Voter anger evident to former White House reporter
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Former ABC White House reporter Ann Compton, who will be speaking soon in Oklahoma as part of Oklahoma State University’s executive speaker series, characterized 2016 voters as generally “angry” during a short phone interview on Tuesday.
Compton, who recently retired from her White House assignment with ABC News after 41 years, said “This is the year American voters are angry with the dysfunctional political system,” later adding, “2016 is unlike any other campaign I’ve covered since (starting in) 1972.”
As a reporter who has covered numerous presidential campaigns and conventions since then, Compton explained, “The lack of political will to get things done has left current presidential candidates to reap the sense of voter frustration.”
Compton said she believes that frustration began to show with “landmark divisions” among the voters themselves, which became evident as early as 2000 when the Bush/Gore presidential contest showed the country so narrowly divided that the election was essentially decided by the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, Compton urged college students and others who will be voting for the first time to “Register to vote and feel free to make up your own minds. Don’t get your news from just one place.”
As for political coverage, she insisted, “Everything in media has changed,” with the introduction of digital technology, including campaigns.
“This year the presidential candidates measure their success by their digital footprint, not the size of their rallies. Hillary Clinton started her campaign with a tweet and posted a video on her website that drew more than one million hits,” said Compton. “It’s the first election that candidates can go straight to the voters to get their unfiltered message across and that gives incredible powers to all the candidates in the running.”
Still, there has been a negative side to the digital revolution, according to Compton.
“We have all become digital reporters and media coverage has become shorter and shallower because we now must be so quick to publish,” said Compton, who added, “There was a day when I could spend an extra 40 minutes to make a phone call to confirm something or check on specific quotes, but that time has disappeared. “
As a reporter, Compton said she’s always rated presidents by their willingness to be accessible to the media. Starting with President Gerald Ford, Compton said she found most presidents open and accessible, with the exception of the last two, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
“They used digital media and had less contact with us reporters. I saw less of both of these two-term presidents than any of their predecessors,” said Compton.
She will be visiting Tulsa and Oklahoma City as part of the Tulsa Business Forums and Executive Management Briefings, presented annually by the Center for Executive and Professional Development (CEPD).
Compton will be the featured speaker for the OSU Speaker Series at 5-6:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Wes Watkins Center in Stillwater. Tickets are available to the general public for only $10, and may be purchased online at iso.okstate.edu before Feb. 15 or at the door the day of the event (starting at 3 p.m.).
Compton will present “Inside the White House, Current Events and the 2016 Presidential Election,” at luncheons on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the Renaissance hotel in Tulsa and Wednesday, Feb. 24, at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. To register or for more information, phone (405) 744-5208 or email cepd@okstate.edu.