There are 1,592 journalists who cover state government around the country in some capacity, according to the Pew Research Center’s “America’s Shifting Statehouse Press,” published July 10. Fewer than half work cover the statehouse full time, “raising concerns about the depth and quality of news coverage about state government.” Another troubling finding: A whopping 86 percent of local TV news stations do not assign even one reporter—full- or part-time—to the statehouse.
The report tallied 13 statehouse reporters in Maine; eight who are stationed there full-time, three part-time, and two who cover only the legislative session. It also reveals that Maine is one of four states (along with Connecticut, Oklahoma, and Oregon) with no television reporters at the statehouse. This is not good, the report authors note, given that “previous Pew studies show that local television is the primary place Americans go for news.”
(And don’t blame our small population for the lack. The study found that Vermont, the second-smallest state in terms of population, has 13 full-time statehouse reporters—more than 25 other states—and 18 total.)
With so many important and directly relevant policy decisions being made in statehouses across the country and in Maine (see: Medicare expansion, municipal revenue-sharing, infrastructure bonds, and much more just in the most recent legislative session), this coverage is critical for informed civic engagement. Maybe instead of devoting still-more resources to food reviews, Maine’s leading news organizations should spend money on keeping better tabs on Augusta.
Deirdre Fulton can be reached atdeirdre@commondreams.org.
