Blogs

No Candidate Left Behind?

By Hillary Profita

March 2, 2007 / 2:42 PM EST / CBS News

(AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

The media has provided mountain of details about campaign issues such as whether Hollywood mogul David Geffen supports Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. But some frustrated news consumers are wondering why they can't find out more about the other people considering runs for the presidency. U.S. News & World Report's News Desk blog posts two such inquiries from readers wondering why candidates Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee don't get much coverage.

We've discussed this issue before as it applies to CBS News. Here's what U.S. News reporters Liz Halloran and Gordon Witkin had to say:

"We intend to cover these candidacies. But as a magazine -- and not a daily newspaper -- we don't feel obligated nor do we have the space to cover each and every development in the presidential race. We have tried to focus on the most likely and viable nominees while crafting unique magazine-style pieces that set us apart from the day-to-day developments.
Other news organizations have to make similar judgement calls on coverage. Usually that involves weighing the viability of a candidacy by examining how much money the candidate has raised, what kind of national profile he or she has developed, and whether the candidate's views could translate into sustainable support. It is far from a perfect science. Case in point: On the day we published a profile of Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who at the time was one of the stronger-looking Democratic presidential candidates, he withdrew. Ouch!"