Brendan Nyhan

New at CJR: Will reporters miss real story on SOTU?

My new column at CJR is on mistakes journalists make in coverage of the State of the Union. Here's how it begins:

The myth of the bully pulpit runs deep in the DNA of political journalists, so it’s no surprise that the importance of the president’s annual State of the Union address to the president’s political standing is so often overstated by the press. With President Obama set to deliver this year’s address Tuesday night, we’re again republishing my media prebuttal (below) to try to preempt some common mistakes and promote a reality-based view of the SOTU’s effects.

Read the whole thing for more.

New at CJR: Improving data storytelling in politics

My new column describes the innovations in data-based storytelling that are emerging from the sportswriters for ESPN's Grantland site and suggests what lessons they might suggest for political and policy coverage. Here's how it begins:

We’re in a boom time for analytical Web journalism that uses data to make politics and policy compelling to readers. Since parting ways with The New York Times, Nate Silver has been hiring staff in preparation for launching an expanded FiveThirtyEight site under the Disney corporate umbrella. At Silver’s former home, meanwhile, David Leonhardt is heading up a new data-focused project that will cover economics, politics, sports, and more. And just this morning, Wonkblog creator Ezra Klein announced that he is leaving The Washington Post for what is likely to be a large-scale independent venture.

Even though it doesn’t cover politics and policy, there’s another publication that belongs in this discussion: Grantland, the ESPN-owned sports and pop culture site. Like Wonkblog and FiveThirtyEight, Grantland is a largely independent satellite of a larger media brand; it was spun off from ESPN under the direction of editor Bill Simmons and given significant creative freedom to experiment with format and content. And though the site may be best known for its long, writerly features (including a spectacularly ill-conceived story on the inventor of a new golf putter last week), its most notable contribution to the visual grammar of the Internet may come from the young contributors to its sports coverage, who are developing creative ways to combine stats-based analysis, commentary, and illustrative visual examples. While this approach is a natural fit for sports coverage, it offers lessons for coverage of politics and policy as well.

For more, read the whole thing.

New at CJR: Christie scandal and the invisible primary

My new CJR column explains why the Chris Christie bridge scandal is likely to be a significant news story and how it could damage him in the GOP invisible primary. Here's how it begins:

Would Chris Christie's administration block traffic lanes from Fort Lee, NJ, onto the George Washington Bridge to retaliate against its Democratic mayor for endorsing Christie's opponent? Back in December, I dubbed these seemingly far-fetched allegations a conspiracy theory—but as I said at the time, sometimes conspiracy theories are true! Pundits and critics like MSNBC's Rachel Maddow were ahead of the facts, but today's revelation—reported most compellingly in the Bergen County Record and The Wall Street Journal—of a series of emails between top Christie aides and administration officials cartoonishly plotting to create "traffic problems in Fort Lee" will turn this apparent abuse of power into a major scandal.

For more, read the whole thing.