{"id":6355,"date":"2012-02-03T16:27:49","date_gmt":"2012-02-03T20:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=6355"},"modified":"2013-02-05T11:12:55","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T15:12:55","slug":"update-perspective-speaker-urges-more-fairness-diversity-in-political-campaigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2012\/02\/update-perspective-speaker-urges-more-fairness-diversity-in-political-campaigns\/","title":{"rendered":"Update: Perspectives speaker urges more fairness, diversity in political campaigns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><\/strong>Matt Taibbi may be a contributing editor for <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>, but he knows what it\u2019s like to struggle as a young journalist. Taibbi began his career in Russia, scraping by writing stories for tabloids and holding odd jobs. After taking the job at <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>, writing several books, and winning a National Magazine award, Taibbi had plenty of stories and life lessons to share with students and attendees of Perspectives 2012, The Raymond and Florence Witt Lecture Series.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"max-width: 100%;\"style=\"max-width: 100%;\"src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OgsTfski2oE?rel=0&#038;modestbranding=1&#038;autohide=1&#038;showinfo=0&#038;controls=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Now a veteran of covering presidential elections, Taiibi has noticed changes in political journalism, especially with the relationship between reporters and the candidates they&#8217;re covering while on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a tremendous sense of solidarity that develops between journalists and the politicians they\u2019re covering in large part because of the proximity we all share. The campaign trail is like a flying prison,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to Taibbi, the chummy relationship between politicians and journalists isn\u2019t just because of the close shared space on campaign buses and airplanes, but also for the meals and other gifts journalists receive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s almost like the candidate was buying better coverage by feeding us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Taibbi also detailed the hierarchy journalists faced while covering political elections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe campaign trail is a lot like high school. The cool kids sit on the front of the plane, and the dorks sit in the back. If you ask the wrong kind of questions, you\u2019re sent to the back of the plane and don\u2019t get access to the candidate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to Taiibi, two recent protest movements, Occupy Wall Street and The Tea Party, are influencing the political election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe unifying factor in both of these movements is dissatisfaction with the electoral process, an overwhelming feeling that it\u2019s stage managed and too easily manipulated by special interests. Both movements strongly feel that the process no longer produces candidates that respond to their particular needs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Taibbi, known for his aggressive writing style, was critical of the political process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need politicians to eloquently explain how the world works, to educate us. But that\u2019s exactly what they don\u2019t do. Our candidates are in the business of projecting this simplistic view of reality for Americans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe political system puts loosely defined parameters on candidates. There are definitely messages about what acceptable politics is and what acceptable opinions are. You see that in which candidates are allowed to survive and which ones aren\u2019t allowed to survive. If you\u2019re not in the acceptable range, you\u2019re kicked out,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n<p>Though he has covered three presidential elections, this veteran of the campaign trail says he still hasn\u2019t made it all the way up the political hierarchy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not in the back of the bus anymore, but nobody talks to me,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matt Taibbi may be a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, but he knows what it\u2019s like to struggle as a young journalist. Taibbi began his career in Russia, scraping by writing stories for tabloids and holding odd jobs. After taking the job at Rolling Stone, writing several books, and winning a National Magazine award, Taibbi&hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><span><a class=\"more-link button text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2012\/02\/update-perspective-speaker-urges-more-fairness-diversity-in-political-campaigns\/\"><span>Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12659],"tags":[8251],"class_list":{"0":"post-6355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-events-entertainment","7":"tag-perspectives-series","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Update: Perspectives speaker urges more fairness, diversity in political campaigns | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Matt Taibbi may be a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, but he knows what it\u2019s like to struggle as a young journalist. 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