Horserace Journalism And Jerry Sandusky

Former Des Moines Register Columnist David Yepsen calls it "horserace journalism": when reporters or columnists talk political strategy or polling rather than issues.

Sadly, "horserace journalism" appeared today in the Penn State pedophilia case.

I was watching CNN this morning as cameras anxiously awaited the arrival of Jerry Sandusky at a courthouse in Pennsylvania--ostensibly for his preliminary hearing.

But it turned out that Sandusky had only arrived to waive his right to a preliminary hearing at the last minute.

As Andrew McCarthy points out, Sandusky's attorney only wanted to give the impression that a preliminary hearing would take place so that the media would descend en masse upon the courthouse. This allowed the attorney to hold an impromptu press conference in order to ensure that media coverage would center on Sandusky's version of events.

Some media reports actually focused on the "successful" manupulation of the media, rather than the stress inflicted upon the victim witnesses who were forced to believe that they'd need to go through the painful process of testifying today.