Why are journalists obsessive about Biden's age? Because they finally found an interesting election story

Since President Joe Biden's disastrous presidential debate On June 27, 2024, election coverage focused on one query: Will he stay within the race?

This focus is clear even to probably the most superficial news consumer. Journalist Jennifer Schulze noticed thatBy the morning of July 5, The New York Times had published nearly 200 articles about Biden's performance at the controversy, including 142 news articles and 50 opinion pieces.

By comparison, historian Heather Cox Richardson wrote that Trump was only mentioned in 92 articles in the course of the same period.

“Although Trump has frequently slurred his words or fallen silent while speaking and has repeatedly fallen asleep during his own criminal trial,” Richardson identified“None of the articles mentioned Trump's mental health.”

As the flood of reports on whether Biden will or should remain the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate continues, residents are asking one other query: How could all of the journalists agree so quickly??

The intensity with which journalists have covered this story and, more importantly, the consistency with which journalists have portrayed it have led some to query whether the news media as an entire is on a crusade to finish Biden's campaign.

Some think that journalists and news leaders are plotting to overthrow Biden and increase the possibilities of a victory over Donald Trump, whom they view as an existential threat to American democracy.

Others consider that journalists are unfairly specializing in Biden’s age because they’re reporting within the distorted sense of “both sides,” regardless that Trump’s debate performance was, of their view, stuffed with “Lies, exaggerations, bigotry, ignorance and scaremongering.”

There's a much simpler explanation for why the coverage surrounding Biden's debate appearance looks the best way it does. Journalists need to cover stories which can be of public value and interesting to their audience.

The Biden story is each.

News values, customs and sources

In a moment of deep distrust of journalismThere is a widespread belief that journalists present the news in a biased and overly sensational manner.

People who recognize political bias within the news assume that journalists try to get an unsuspecting public to just accept certain political opinions and reject others. Those who see sensationalist journalism within the news assume that journalists – and owners of stories organizations – are more concerned with earning money from the audience's attention than with the accuracy or quality of their reporting.

Journalism skeptics who’ve watched the post-debate coverage have concluded that journalists try to show the general public against Biden in order that he’ll drop out of the race. Former journalism professor Dan Gillmor, for instance, said: wrote recently The New York Times has “launched a campaign to ensure that Joe Biden does not receive another term in the White House.”

However, studies on the values ​​and practices of journalists paint a unique picture.

First, journalists appreciate sudden turns of events – also referred to as “Current.” They particularly value those that develop in a really public way – referred to as “play.” The debate offered each. Until then, journalists and the general public had not frequently followed or reported on Biden’s age, aside from just a few well-known media outlets equivalent to The Wall Street JournalThe debate gave the world a probability to learn first-hand why there are concerns about electing an 81-year-old to a second term.

Second: Journalists depending on sources for his or her coverage. Not surprisingly, as soon as Biden’s faltering debate performance began, political reporters began Hearing panicked insiderswhich apparently began the discussion about replacing Biden.

As a Scientist who studies the connection between journalism and the general publicI consider these sources are taking out their anger on journalists to attract attention to this news story. This is a significant reason for this reporting, which seems to bring recent quotes, leaks, and scoops about Biden's age from people involved in Democratic Party politics each day.

What the general public wants and wishes

Of course, journalists don't just transcribe quotes and distribute them to the general public. They and their editors determine whether – and the way extensively – a story is roofed.

As my very own research has shownJournalists try to search out a balance between what the general public “wants” and what it “needs”. In journalism, this is typically known as “letting the audience hear their own opinion”.Vegetables” together with their sweets.

Most journalists and their editors are very concerned with producing useful news that can encourage the general public and result in a change in public policy. Why else would they be doing this in such an unstable and poorly paid Profession?

However, journalists also assume that these “important” news stories will rarely benefit from the same popularity as more entertaining topics.

The current Biden story is different.

So far, interest within the presidential election has been strikingly low. While subscriptions to the New York Times increased dramatically After Trump’s election in 2016, the general public far less interested following the news during this election cycle.

An April NBC News poll found that interest within the 2024 presidential election reached an almost 20-year low.

The debate offered something that had been missing from the election up to now: a way of uncertainty. That's since the story itself offers all the things journalists want. It's interesting, timely, and simply reproduced using multiple sources. As long as there are incremental developments to report on, an interesting, timely, and simply reproduced story will stay within the news for a very long time, as the continuing coverage of the Coronarivus pandemic. Plus, The audience is interestedAnd no person knows how it should end.

It's a giant story

Until Biden drops out or it becomes clear that he’ll remain the party’s nominee, Americans will proceed to be inundated with news about all the things from his Election campaign To Democratic donors Maneuvers to throw him out of the race or keep him within the race, to investigations into the extent to which Biden's age Impact on his performance as President up to now.

The Americans may even proceed Hand-wringing over this reportingspecifically, that this happens on the expense of other reporting or that there’s a risk that the very issue it is meant to cover can be compromised.

Given this development, all news consumers ought to be aware that this reporting might be not the results of a conspiracy amongst journalists and their superiors to influence the election final result.

It is more likely that it’s the results of a consensus amongst political journalists and their sources that that is a crucial and engaging story.

I definitely plan to follow this path.