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Spec Reporting
A troubling trend brought to you by the news media
by Kent Lewis

While all of these events were memorable, they differ in how they were covered. Major events of the past (elections, assassinations, wars, etc.) were reported as past or present, based on fact. Starting a few years ago, news has increasingly focused on the future, based on available information and hypothesis. Speculation or "spec" reporting is a troubling new trend the news media has developed to gain an edge in the ratings game, at everyone else’s expense.

Spec reporting was first made famous in a photo of Eisenhower holding a newspaper that reads "Dewey Wins!" For those of you that slept through U.S. History, the paper was printed before all the votes were tallied, and the outcome was in fact different (sound familiar?). The pre-reporting based on available facts created controversy, but it also started the ball rolling.

Not until the OJ trial did spec reporting become a de facto standard with popular news media. Broadcast and print outlets branded OJ as a killer, but the "facts" discussed in various stories did not seem to make it to the jury, or likely, did not have the same impact. Speculation failed again to predict the outcome.

Eisenhower defeating Dewey set the tone for electoral coverage in the years to come. Experts argue that many elections have been adversely affected by pre-announcing election results based on exit votes. Why vote if you already know the outcome, regardless of whether you favor the results? If the media elected only to report election results as they were made official, Will Farrell would have one less staple character for the next few years.

I should clarify for nitpicky readers that I’m referring primarily to reporting on current events or "news" as the network broadcasters call it. Spec reporting is standard operating procedure for industry reporting, including the stock market, as the future is business. When it comes to a high profile murder, political scandal or racial tension, the future is destabilized by inappropriate reporting in the present.

A new book by Wacker, Taylor and Means, entitled The Visionary’s Handbook, touched on this very subject (look for a book report next month). The book highlighted a quote from author Bruce Feiler in a 1998 New York Times article and went on to cite examples like the taped Clinton deposition, movie earning projections. The book cites pressure from the public and their need to live in the future or "pressure" tense and that the media is only following their lead.

Regardless of how or why the need to report in the future tense arose, the fact is, it needs to become a part of the past. I challenge the media to go back to reporting on the facts, and the facts alone. Leave speculation to Geraldo and fortune tellers.