tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63378472011-04-21T21:31:59.254-04:00A blog devoted to the work of Washington Post political writer Dan Balz, as part of the adopt-a-journalist movement.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comBlogger291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1076047128842621662004-02-06T00:58:00.000-05:002004-02-06T01:01:10.746-05:00

I've been having some personal problems, rendering me unable to post. However, do not worry - posts will continues daily-ish from now on.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1075302194038255482004-01-28T09:56:00.001-05:002004-01-28T10:05:24.873-05:00

Gotta admit...article wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. He focused largely on exit polling data at the end, rather than the punditry. Good.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1075302184945499312004-01-28T09:56:00.000-05:002004-01-28T10:05:15.780-05:00

Gotta admit...article wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. He focused largely on exit polling data at the end, rather than the punditry. Good for him.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1075219025499475572004-01-27T10:34:00.000-05:002004-01-27T11:11:53.356-05:00

Point 15 of the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics (thanks fact-esque)is:Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.Finally with his own by-line, Dan Balz is once again making up his own standards for the candidates, this time for the February 3rd states. This sort of analysis should be saved

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1075217665778210182004-01-27T10:32:00.001-05:002004-01-27T10:36:34.936-05:00

Esther Riley's letter to the editor in today's WaPo makes an excellent point about the equal time (or lack thereof) given to the various candidates. Kudos.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1075217656103958342004-01-27T10:32:00.000-05:002004-01-27T10:36:25.170-05:00

Esther Riley's letter to the editor in today's WaPo makes an excellent point about the equal time (or lack thereof) given to the various candidates. Kudos to you.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1075151955363567832004-01-26T16:12:00.000-05:002004-01-26T16:21:23.576-05:00

A recently posted article, co-written by William Branigin and John F. Harris, mainly focuses on Dean, with mentions of Clark and Kerry events. It appears that Balz is talking more about dirty tricks, this time in the way of anonymous emails and faxes. It would be helpful for them to mention the commonality of these sorts of things.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1075138225282288782004-01-26T12:16:00.000-05:002004-01-26T12:32:33.140-05:00

Howard "Walking Conflict of Interest" Kurtz appears to be starting a Kerry's-Getting-the-Easy-Treatment Meme. I'm reminded of all the Dean's-Getting-the-Easy-Treatment stories around last September. I think we all know how that ended working out. Now it's time to wonder how much Kerry will get Gored, assuming he's the frontrunner long enough for the media to get a hold of him.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1075137090680436242004-01-26T11:35:00.000-05:002004-01-26T12:13:38.780-05:00

Dan Balz and Paul Schwartzman, along with contributions from David S. Broder, Paul Farhi, Jonathan Finer and Vanessa Williams wrote another hodgepodge about last-minute campaign events. For a different take on some of the mentioned events, take a glance at Josh Marshall. My big beef is the first paragraph,"The Democratic presidential candidates called in all available reinforcements Sunday as

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1075076631487070362004-01-25T21:31:00.000-05:002004-01-25T23:37:31.716-05:00

Operation Fix Computer has been a success, although I appear to have missed chances to be in news articles at wired and NPR. Journalists, feel free make my mom a happy woman and give me a mention. Now back to posting. Rather than reposting Mr. Balz's articles over the past week, I'm just going to over-generalize the two big memes that have come and gone recently. First: Dean's "Scream Speech"

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074813974710620452004-01-22T17:18:00.001-05:002004-01-22T18:28:17.670-05:00

Some computer problems...expect sparse posts for the time being...hopefully all will be fixed soon.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074813960654437832004-01-22T17:18:00.000-05:002004-01-22T18:28:03.403-05:00

Some computer problems...expect sparse posts for the time being.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074622902282841662004-01-20T12:44:00.001-05:002004-01-20T13:23:42.043-05:00

Dan Balz is starting (along with contributions from David Broder) the anybody's-race meme, meaning that the Bash-Dean movement has been a success, from the Media's point of view. We now have plenty of drama, and a race that could last until the Convention. I can almost hear the glee in the first two paragraphs:Iowa Democrats dealt a serious blow to the once front-running campaign of Howard Dean

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074622816192155582004-01-20T12:44:00.000-05:002004-01-20T13:22:15.983-05:00

Dan Balz is starting (along with contributions from David Broder) the anybody's-race meme, meaning that the Bash-Dean movement has been a success, from the Media's point of view. We now have plenty of drama, and a race that could last until the Convention. I can almost hear the glee in the first two paragraphs:Iowa Democrats dealt a serious blow to the once front-running campaign of Howard Dean

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074620588837043672004-01-20T12:06:00.000-05:002004-01-20T12:45:19.920-05:00

Many articles written, due to the end of the Iowa Caucuses. First, a pre-Cacusus Logistics Article. Strangely, he references ABC's The Note on the "organization v. momentum" argument, when every pundit in the country was saying the same thing.He also participated in an online discussion. He predicted Kerry's organization was better than people expected (props,) and appeared to imply that they

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074538079173955382004-01-19T13:41:00.001-05:002004-01-19T14:02:57.576-05:00

It seems that the "Mainstream Media" is starting to get the message on Anti-Deanism, as seen in this article by Public Editor Daniel Okrent. It's certainly good that these sorts of abuses are starting to get recognized, although Economists for Dean takes it in a much more negative light. I'd like to point out one line that we should keep in mind:Think of a politician you dislike - maybe one of

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074538025188478402004-01-19T13:41:00.000-05:002004-01-19T13:49:03.450-05:00

It seems that the "Mainstream Media" is getting the message on Anti-Deanism, as seen in this article by Public Editor (Ombudsman) Daniel Okrent, a man I have newfound respect for, has written a column vindicating many of our claims. Now we have to ensure that certain other unfair reporters (which don't include Mr. Balz) are tattled on to the Ombudsmen. It's the only way to ensure that the media

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074530641137148352004-01-19T11:40:00.000-05:002004-01-19T11:45:59.140-05:00

Although it's well-written, it's the same four-way tossup article. A bit repetitive, but hopefully he'll write some articles about issues at some point, rather than just predicting the finish. This time, Ceci Connolly, Vanessa Williams (a different one, I imagine) and David Broder contributed.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074495719707423372004-01-19T01:48:00.000-05:002004-01-19T11:48:11.076-05:00

Normally, I don't like to use this space to talk about other journalists, but this article is asking to be shot down. Problems:The first half on the article speaks about Judy Dean's statement, and reticence on the campaign (like it's our business.)The headline says "Carter Backs Dean," ignoring Carter's explicit statement that he was not making an endorsement, and that he planned on going to

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074372366186628282004-01-18T16:47:00.000-05:002004-01-18T16:51:47.530-05:00

Now lets relate my earlier post on this to Dan Balz. He's written (or co-written) articles over the past two months entitled (deep breath):"Dean's Rivals Question Campaign's Tone in Iowa; Kerry, Edwards Say Anger Won't Win White House""Dean Must Show Strength, Iowa Governor Says; Vilsack Contends Candidate May Be Vulnerable to GOP Criticism That He Is Not Tough Enough""Other Candidates Question

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074460223097305232004-01-18T16:05:00.000-05:002004-01-18T16:54:32.700-05:00

Dan Balz joined a roundtable today with Tom Brokaw, Joe Klein and Roger Simon. It's the same 'ole analysis, but with a mention (by Brokaw) of how the State of the Union may decrease the Iowa bump.UPDATE: Transcript (scroll down for Balz)

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074448333329372052004-01-18T12:22:00.000-05:002004-01-18T12:54:09.936-05:00

Dan Balz writes a second sound article today, this time explaining what a caucus is, which can be difficult (I tried with my parents last night.) If you're curious, click the link.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074446407932673562004-01-18T12:12:00.000-05:002004-01-18T12:22:04.936-05:00

Today's front page article, with contributions from Ceci Connolly and Vanessa Williams, is a hodgepodge of quotes from mainly undecided Iowans, with a mention of last night's Des Moines Register Poll. In a race this fluid, it's a good technique for emphasizing the volatility of the race, and how undecided most Iowans are. Well done.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074366495503119962004-01-17T20:01:00.000-05:002004-01-17T20:05:42.546-05:00

Housekeeping notes My apologies for those of you who saw mysterious postings. I'm still getting use to the blogspot sotware. Anywho, this is gong to be the first part of my ranting on the subject. Secondly, I will be blogging about Dan Balz on Washington Week yesterday when the transcripts become available (although I blog, I have a social life) and his show on MTP tomorrow morning.We lead

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074277531840695342004-01-16T14:00:00.000-05:002004-01-16T14:02:42.826-05:00

Today's latest article, Democratic Candidates Launch Final Push was co-written by William Branigin and features contributions from John F. Harris. The point is that Iowa is anybody's game. It's focused on John Kerry for close to the first half, who, judging by the picture, is doing an excellent job practicing his imaginary handshaking. He gives two pedestrian paragraphs of qutoes, apparentally

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074278145829100062004-01-16T13:32:00.000-05:002004-01-16T14:00:50.733-05:00

I'm gonna backtrack a bit to yesterday's solo-written front page analysis about Dean's grassroots. It follows the Dean-Is-Falling meme that's been very common in the media. Most of it is questioning whether or not Dean's grassroots will reliable. A couple of things stuck out at me, firstly:But on the eve of the first critical votes of 2004, Dean's campaign is showing obvious signs of

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074276045379632302004-01-16T12:57:00.000-05:002004-01-16T13:03:08.343-05:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/politics/011604-1s.htmMr. Balz plays political analyst, talking about endorsements, horseraces and how poll numbers will turn into votes. Nothing groundbreaking, but solid analysis. No transcript available-link opens audio file.

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074234758247018182004-01-16T12:43:00.000-05:002004-01-16T12:46:18.043-05:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19941-2004Jan15.html Mr. Balz's (now in Iowa) latest article, co-written by William Branigin and John F. Harris, is on Carol Moseley-Braun's withdrawal from the Presidential race and endorsement of Howard Dean. The article begins with a summary of the announcement event in Caroll, Iowa (no relation.) They then focus on Moseley-Braun's impact on

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6337847.post-1074229047259767202004-01-15T23:50:00.000-05:002004-01-16T00:12:59.043-05:00

[cue voiceover and dramatic music]In every generation , there are chosen ones. They will stand against the ideologues, biased reporting and the opinionated journalists. They are the WATCHERS.Hopefully, we all get the Buffy reference.This blog will be devoted to the work of Washington Post National Staff Writer Dan Balz, as part of the Adopt-a-Journalist campaign. I am your humble watcher, Eric

Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05802819490167414860noreply@blogger.com