Why Do Some Local TV Stations Have Political Beat Reporters When Most Don't?

[Commentary] If you watch local TV news in different cities around the country, and I'm not suggesting you do so, you see that a small number of stations have political beat reporters, but most do not. Why?

"Most stations where politics is a beat with dedicated reporter happen to be in places where politics is part of the culture," says Deborah Potter, who writes about television news for the American Journalism Review. "So stations in Des Moines, for example, Chicago, New Hampshire, New Orleans, places where politics is what makes the world go round." James Pindell, the political beat reporter for WMUR-TV in New Hampshire told me that's exactly why he's covering politics there. "My station is crazy about politics," he says. "It's the state sport. We spend a lot of time on politics. It's very much based on market." Pindell, who's on the board of the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, could not explain why a station in a place like Denver would cover politics so closely. Potter said a local TV news beat may be driven by the "passion of an individual reporter." "Unless you have some kind of huge story involving a particular person and particular issue are you ever going to say that's something that will get more people to watch," said 9News News Director Patti Dennis. "It's about being responsible. It's about all the things I believe a media organization is responsible for."