Eric Boehlert Writing Book About Campaign Coverage For Free Press

Media Matters columnist Eric Boehlert is writing a book for Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, about media coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign. Mr. Boehlert, who wrote a book for Free Press in 2006 about the press’s relationship with the Bush administration, said this new book will emphasize the role of liberal bloggers like Jane Hamsher, Markos Moulitsas, Chris Bowers, Matt Stoller, Glenn Greenwald, and John Amato.

Mr. Boehlert, long a champion of political journalism on the web, said these bloggers are producing more substantial coverage of the campaign than reporters who write for more mainstream outlets.

“I don’t think the press is really up to the task of covering a presidential race,” he said. “The trivia and the tactical pursuit of the campaigns has just become mind numbing at this point… You contrast that with what goes on online, and most bloggers don’t get caught up in that tactics stuff. They are much more serious and analytical, and honestly, lots of them are far better writers.”

Mr. Boehlert’s is one of only several books about the campaign currently in the works, something he attributes to the fact that blogs and the 24-hour news cycle have made campaign books obsolete.

“I think the original idea of the campaign book is that there’s all this stuff we didn’t see, all this stuff that was happening behind the curtain,” he said, “but now with cable news and everyone posting online almost every hour, there’s just not a feeling that there’s a hell of a lot after the election that hasn’t been reported on. People are thrilled if they get a scrap of information that is exclusive for two hours. Holding stuff for 9 months [is impossible].”

Mr. Boehlert said he has written several chapters of the book and will continue to work on it through the campaign. He expects to finish in January 2009, and hopes to have the book published about 8-10 weeks later.