Yes, you read that right. I’d like to offer a contrarian view on the past election. I’ve read a lot of columnists and bloggers claiming that mainstream media were the big losers in the last election. Folks, it just ain’t so.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics there’s been a substantial jump in spending since 2000:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The 2004 presidential and congressional elections will cost a record $3.9 billion, according to projections based on a study of campaign finance figures by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The estimate represents a 30 percent increase over the $3 billion spent on federal elections four years ago.
And the overwhelming preponderance of that money was spent on television advertising. Now if I made 30% more this year by selling to a single market segment than I did 4 years ago whether it’s to dentists, shoe stores, or politicians you can bet that I’ll try to do more of it next time around. And $1 billion is an enormous victory where I come from.
And, as James Joyner points out, MSM are still the only game in town:
The funny thing is that I know of no one who seriously argues that bloggers have a bigger audience than the mainstream media. Indeed, were that the case, bloggers would by definition be the mainstream media. We’re not there yet and, frankly, I don’t think we aspire to be.
So not only are the media big winners so is hyper-partisanship. It’s making money for the media hand-over-fist. Expect more of it next time around.
