It's October 24, and because the Colorado Rockies are set to make their first-ever World Series appearance this evening, baseball coverage in these parts, which has already reached near-saturation levels, is about to be ratcheted up even further -- and it'll likely remain at a fever pitch for as long as the games go on. But, believe it or not, other newsworthy events are happening in this area -- not that the media is paying much attention to them.
Take Hillary Clinton's campaign appearance here on October 23. Given that she's the leading Democratic candidate for president at this date, and considering that Denver will be hosting the Democratic National Convention in 2008, this rally should have created a prominent blip on the radar screens of news directors throughout the city, and it did earn coverage -- eventually. But according to one of my Westword colleagues, this reportage was severely delayed. Here's an e-mail she sent to me at 6:20 p.m. on the 23rd describing her experiences and her frustration. The subject line read: "Is it just me?"
Hillary Clinton spoke on the Auraria campus this afternoon, and neither 9News nor the Denver Post or RMN websites had one word posted about it, before, during or after the event. It wasn't even way at the bottom of any list of current news. It was nowhere to be found, other than an earlier press-release type of announcement somewhere in the depths of one of those sites (I found it after doing a whole-site search). The Rockies, of course, overshadowed everything, but even beyond the Rockies, there was nothing. Like I said on the subject line, is it just me? I guess it is...
Note to other presidential candidates: Staging events anywhere other than Coors Field during a World Series game for the next week or so will be a waste of your time. Because the local media's gone absolutely batty. -- Michael Roberts
Update: It seems that my Westword colleague narrowly missed seeing a Denver Post item about Hillary Clinton's Auraria event. According to its timeline, the piece was last updated at 6:06 p.m., just before the e-mail above was sent. The Post also ran a small (three sentence) preview on October 23 that generally fits the description of the "press-release type of item" alluded to above, and its main account in the October 24 edition is supplemented by an online effort focusing upon the support of Big Head Todd and the Monsters, a band that participated in the rally. The number of offerings shows that the Post saw the Clinton appearance as newsworthy, but not in the same league as a certain baseball squad. -- MR
