How the Constitution Makes News
Ken McIntyre /
When was the last time a journalist asked a question about federalism in a presidential debate? Answer: 1960.
The American news media, much like American politicians, are less and less attuned to what the Constitution actually says and more and more focused on the often vague notion of “rights.”
News reporters, editors and producers are quick to wade into what they see as a juicy conflict over rights denied — at least those they ascribe to “community organizers” or atheists or gay activists or abortion clinics. The media don’t tend to give serious scrutiny to the structure and limits of government power actually prescribed by the Constitution.
Today, Constitution Day, is a good day to highlight the results of some related media research by Andrew E. Busch, an associate professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College.
In a Lexis/Nexis search of the major media for mentions of constitutional issues during a period of six months, Busch discovered (more…)