RI Reporters and Columnists Covering 2018 Election
Thursday, April 19, 2018
It is less than seven months before Election Day and all the candidates may not be announced, but the reporters and columnists who cover the 2018 Election are now in full coverage mode.
At a time of change and turmoil in media, Rhode Island is seeing a transformation. The Providence Journal which once claimed a newsroom of more than 120 a decade ago, now has just 10 to 15 reporters.
With numerous political races in Rhode Island now heating up, GoLocal takes a look at the political reporters and columnists that will investigate the claims, analyze the campaign white papers, and dig through the campaign finance reports.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe governor's race alone could spark as much as $10 million in combined spending. The spending level could hit record levels, and so could the number of candidates. The race for Governor may include ten or more -- the number of candidates may outnumber the total count of reporters and columnists.
See Who Is Going to Cover the 2018 Races Below
A competitive race is expected for Rhode Island Lt. Governor — both in the Democratic primary and potentially in the general election. The Democratic primary could see as much as $2 million spent in the primary between sitting Lt. Governor Dan McKee and his challenger Aaron Regunberg -- a sitting State Representative.
The GOP will have a competitive primary for the U.S. State Senate nomination between former Supreme Court Judge Bob Flanders and State Representative Bobby Nardolillo. The winner takes on a vulnerable sitting Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. Recent polling shows his public support far under 50 percent.
Decreasing Number of Reporters
A Pew Research report found that the number of reporters in statehouses across the country has dramatically decreased. According to the study, the number of statehouse reporters decreased from over 500 in 2003 to 300 in 2014. The numbers have fallen even more quickly since 2014 as newspaper staffing has collapsed.
In Rhode Island, the number has shrunk dramatically over the past two decades. The Providence Journal used to deploy five full-time reporters to the Rhode Island State House, the Pawtucket Times’ Jim Baron was a mainstay, and the Newport Daily News’ Joe Baker was a State House regular.
In addition, each of the television stations had one to two reporters who were regulars. Today, newspapers are shrinking and local TV is also transforming, “From 2016 to 2017, the portion of Americans who often rely on local TV for their news fell 9 percentage points, from 46% to 37%,” reports Pew.
See Who Is Going to Cover the 2018 Races
Related Slideshow: RI Reporters and Columnists Covering 2018 Election
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