Same Old, Same Old

I have to agree with Marie Cocco on this one, which you can read in full on Alternet here:

I have nothing against Jim Lehrer, executive editor of "The NewsHour" on PBS, or Tom Brokaw of NBC, or Bob Schieffer, the host of CBS' "Face the Nation." But how about a dose of reality? Race and sex already have become flashpoints in this campaign. McCain's age is an issue and Obama is sparking enormous enthusiasm among younger voters. So why are we stuck in a media rut with three white men, the youngest of whom, Brokaw, is 68?

Cocco goes on to mention Christiane Amanpour, Andrea Mitchell, Katie Couric and Gwen Ifill (chosen to moderate the VP debate) as qualified alternatives. Brokaw is retired, for crying out loud! It's obvious Tim Russert would have had that spot, had he still been alive. NBC could have taken the opportunity to increase its diversity—a new perspective! good TV! positive press!—during a year when such issues are very much on everyone's mind. But it didn't.

You might even leave aside race and gender. What does the choice of those three moderators say to those under the age of 40 (who, I might add, will be the most affected by the next president's policies on Social Security, health care and war)? I understand the concepts of seniority and loyalty (although those ideals don't seem to be helping anyone working at a newspaper). I understand that the debate questions might be the same even if the moderators looked different. But sociopolitical power is largely (mostly?) a matter of representation—and based on the choices made here, we can see who still holds the power in this country.