Political Forum at the U

I went to the political forum at the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake on October 28^th. The forum was titled, “Political Reporting and the Fourth Estate: Who Watched Government?” It was an enlightening forum. The panelists were; Susan Tolchin, a professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason, John Daley, a reporter for the Deseret News, and Matt Canham, a reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune Washington Correspondent.

The panelists explained how journalists really are the fourth estate of the government. The watchdog state. Often politicians don’t do a certain thing because they know the media will be all over it, and it could harm their reputation. If the media wasn’t there as a constant watchdog, there would be much more corruption in politics because there would be less accountability.

Right now there is more money flowing through politics than ever before, and there are fewer watchdogs on Capitol Hill. This is where citizen journalism comes into play. It is necessary to have the eyes of the citizens on Capitol Hill as well, to watch for things professional reporters may miss.

One point Susan Tolchin made that I especially took note of was as a political reporter, it is important to always read the opposite side so your opinion. This will help your opinion to be more educated, and more broad. It is important to look into the deep things the government is doing because journalists have lots and lots of power to frame politicains and it is paramount to be as accurate as possible with such framing.