News Innovation

Could Campaign Finance Reform Benefit Journalism?

Posted on 16. Jun, 2009 by Damian Ghigliotty in Information, Not-For-Profit, Politics, Revenue

Absolutely, says Jay Hamilton, who argues that changes in campaign funding would bring untapped information to the public.

Earlier today we spoke with Hamilton, a Duke University economics professor and author of the book, “All the News That’s Fit to Sell: How the Market Transforms Information into News,” who told us how campaign finance reform could open a new valve for news, especially as mainstream media coverage shrinks.

“If you think about the problem as people not having enough information about public affairs,” he says, “campaign finance laws further limit the amount of information we’re able to get.”

The idea behind tying campaign financing to journalism is that fewer funding restrictions would lead to an expanded role for campaigns to publish more useful content along with their own takes on current events. Increases in their allowed spending would, presumably, lead to more campaign members performing research, conducting surveys and aggregating news for the public’s use.

And while campaign ads, sites and infomercials don’t exactly scream journalism!, they certainly play a vital role in the broader information world. In his book Hamilton divides that world into four markets:

A market for producers — Information that helps you do your job. The majority of people who work on Wall Street read the Journal in some form. So do most business journalists.

A market for consumers — Information that lets you know the best places to eat, shop, visit and rent.

A market for entertainment audiences — Information that satisfies your personal interests. Or helps you forget about the economy for a little while.

And a market for voters — Information that allows you to make smarter electoral decisions. For example checking a campaign website to find out how your local assemblywoman voted on different bills.

“Today there are enough campaign organizations like MoveOn.org that have a journalistic function,” says Hamilton. “And the web makes it so much easier for people to examine information thoroughly.”

Of course the typical concern with a campaign or special interest group that provides information to the public is how certain political agendas come into play. Then again, that could easily be said about the blogosphere. As The New York Times reported a few months ago, a group of liberal bloggers have linked up with organized labor and MoveOn to form a new political action committee they are calling Accountability Now.

Perhaps journalism is coming full circle to the days of pamphleteers, when most of the country’s news was published by highly partisan printers. And if so, would the American public see a difference?

“The argument among opponents of campaign finance reform is that voters can’t process information well enough, that they are easily deceived by ads.” Hamilton says. “But I believe in the Web 2.0 world, where there is a new demand for political knowledge, the discussion should be reopened.”

Click here to read a Duke Magazine Q&A with Jay Hamilton on fact funding.

Tags: Campaign Finance Reform, Duke University, Jay Hamilton, MoveOn.org