Drafting the Script of Campaigns: Reporters Define Candidates' Flaws, Real or Imagined

Republicans are surely hoping that reporters will lock in a frame in which Hillary Clinton is presumed to be dishonest, and reporters appear poised to oblige.

by Paul Waldman

May 4, 2015

6:59 AM

Which of Hillary Clinton's character flaws do you find most troubling? If you're a Republican, you may not have quite decided yet, since there are any number of things about her you can't stand. But if you're hoping to defeat her, you'd do well to home in on whatever journalists think might be her primary character flaw, because that's what will shape of much of their coverage between now and next November.

The determination of that central flaw for each of the presidential candidate will soon become one of reporters' key tasks as they construct the frames that are going to guide their coverage of the race. And the idea that Clinton can't be trusted is an early contender for her central defect, the one journalists will contemplate, discuss, explore, and most importantly, use to decide what is important and irrelevant when reporting on her.

Take a look at the lead of this article by Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, titled "For Hillary Clinton, a trust deficit to dismount":

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