Covering Libertarians and other "Third Party" Candidates

A couple of posters have begun zinging me pretty hard about NCPR’s lack of coverage of the Libertarian candidate in the 20th CD race.

Here’s John Warren’s take on my decision to not include Eric Sundwall in my opening piece about the special election.

That’s a disgrace, it’s un-American and anti-Democratic. The Republican candidate doesn’t even live in the district and you give him more credit then a candidate that does? There is no excuse for this. You owe us serious coverage of all the candidates, not just your hand-picked ones.

It’s a legitimate criticism — worth airing and discussing.

My job is to reflect reality in my stories. So I will be covering Mr. Sundwall, though I’ll generally treat him as an “issue” or a “protest” candidate.

How much coverage he receives will depend on a) how interesting, thoughtful and compelling he turns out to be; and b) the degree to which his ideas influence the campaign debate.

(Obviously, if Mr. Sundwall demonstrates somehow that he has a reasonable chance of winning, I’d certainly change my tune. THAT would be a great story…)

Third party candidates — and their supporters — typically want the media to treat them as equals with their Republican and Democratic opponents.

But in most instances, they haven’t done the work to establish their parties as viable political choices.

Not because their ideas are bad, necessarily — sometimes their ideas are fascinating or compelling.

But because they haven’t organized, built a party apparatus, raised enough money to campaign, etc.

(Some choose not to do so for ideological reasons, but the result is the same; they can’t win.)

Critics like to suggest that reporters create a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy by making judgments of this sort.

By not covering alternative candidates, we make it impossible for them to compete.

But the vast majority of grassroots organizing in politics goes on with absolutely no media coverage whatsoever.

A lot of unpaid Democrats and Republicans have been volunteering for months (and years), raising money and building networks to prepare for this election.

Aggressive and well-organized third parties can do the same — I lived in Germany when the Green Party elected its first members to Parliament.

It just takes work.

If third parties want more coverage, they might begin by electing members to local government. (Often this only requires a few hundred votes.)

They could build a track record of shaping public policy and develop a level of institutional credibility.

So there’s a peek behind the curtain, an honest look at how I make this kind of editorial decision. Let me know what you think.