Endorsements dominate 3rd Congressional race coverage
Yesterday, the Grand Rapids Press ran yet another story about political endorsements in the 3rd Congressional District race between Justin Amash (R) and Patrick Miles (D).
In the article Republicans are claiming that some of the people on the list that Miles has been making an issue aren’t really Republicans and therefore the Democrat’s claims don’t carry much weight.
As of today, the Grand Rapids Press has run a total of 19 articles on the 3rd Congressional race. Here are the articles in chronological order:
9/18 Congressional candidates debate senior issues
9/20 Longtime GOP backers favor Miles
9/25 Congressional candidates debate over debates
9/26 Amash camp says air attack off-target
9/30 Ehlers throws support to Amash
10/4 Miles lands education support
10/6 Business practices help fuel debate
10/7 China connections
10/7 Miles carries fight to Amash’s home turf
10/7 Paul Henry’s widow backs Miles
10/12 Miles sells China fund, issues challenge
10/15 Amash named rising star
10/17 Amash keeps financing edge over Miles
10/17 Pat Miles – profile
10/20 Miles touts more GOP supporters
10/21 Congressional candidates spar over TV claims
10/24 Justin Amash – profile
10/27 Republicans question Miles’ list of GOP support
Of these 19 articles 8 of them are about endorsements, 6 deal with the candidate’s claims about personal finance in China, 2 are profile pieces, 2 are about debates and one article is about campaign finances.
Therefore, the Grand Rapids Press has not reported once on where the candidates stand on the US economy, environmental issues, immigration, US foreign policy, health care or any other major issues of the day. Another example of the Press practicing horse-race coverage and not actual journalism.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 