Michelle Butt of WBAL Baltimore: "In actuality, the unexpected news is more expensive. It's more expensive to quickly send a truck and three reporters to Blacksburg than it is to plan to cover a political race a year in advance."
