U.S. voters head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 2 , 2010, for mid-term elections, after what has been a campaign season "rife with hostile and downright bizarre encounters between candidates and the news media," according to The New York Times.
For example, two weeks ago, security guards for Alaskan GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller handcuffed a reporter, and the Republican candidate for New York governor, Carl Paladino, had to be physically separated from a reporter as the two screamed at each other and Paladino told the reporter, "I'll take you out, buddy."
Also, Christine O'Donnell, Delaware's Republican candidate for senate, threatened to sue a radio station if it broadcast an interview she had just conducted.
“The relationship is probably at a low point between politicians and the media, particularly on the right,” Nicolle Wallace, a former communications strategist for George W. Bush and John McCain, told the New York Times. “There are certain Republicans who can do both, who speak to the base of the Republican Party and are skeptical but not disdainful of the media. Then there is the Sarah Palin wing of the party, which passed skeptical long ago and is at war with the media.”
Armstrong Williams of The Hill's Pundits Blog said, "While blame is often a convenient crutch to cover otherwise incompetent performances, blaming the media for mistakes and attempts to tilt the balance of power should really be out of bounds for politicians."
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
