Finding Our Way and Learning to Ask Hard Questions

Day One of the two-week minimester was an adventure filled with trials of the body and mind. Beginning with a Tinkerbell-size cup of coffee in the apartment before venturing to find our classroom, and consisting of several wrong turns and long hikes that looped around the Capital, we still managed to absorb knowledge about the Republican and Democratic national committees and how they influence political communication.

The RNC offered a disappointing impression from the get-go. A bright red sign displaying “Fire Pelosi” greeted us as our taxi pleasantly deposited us into the mid-morning heat. The mauve walls showcasing campaign buttons and other trinkets of past presidents of the Republican Party accompanied us as two communication representatives talked around our questions, leaving us to gather that what the RNC does is basically plan the Republican National Convention, fundraise, support Republican candidates and check newspaper articles to occasionally persuade a different angle or story for those they back. Though informative to an extent, our professor asked more probing questions, which one of the reps was not too fond of.

Later at the Newseum, where we collected our member passes and dined for lunch, she wondered why we as inquisitive and intelligent young journalists did not ask more challenging questions, to which we countered with the worry that if they could not answer the simple inquiries to our satisfaction, then how could they handle the next level of questions. Exactly. She told us to never be afraid to ask tough questions as long as we were polite. Well I want to know how unbalanced a story has to be for them to contact the publication to attempt to influence a rewrite or another story with a new angle and how far they would go to get the story to their satisfaction. Also, besides waiting on Capital Hill to tell them what to say and how to act, do or can they ever as a committee take a stance on an issue or something a politician says and express that while they support them, perhaps they made an error in judgment in speaking so freely at a rally? Or do they just back Republican candidates blindly and no press is bad press? Also, I’m curious as to their mission statement because it is not on their website and at least the DNC has a “what we stand for” tab.

The DNC was much more open and accommodating, explaining their goals and social media avenues, like the Accountability Project, which allows viewers to send in examples of politicians acting or saying something out of character and then releasing it to the media. But would they release an example of a Democratic candidate or do they just expose Republicans? Overall, they seemed extremely honest and encouraging with their efforts considering we were 30 minutes late because of our navigation skills. So it was a strenuous but insightful day into how the party committees support their own and occasionally seek to destroy those of the other.