The Ballot Box vs. The TV Box

(***Writer's note: My apologies for not writing an entry for Tuesday, but I'm glad I waited. The last two days' assignments have been very similar***)

I can only assume, and I have already seen this in action, that journalists work very closely with elected, government officials and police officers.

If it's not an election, a fire, a traffic accident, or an important trial (or some sort of scandal), there's hardly anything left on the news.

And, as I've seen these last two days at KAKE-TV, politicians have a great tendency to draw a crowd of attention wherever they go, no matter how small or local they are.

Of course, depending upon how controversial their policies or initiatives are, or how many supporters they have in a particular area, some draw more attention than others.

Also, depending on the type of news day that's taking place, some officials might be more newsworthy than others.

If the President visited Wichita today, the majority of the news would focus on his visit; if the governor visited (depending upon why) Wichita, it would get decent coverage; but, if it's the state's SRS secretary... not so much... if any.

That doesn't mean that he's not important -- in fact, his policies might more directly effect some people than the President's.

But, ultimately, it all comes down to TIPCUP -- a journalist's best friend in determining which stories are newsworthy.

• Timely
• Impact
• Proximity
• Conflict
• Unusual
• Prominence

 Elected officials have a little bit of prominence over the average citizen. They're (local) celebrities with recognizable last names or faces whose decisions impact those whom they represent.

But, is there any conflict?

If a congressman wants to visit a wheat harvest to talk to farmers about different government policies that are effecting their production costs, is there any harm in talking about it on the evening news?

Is it even newsworthy?

The standard in journalism, as far as I've learned, is that if the story has at least two or three elements of TIPCUP, it's probably newsworthy.

But, the thing about TV broadcasting is that there is only a limited amount of time. If there are other stories that are more newsworthy, then some stories not might make on air -- perhaps, they will make it onto the web.

Yet, then again, showing the folks at home what elected officials are saying as they go out and meet the people and hear their concerns might be helpful and interesting.

Of course, politicians have an agenda, but if they see a need somewhere, they would obviously want to address it and to let the public (everyone, whether present or not) know what they're going to do about meeting the need.

So, whether its harvesting farmers near Wellington, citizens filing claims at the SRS office, or residents of a small town who need a new fire/EMS station, public officials were elected or appointed to help those whom they represent -- to see that their needs are met and to tell them how those needs will and can be met.

And, if the best way people hear that information is the nightly news, that's perfectly fine with me... so long as the ballot box doesn't cross over into the TV box.