Voters rated debates, in which candidates speak with little interference from journalists, as their single most importance source of information about campaigns. The Pew Center for Civic Journalism supports experiments in this new form of interaction between the media and public by publicizing it and making cash awards. So-called civic journalists take a leadership role by sponsoring public forums and aggressively and thoroughly reporting the issues underlying political dilemmas and then, through editorials, recommending possible solutions. The movement has its critics, who worry that it sacrifices objectivity and detachment at the altar of action and engagement, but it nonetheless serves as a new way for at least the print media to tie its reportage more closely to the deeper concerns of its audience. Such efforts have been spearheaded by major papers across the country, including The Charlotte Observer, The Wichita Eagle, and the Dayton Daily News.
Local media provide varying amounts of coverage.
Some do an effective job of publicizing local and state elections, but it's rare for small newspapers or local news stations to have the resources to provide broad, accurate information about national campaigns. The conflict between the public and the media threatens the traditional American political values of democracy and civic duty. The American political ethos has it that the responsibility of the voter is to obtain information about candidates and then to participate actively in the campaigns by voting or, even better, by advocating the candidacies of those they support. Yet it is the responsibility of the press to continue to provide useful coverage of campaigns, more so than any other aspect of politics, because the integrity of this aspect of democracy rests on educated participation of the citizenry.