THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9510010069
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: Cole C. Campbell, Editor
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
On Thursday, Sept. 21, reporters and editors of The Virginian-Pilot sat down with candidates for the General Assembly to discuss how we are covering the 1995 legislative elections.
We invited all 33 candidates running for the 16 contested seats representing South Hampton Roads. Nineteen candidates or their representatives attended.
Tony Germanotta, who is leading our Public Life team's election coverage, explained the purpose of the meeting, which he and staff writer Mike Knepler conducted.
``We were dissatisfied with election coverage, uncomfortable for some time that voting participation has been dropping, especially in local elections. And we went out and started asking people: Why is that? Why don't you like politics anymore?. . .
``They told us that they were not getting much out of the old way that we did it - the horse race, the bickering, the mudslinging. That didn't inform them when it came time for them to go into a voting booth and pull a lever or punch a card . . .
``We want to let you know what we're doing in this election that may be different from what we did in the past. . . . Our bias is for substantive discussion over mudslinging. Our bias is for addressing the real issues rather than hot-button issues that don't get us anywhere. And we want to keep, throughout the campaign, a focus on: What do the citizens really need? How does this help them make a decision?
``We're not abdicating our role as watchdog. We're not saying if you did something that we need to point to, or, if in the course of mudslinging, something emerges that citizens need to know about, that we're going to ignore that. But we're always going to look at it from the perspective of: What does this say? How important is this to the citizens in making a decision?''
In the ensuing conversation, the candidates and campaign workers asked about everything from our planned election home page on Pilot Online, to the fax number to use to send us campaign schedules, to how we can deal with what Del. Frank Wagner, Republican from Virginia Beach, called the subtleties and ``plethora of questions'' involved in complex legislation.
Deputy Managing Editor Dennis Hartig acknowledged that we face challenges in refocusing coverage.
``We've been trained in the media for 25 years about talking conflict, talking soundbites,'' Hartig said. ``There might be another way - having a different kind of conversation in this community about what's really important.''
We began this conversation last spring when we asked citizens like you to tell us the issues most important to the future of the commonwealth and to this year's General Assembly election. In community conversations and random sample polling, the issues that emerged were taxes and spending, creating jobs, education and an overemphasis on partisanship. Public safety also came up in discussions of these topics, so we have added it to the list.
On today's front page, staff writer Warren Fiske begins our in-depth coverage of this citizen's agenda by examining taxes and spending. We also report responses from Hampton Roads legislative candidates to two central questions:
What, if any, state taxes would you cut?
What, if any, state spending would you cut?
Next Sunday, staff writer David Poole will report details on job creation, with summaries of the candidates' stands on state incentives to attract business to Virginia and the state's role in helping the working poor make a livable wage.
On Sunday, Oct. 15, staff writer Robert Little will examine public safety issues, with summaries of the candidates' stand on crime prevention and punishment and the state's role in making citizens feel safer.
On Sunday, Oct. 22, our staff will report on education and the future prospects for our young people.
On Tuesday, Oct. 31, a week before the Nov. 7 election, we will publish a voter's guide with maps of the districts, summaries of the issues, candidates backgrounds and positions, and related information.
Toward the end of our conversation with the candidates, Democratic candidate Bob Avery of Virginia Beach called this approach ``a pretty good idea. Folks need to really concentrate more on the issues and less on the personalities and horse races.''
Sen. Fredrick M. Quayle, a Republican from Chesapeake, said, ``I find this different from the way you've reported things in the past.''
``How does that strike you?'' Mike Knepler asked.
``I hope it will work.'' by CNB