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Yet if the media wants to go the extra mile to assure a widespread perception of its fairness in cover- ; ing the 1993 races, it will have to work harder than ever. I > <
It will not be enough, for instance, to continually characterize the Republican ticket as ultra-conservative and the Democratic ticket as moderate. It must honestly and effectively let the candidates on both t tickets state their views and let the voters of the , state apply their own labels.
For the first time there will be a candidate on the ; ticket whose base rests with hundreds of thousands • of residents who closely identify with a religious movement. Is the media simply going to be content to brand those people as single-issue extemists, or will it take the trouble to go talk to some of them about whatever their concerns about government might be?
This is not going to be an easy year to be a politi- , cal reporter in Virginia if you want to follow in the footsteps of such illustrasious predecessors as Jim * Latimer, Mel Carico, George Kelly, John Daffron and others and be widely regarded as fair, impartial and.; willing to ask the tough questions and demand answers.
Will the Virginia media hone in on Democrats as well as Republicans, will it investigate questions and rumors regarding character and conduct, will it scru- ;v pulously attempt to answer the bottom line question of what kind of government the various candidates want for Virginia? .<•
I think by and large it will, yet I am troubled by the assumption on the part of some members of the working press that the race-ks-fflready over and there is no need to dig deep. The voters, after all, are looking for journalism, not fortune-telling.
(Editor’s note: John Goolrick, a former political reporter, is now an aide to 1st District Rep. Herb Bateman. Opinions expressed are his own and not necessarily those of this newspaper.)
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