Media hounding of candidates in presidential campaign must stop

WHEN I sat down to write this column, it was intended to be about Mary Davis — and most of it will be.

As I thought about it, though, I realised that there was a lot I wanted to say about the presidential election process we are going through, and especially about the role being played — with gusto, it seems — by some of the media. Mary has, so far, been a principal victim of the way that role is being played, although not the only one.

At the start of the presidential election process, there was a lot of sneering in the coverage. Back then, the sneering was about the office itself, how meaningless it was and how little influence the holder could exert. I predicted then that that sort of sneering would disappear once the race got under way, and indeed it has. But it has been replaced by a level of sneering at some of the candidates – especially the independent candidates — that I find deeply disturbing. And I suspect I’m not the only one.