ABSTRACT
Bruce Morton's public assessment of Bill Clinton's scandal-ridden campaign says more about the way reporters think about politics than about the beleaguered candidate's woes. National political campaigns can be and have been about far more than just character posturing, empty promises, and manipulative efforts to win power. Several influences can explain how politics is framed by reporters. Two of these were discussed at length in the previous chapter as contributing factors to changes in political coverage over time: technological improvements and the rise in the importance of television as a political tool. Elections are covered by a brand of journalist called political reporters. Coverage regularly penetrates the actions of candidates to inform readers and viewers about the maneuvers that motivate even the smallest movements of political campaigns. The nature of that story entails in part self-referential coverage, which is to say it is a story told by reporters about their own concerns.
