Norton still lags in Denver Post quote tally
A few months ago, I documented the near absence of direct quotations in The Denver Post from Senate Candidate Jane Norton. At one point, The Post went 23 weeks without printing words passing from Norton’s mouth to a reporter’s ears in a two-way conversation. Other candidates, like Sen. Michael Bennett, were interviewed much more often.
The situation has improved, according to my latest bean count below. This time, I included Ken Buck in my quote tally, in light of his recent upsurge in attention. So I’ve got data for GOP candidates Buck and Norton, as well as Dem candidates Bennett and Romanoff.
Denver Post news articles with quotes from U.S. Senate candidates (Sept. 15, 2009 …• May 10, 2010)
Candidate……….Direct+………….Spokesperson++……….Statement+++
Bennet*………….11…………………..14………………………………6
Buck……………….7…………………….4………………………………4
Norton…………….5……………………13……………………………..5
Romanoff………..20……………………7……………………………..2
+ Articles with a direct candidate quote uttered during an exchange with a reporter
++ Articles with a quote from a campaign spokesperson
+++ Articles with a candidate quote from a news release, speech, or statement
*In his capacity as U.S. Senator, Michael Bennet has been quoted in additional articles. On Senate issues during the same time period, he’s been quoted directly an additional 15 times, via spokesperson two additional times, and via statements 11 additional times.
Reporters still need to quote Norton more often. Her Democratic opponents have been quoted in twice (Bennet) or four times (Romanoff) as many articles. The public interest isn’t served by quoting spokespeople and written statements. We rely on journalists to ask candidates tough questions directly, with follow up queries, if needed. Not only are Norton’s own words too often missing, but we see fewer quotations from Norton’s campaign than from any candidate’s campaign except Buck’s, who’s arguably the least likely to win.
There’s no shortage of important issues hanging out there to ask Norton about:
… On what basis does she think that the “rights of terrorists are more important in this administration than the lives of American citizens“?
… Why does she favor the elimination of the Department of Education? (A campaign spokesman declined to discuss this with The Post in December, telling a Post reporter that Norton would address the issue after Jan. 1. That’s over five months ago, and it appears The Post hasn’t followed up.)
… Why does she support a national sales tax and flat tax, and why does she think a “simplified flat tax with exemptions for mortgages and charity” would be more viable than a pure flat tax?
… Why does she think it’s more realistic to cut funding for the new health care law than to repeal it?
… Why does she insist she was never a lobbyist when, in fact, she was head of the lobbying department of Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) from 1994-1999?
… In her campaign announcement, why did Norton plagiarize a line for former President Gerald Ford?
… Why does she say she cut the Department of Health budget when in fact she did not, according to local media analyses?
The Post mentioned some of these issues(ponzi scheme, Dept. of Education, Obama’s favoritism of terrorists over Americans) in a general article discussing Norton’s recent swing to the right, but they merit a response from Norton, especially given that we’ve heard so little from her directly in The Post.
I mean, she’s talking about eliminating a major federal department, re-writing the tax code, accusing the President of caring more about terrorists than Americans, and more. Her views should be illuminated…-along with those of other candidates.
Speaking of other candidates, I should add that while the trend for quoting Norton is positive, with her last direct quotation appearing in The Post on May 2, Bennet’s last direct quotation on a campaign topic appeared seven weeks ago. He’s been quoted directly twice as much as Norton…-or more if you count his Senate related quotes…-so I’ve focused this blog post on Norton. But reporters should seek interviews regularly with Bennet.