Media Most Relentless: Frye Candidacy Is The "Florida" Of '04

"When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained."

Edward R. Murrow uttered those words decades ago. Our December News Forum proved just how right he was... but mused that some in the media might enjoy the performance a bit too much.

Forum moderator John Beatty and a panel of powerful wits inspected the "circus" from the inside, beginning with San Diego's "Florida"‹the Donna Frye candidacy.

Why didn't the media inspect the potential problems earlier?

Los Angeles Times reporter Tony Perry, who covers San Diego, said "I'm a stranger in my own land...My job is to explain this city to the outside world. Something that is getting much more difficult these days."

While Perry swatted down surfer clichés offered up by LA editors, NPR national correspondent Scott Horsley joked that he was looking forward to the elections being over... then he came back to San Diego, where we still have no mayor.

In line with the circus analogy, Perry pointed out that Frye added "fun and pizzazz" to an otherwise bland race so the media may have been too swept up to see the candidacy was a serious factor. "By the time anyone realized it, it was too late."

San Diego Union-Tribune political editor Michael Smolens says it wasn't just the media. "No one at city hall was raising red flags" about the legitimacy of Frye's candidacy until it was too late.

So, will the candidacy stand? By the time Press Clubbers read this piece, the decision may be in. The "prophets?" Thoughts varied. Horsley predicted the Frye votes will stand. 10News photojournalist Kyle Majors said‹as of the last court proceeding‹he felt the charter was holding steady. Perry believed it might have come down to the bubbles. "We want to know what the uncounted, non-darkened, Donna Frye vote total is," he said. "Then we won't be an Area 51, Roswell, New Mexico or Elvis. Then we'll know."

After a solid hour, the panel and audience reluctantly left Fryeville and moved to national elections. Majors set the tone by showing archival video of past conventions. Watching black and white still shots of a convention floor evolve into a dynamic speech from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger showed just how far we've come, technologically, but how little has changed in political rhetoric and delivery.

Majors pondered whether or not it's advantageous to send a local crew to an event that is so thoroughly covered by the national networks and concluded that it's only worth it if the story is uniquely local. Majors and reporter Nina Jimenez followed a group of California delegates to Ground Zero‹their first visit since 9-11, and "that story made the whole trip worth it."

On balance, Horsley said the politicians are still "long winded and old fashioned." From his first hand observation, he notes Senator John Kerry is "far superior at crafting the language" but President George W. Bush is "more of a natural" at communicating.

The question came up about voter awareness and campaign nastiness. Moderator Beatty pointed out that elections were nasty long before television: "History. I've read about it." Smolens continued the thought, saying the difference is "how far down the news filters." No longer is the buzz in the barbershop Friday night's football game but rather "the polls. Who's up? Who's down?"

For all of our advances in politics, the panel and Beatty noted that the reality here remains that a hand count may indeed decide the San Diego Mayor's race. Which brings to mind another Edward R. Murrow musing: "Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar."

Posted Dec. 2004