I was thinking in Omaha over the weekend about the upcoming local elections and the media. It got me to wondering how often the various local elected officials appear in the newspaper, be it quotes in stories, op/eds they wrote, letters to the editor that mentioned them, etc.
So I decided to run a search to come up with those numbers for the Orange County Commissioners, Chapel Hill Town Council, and Carrboro Board of Aldermen. For the Orange County Commissioners the search ran from December 5th, 2006 when Mike Nelson took office through today. For the Chapel Hill Town Council it ran from December 5th, 2005 when Bill Thorpe and Laurin Easthom took office through today. For the Aldermen it ran from February 15th, 2006 (shortly after Dan Coleman was appointed) through today.
Here are the results:
Chapel Hill Herald/Durham Herald-Sun:Moses Carey 56
Barry Jacobs 31
Alice Gordon 25
Mike Nelson 24
Valerie Foushee 11Kevin Foy 212
Bill Strom 106
Cam Hill 60
Ed Harrison 53
Mark Kleinschmidt 53
Jim Ward 50
Bill Thorpe 43
Sally Greene 38
Laurin Easthom 33Mark Chilton 96
Dan Coleman 54
Jacquie Gist 45
John Herrera 33
Alex Zaffron 27
Randee Haven-O'Donnell 25
Joal Broun 23Chapel Hill News/Raleigh News&Observer:
Moses Carey 43
Barry Jacobs 26
Mike Nelson 24
Alice Gordon 17
Valerie Foushee 4Kevin Foy 192
Bill Strom 93
Jim Ward 78
Mark Kleinschmidt 74
Cam Hill 49
Laurin Easthom 49
Sally Greene 43
Bill Thorpe 30
Ed Harrison 18Mark Chilton 87
Dan Coleman 65
Jacquie Gist 33
John Herrera 31
Randee Haven-O'Donnell 31
Joal Broun 23
Alex Zaffron 19
Now I'll say up front these numbers may not be perfect. For instance, a Jim Ward who is not our Jim Ward could have shown up in the paper and he'd be counted in these numbers. But I think they're pretty accurate.
I don't really know what to make of the numbers. Does anyone have any thoughts or commentary?
Issues:
Comments
Tom, holy sh*t. You poor
Tom, holy sh*t. You poor dude. You need a hobby. I'll give you one: fishing. Fishing is good. Go fishing. Bass have gone deep now, I'd recommend getting out in 12-15 feet off a point or structure and throwing crankbait. I've been having good luck with a Strike King Diamond Shad, a pearl backed Rat-L-Trap, and a crawfish colored Shad Rap. If you get out early and can find some structure, or weeds, especially in shade, throw some light-colored spinnerbaits (white or yellow) with two willow blades. And if all else fails, Texas rig some plastic or, better yet, just go weedless rig on a Yamamoto 5" senko worm (pumpkin is the best around here) and work it in coves and stream mouths. You can't miss.
It's good work, though.
Haha thanks for the tips
Haha thanks for the tips Duncan, but it actually only took about ten minutes :) The powers of technology and newspaper archive databases!
Interesting numbers, Tom. It
Interesting numbers, Tom. It would be instructive to be able to separate citations from board/council meetings from those where the reporter is seeking a comment for a story.
My sense is that in the former case, the #s would be a lot more even though still favoring the mayor. In the latter case, the numbers for the mayors would rise considerably and those for council-alder-people would reflect who is most accessible by phone.
I don't think a raw count is
I don't think a raw count is very helpful, Tom.
Curious, yes, but it doesn't really talk about substance -- like why they got in the paper. Sometimes, council members and alderfolk ask you to call the Mayor, who is the official spokesperson in most cases. School board members often defer to the chair for comments.
Also, you're missing the DTH, The Indy and, uh, some other publication I've seen around (except we're just starting to cover Chapel Hill, so no fair counting).
Also, the heck with DM's fance spinners, I think a trip to the spillway at Jordan Lake with just some good stink bait and a heavy sinker will get you a catfish and a good story to tell.
BTW, we talk 'lections in tomorrow's issue.
...or might be termed the
...or might be termed the 'shameless self-promotion scorecard'---Demonstrating, believe it or dun't, that issuing press releases to announce that you have (drum roll, please)changed your light bulbs, is indeed an effective strategy.
Cheers,
Alex
I agree that a more detailed
I agree that a more detailed breakdown would be more instructive, but I don't have time to do it.
Per, Kirk's request
Carrboro Citizen:
Chilton 20
Coleman 17
Gist 13
Haven-O'Donnell 9
Broun 9
Zaffron 8
Herrera 4
Carey 18
Jacobs 12
Nelson 10
Foushee 3
Gordon 3
I'll leave the DTH and Indy to someone else to compile if the interest is there.
The racial and gender
The racial and gender breakdowns are interesting to note.
Except for Moses Carey, who serves as Chair of the County Commission and thus would likely get more coverage, African-Americans reside at or near the bottom of press coverage. Women, black and white, also appear lower on the list.
Do any of you media mavens have any thoughts as to why this is so? Just curious.
Yup, white men certainly do
Yup, white men certainly do retain the majority of power in this community, aided and abetted by the media. Wonder if the Carrboro Citizen will take this as a challenge to bring more under-represented voices into their pages?
Terri, That's something we
Terri,
That's something we all should keep in mind. You have my word that the paper will always strive to meet that challenge.
kmr
I don't know what the point
I don't know what the point of all of this is. In the last year, how many times has George Bush been mentioned versus Hillary or Obama or Edwards? The breakdown would be George Bush in first, Hillary second, Obama third then Edwards. Everytime your name is in the paper is not necessarily a good thing.
Laurin, The point is that
Laurin,
The point is that some people find it interesting. If you don't, that's fine.
Tom, Again,
Tom,
Again, thanks.
Kirk,
Thanks for reminding folks about us.
I agree with folks above that part of the imbalance stems from deference to mayors as speakers and that being available by phone can probably boost someone's "score."
I also would suggest the following factors:
> eloquence (good quotes are, well, good)
> how much each official comments during public meetings (not all say the same amount)
>what's in the news at the moment (certain officials are especially passionate about certain topics)
I think that last one could have a very big effect given that the samples were from less than year, so probably certain subjects have been more in the news than others.
So basically, what Kirk said: Until there's more info on the numbers they don't say that much, although I do find the gender/race point interesting.
Great to hear from Ted
Great to hear from Ted Strong!
As long as I am saying nice things about reporters, I will say that Ted is easily the best person the DTH has had covering the Chapel Hill political scene in the last five years. And there have been some good ones of late!