The August news cycle vs. the September news cycle

[bluestateguy]

There is perhaps no month better known for slow news than the month of August. The politicians are away on vacation, as are millions of Americans. This leaves the networks scrambling for news in the month of August.

In spite of a lot of the complaining I hear at DU, I actually think that the major networks and big 3 cable channels are covering Cindy Sheehan's story in satisfactory quantities. Some people here would only be satisfied with round the clock coverage, but just as it's wrong to do that for Natalie Holloway, it would be wrong to do that for Cindy Sheehan. The quality of the Cindy Sheehan news coverage ranges from bad to excellent. It depends. Point is, I do think she is generating quite a bit of coverage, and she obviously has the Right razzled, because if she was as insignificant as they said she was, they would not be counter-mobilizing against her as ferociously as they are.

But things change in September. September is recognized as a back to business month for the American people: the kids go back to school, summer vacations come to an end, the carefree fun of baseball gives way to the all business sport of football, the politicians come back into town, and in election years, the campaigns really kick into gear.

So what if Cindy Sheehan goes back to Washington to follow the Baby President? There could be a big falloff in news coverage if the networks lose interest. Sheehan and her supporters at Camp Casey will need a new PR strategy that will hold the networks' attention in September. Don't assume anything. The media types have all the attention span of an overindulged child. That's not a liberal or a conservative thing. It's just something we have to deal with.