Bob CollinsThe Uptake has a video presentation from Corrine McDermid, who has traveled from Denver to Iowa to cover the caucuses. Her piece centers on the difference in accomodations for “legacy” media vs. “bloggers.”
But what she also has, apparently unintentionally, captured were the similarities between the two media: Hundreds of people, sitting in a room, watching a television. It’s pretty much the same set-up we’ll see in St. Paul later this year, where bloggers have already made a big deal out of being allowed to sit inside the Xcel. If you have a new way of covering news, why cover it the old way?
The story of the Iowa caucuses — like the stories from national political conventions — is not in auditoriums, large rooms, or even on television. Told this way, there’s virtually nothing you can glean from their reports of any value.
After more than a year of listening to the candidates talking in Iowa, there’s been very little coverage of Iowans. It’s a story best told from someone’s kitchen.
