After so unsatisfactory a campaign, someone has to be at fault. Why not the press? After all, as James David Barber, a political scientist at Duke University, argues: "Journalists are the new kingmakers." Far from being puffed up at the honor, journalists are apt to reply: "Who, me? Thanks but no thanks." They, too, are wondering, like card players with a poor hand, "Who dealt this mess?"
They should not look all that innocent. The media are pervasive. Americans know what they know about candidates from the press. And journalists are conspicuous—whether it is the pontificating anchorman or the pesky reporter....
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