January 21, 2004

| Sad, Sad Ovoid >>

What’s that? Daily news is caught up in the moment, you say, with little or no context to explain what is going on and why it matters?

USATODAY.com is here to help with a State of the Union analysis called “Behind the address: A reality check on what Bush said on key issues.”

Okay, this piece isn’t all it could have been. I wish it didn’t read so much like a dispatch from the Center for American Progress, intended only to debunk and counter-spin.

However, a story that breaks such an important public statement down issue by issue, each one with the subheds “What Bush said” and “Context,” is clearly a big step forward.

I’d love to see one of these pieces (they’re so short and easy!) every time the President — or a Presidential candidate — gives a major speech. Something about the clear division really makes sense to me. I’ve no doubt that many good politics stories contain this information; I just like the fact that USA TODAY makes it so plain.

(Sudden depressing thought: What if USA TODAY has been doing these all along and I’ve been missing them??)

Anyway, props to the authors of this story, and to The Campaign Desk for linking it up.