Race, Elections and the Media

"Gaining access to the Republican National Convention has become a tortuous struggle for a slew of local ethnic publications," reports a New York City weekly. In Arizona, a Bush-Cheney organizer "insisted on knowing the race of a ... journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney," saying the information was needed "to distinguish her from someone else who might have the same name" - which seems unlikely, since her name is Mamta Popat. In New Mexico, "Democrats who signed up to hear [Cheney] speak ... were refused tickets unless they signed a pledge to endorse President Bush." One media analysis company estimates that, with Iraq coverage dominating the news, "67 percent of stories on Bush were negative, while only 36 percent were negative for Kerry."