Page 2 - Gail Chaddock News Today

How does the Monitor report fairly on the rising number of important U.S. politicians who are reaching advanced ages – and getting ever greater media and public scrutiny over issues of mental acuity? Two longtime Washington reporters, Linda Feldmann, the Monitor’s D.C. bureau chief, and Gail Chaddock, guest host and former congressional correspondent, discuss how not to get swept up in a prevailing narrative.

Debates have been a part of American politics at least since the Lincoln-Douglas Senate tilt became, perhaps unfairly, kind of a standard-setter. Some (Kennedy-Nixon) have been media moments. Some (Bentsen-Quayle) have spawned sound bites that ricocheted through a race. They can entertain. They can inform. As a new debate season kicks off, what does it mean to size them up for substance? Veteran Washington reporter Peter Grier spoke to guest host Gail Russell Chaddock.

Charges of politicization are nothing new. But what goes into keeping Supreme Court reporting fair at a time when the justices themselves are making headlines over issues of ethics? Writer Henry Gass and his editor, Yvonne Zipp, join guest host Gail Chaddock for a look at covering the sometimes surprising session that just ended – staying glued to SCOTUSblog and reporting smart stories ahead of decisions from the places where the human impact of those rulings is most acutely felt.

A once largely invisible minority, transgender people have swiftly moved into the mainstream of popular culture, and some conservatives appear intent on stoking a social and political backlash, particularly among older voters. Writer Simon Montlake talks about bringing fairness to the fore in coverage of a rights issue on which two sides’ stances are so fundamentally different. Hosted by Gail Russell Chaddock.

There’s a prevailing narrative about U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and it’s not a particularly nuanced one. How can a writer build fairness into a profile of a political figure about whom many have a narrow view? Step one: Get out of Washington. Christa Case Bryant, the Monitor’s congressional writer, talks it over with her predecessor in that role, guest host Gail Chaddock.