Horse Races & Game Faces

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending a very interesting panel discussion sponsored by the Medill Club, entitled "Covering The Election: Are We Getting It Right?." The speakers were Jay DeDapper, who is a political correspondent for WNBC; Bryan Keefer, of the illustrious CampaignDesk.org (and who also happens to be my boyfriend); Ray Kerins, a managing director for GCI group, the PR firm that coordinated the host committee's media operations at the RNC (hello, Barney's!); and David Pollak, who is the chair of Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century. The panel was moderated quite well by Mike Kuczkowski, a vice president of Edelman PR.

I went because Bryan was on it, and really didn't expect it to be interesting. In fact, had I known how illuminating and in-depth the discussion would be, I would have taken notes and had something more nuanced than my basic impressions to share with you. Each of the panelists brought a distinct viewpoint to the conversation and it kept things lively. Pollak disagreed with most everyone, a trait that serves him well in his frequent appearances on Fox News. Usually, I am sort of embarassed to be a Democrat (e.g. I love my ultraliberal values, but regard the Democratic Party as hopelessly boring and clueless), but I liked what he had to say.

As an occasional publicist myself, dating a journalist who often appears on "state of the media" panels, I am often bored because no one ever talks about media relations and the role that it has in shaping news coverage; a glaring omission from my point of view. Needless to say, I was not disappointed tonight. Kerins and Kuczkowski had lots to say about messaging and intellectual versus entertainment value in the media, and I thought their perspectives brought a lot to the discussion. Basically, I am only going to "state of the media" discussions from now on if there is at least one public relations professional on the panel; Because it's just more interesting, not to mention realistic.

DeDapper's perspective as a television political correspondent often brought him into conflict with the opinions of the other guests, not because he was opposed necessarily, but because it's one thing to criticize the news and another to report it.