If Martha Coakley's defeat in Massachusetts was a political earthquake, most journalists were slow to hear the tremors...But increasingly disaffected voters failed to follow the script. The Times didn't run a piece saying that Coakley's candidacy was in trouble until Jan. 8; The Post didn't do so until Jan. 11; the Los Angeles Times until Jan. 14.
The network newscasts were a step farther behind. ABC's "World News" reported Jan. 15 that Coakley was in a tight contest. The "CBS Evening News" and "NBC Nightly News" aired reports on Sunday, Jan. 17 — the day that President Obama campaigned for Coakley, and two days before the election.
Our Joe Guzzardi wrote on Scott Brown January 8.
Of course, even webzines have institutional inertia. Joe alerted me to this possible upset several days earlier, but we have our routines. However, Matthew Richer did blog on it Jan 3.
Internet 1, MSM 0.
