ADWATCH AND OTHER "QUICK-READ-FORMATS" THAT NEWSPAPERS MUT DO DURING POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

Adwatch is a regular column in my local paper.

Today's one is a perfect example of what newspaper can and must do during election times.

Webb revenue quote taken out of context

THE CANDIDATE On behalf of Republican U.S. Sen. George Allen

THE IMAGES An image of a bucolic Virginia farm shatters like a mirror, revealing Democrat Jim Webb in the background. A video clip from an Oct. 9 League of Women Voter s debate is shown in which Webb says, " We kid ourselves if we don't say we need new revenues."

THE CLAIM Webb would raise taxes if elected. "More revenues is Washington-speak for higher taxes," a narrator explains. "Higher taxes for Virginia's families. Jim Webb. He's not a Virginia Democrat. He's a Washington liberal."

THE FACTS The snippet from the debate was taken out of context and violated an agreement not to use the debate footage in campaign ads, reasons the League of Women Voters demanded - unsuccessfully - that Allen stop airing the ad. During the debate, Webb said America could not continue to run up huge deficits. He said he would target corporate tax loopholes, not individuals, to close the gap.

THE SCHEDULE The ad, paid for by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is running throughout Virginia.

Reach Tony Germanotta at (757) 446-2377 or tony.germanotta@pilotonline.com.


Well, newspaper must develop similar quick-read-formats for:

1. The public opinion polls released during the campaigns.

2. The main speeches of the candidates.

3. The analysis of their programs.

4. The political blogs.

5. And also, please, be fair, for the print newspaper political ads.


Peter Zollman is right in his recent column about The Voter Guide Challenge:

With midterm elections coming up in the U.S., many newspapers offer an online voter's guide.

But I fear some of them may be missing the most important issues.

Information is available in lots of places -- print, online, television, etc. -- about the governor's race and the Senate race.

There’s lots of material handy, too, about the candidates for state attorney general, chief financial officer and commissioner of agriculture.

But I have only one place to turn, my local newspaper, for information about such things as a county charter change; a ballot referendum on "disclosure of ownership interests for county land-use applications," and similar community initiatives.

The supervisor of the soil and water conservation district isn't advertising on television or sending me direct mail -- only my local paper is likely to cover that race and provide me with the information I need to decide.