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WASHINGTON - The media has an important role to play in political campaigns. Members of the press inform the electorate about the differing views of the candidates while providing forums for debate. At their best, reporters and commentators question, and even challenge, the positions of the office seekers on behalf of the voters.
But in this campaign, we are witnessing something vastly different. Instead of edifying the electorate much of the media is actually interfering with the candidates' ability to engage in intelligent debate of the issues.
With its fixation on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy, the media is not only intruding on the confidential relationship between religious leaders and worshippers, it is muddying the discussion of the issues that voters really want to hear about. The intrusion of the press into that sacred relationship may come back to haunt us.
Under our constitution religious leaders are allowed to express themselves in ways that are sometimes controversial. Often, particularly in the Black church, pastors expound on legitimate past or present grievances of their congregations and, depending on their stridency, may even be offensive to outsiders. But that doesn't mean that every worshipper has to believe in everything heard in church or taught from the Bible in order to be inspired to lead a better life. It's no secret that many people are put off by messages from their ministers, rabbis and Imams.
The idea that a preacher's every word to his flock must be explained and vetted is a very dangerous road that the media seems to have embarked upon. These practices are certainly not validated by the political structure, which in the case of the current candidates, is crying out for attention to the real issues. The media seems driven by an obsession with the most divisive controversies, favoring heat instead of light, in its efforts to attract advertisers.
At a time when the economy is collapsing, families are losing their homes, gas prices are going through the roof, when our young men and women are being killed in Iraq, why is it the 24-hour news programs are fixated on Rev. Jeremiah Wright? Will Rev. Pat Robertson or Rev. John Hagee be next?
This opinion piece was originally published May 8, 2008 by the New York Amsterdam News.
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