DETROIT PAPER PROVIDES VOTER EDUCATION WITH AP REPORT

By: Todd Shields E&P's Weekly Campaign Confidential Report





WASHINGTON - What, exactly, are the Republican and Democratic candidates' positions on health care? Or education? Or prescription drugs, tax cuts, Medicare, and Amtrak?



Since early in September, Michigan newspaper readers have turned to a weekly feature that answers such questions in a stripped-down, no-nonsense format. Each Monday, the Detroit Free Press runs "Where They Stand," a comparison researched and written by The Associated Press staff in Washington.



The feature usually appears on Page 5, which is home to a widely read package of briefs and headlines, said Nancy Laughlin, the Free Press' nation/world editor.



"We're getting extremely good comments" from readers, Laughlin said. "I think people are responding to what they hear on the campaign trail, and are coming to us and the AP to explain it."



In Washington, AP Bureau Chief Sandy Johnson said the feature is compiled by writer Cal Woodward. The AP has been running such issues coverage since at least 1988, she said.



"It is tedious work, but we're devoted to it," Johnson said. "The only real difficulty is getting the campaigns, which should be delighted, to cough up the information in a timely fashion."



Puppylike, but forcefully so



Bush ... in an odd way, opted to make himself a little bit smaller. There was something puppy-like about him.



- David Von Drehle in The Washington Post, Oct. 18, the day after the third presidential debate between the major-party candidates



Bush was confident and frequently forceful.



- Ronald Brownstein in the Los Angeles Times, Oct. 18



This clearly was a case of Al the Aggressor. ... Mr. Bush conversely ran the risk of appearing too meek.



- Ed Bark in The Dallas Morning News, Oct. 18



Forgive us our sics



If a candidate makes the same hones-for-homes mistake as 90% of the adult population, should he be sicmatized?



- Scott Shuger, writing in the online magazine Slate, about The Washington Post's use of "sic" in this Bush quote: "They're beginning to hone [sic] in on it." Some commentators said the [sic] unfairly highlighted a common error.



The uses of reporting



Bush called campaign audibles as the [Middle East] crises worsened. After an event in Grand Rapids, he pulled aside a reporter to comment on a New York Times report about Gore's role in allowing Russian arms sales to Iran. 'Isn't Iran a haven for terrorists in the Middle East?' he asked - knowing the answer is yes.



- The AP's Ron Fournier, in an Oct. 15 dispatch from Flint, Mich.







Todd Shields (tshields@editorandpublisher.com) is the Washington editor for E&P.







Past Campaign Confidential reports from E&P:



SUNSHINE STATE GETS IN THE PRESIDENTIAL GAME (10/16/00)

CANDIDATES KEEP OHIO PRESS CORPS BUSY (10/09/00)







Copyright 2000, Editor & Publisher.