DES MOINES -- Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said the mainstream media focuses too much of their time on Iraq while covering the 2008 presidential campaign.
Vilsack made the comments during a taping at Iowa Public Television event, in conjunction with a Poynter Institute Journalism Conference in Des Moines this week.
The panel discussion focused on politics and the media and what journalists need to do to better cover the 2008 presidential campaign. Tom Rosenstiel, the director for the Project for Excellence in Journalism moderated the discussion.
"The media is so fixated on Iraq, they aren't paying attention to other issues," Vilsack said. "THere are issues beyond Iraq that are more important to the future of this country."
Matt Dowd, a former chief strategist of George W. Bush, also said he was "no longer a Republican strategist," during the panel discussion. Dowd also criticized the mainstream media for focusing on conflict. He said journalism has a role "of healing the country." He said journalists should spend more time on trying to focus on issues that help heal rifts between groups.
"Journalists have a place to be a referee in the process and not just give equal weight to all sides, but try to arrive at the truth," Dowd said, advocating that journalists should not only cover facts, but offer conclusions.
The editor of the Des Moines Register, Carolyn Washburn, said she wasn't so sure that journalists should be taking that role.
Vilsack said part of the problem is that local stations do not have the proper resources to go into depth and cover issues properly.
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