The Ultimate State-By-State Guide To Political Media, Part 1

By Hotline Staff  //  November 22, 2010 | 2:14 p.m.
Updated: November 26, 2010 | 11:58 a.m.

One of the tricks of the Hotline trade is that our staffers spend hours each weekday reading hundreds of newspapers from every state in the nation. That allows us to produce coverage of campaigns and politics at the state level. It also means we get to know (and mostly love) the press in the beats we cover -- from the Aberdeen American News to the Zanesville Times-Recorder.

Despite the myriad financial woes facing journalists and newspapers today, the press continues to persevere. So the Hotline gives thanks this Thanksgiving week to the tireless press, by sharing our collective knowledge of this cycle's coverage and letting you know the need-to-read papers and journalists state-by-state. Who soared? Who suffered? Who broke the biggest stories? Here's what we think.

Be sure to check back in throughout the week as we roll out each state, 10 at a time.

Alabama- Like Michigan, New Jersey and other states, three of Alabama's major newspapers are all conveniently lumped together at a "live" Web site, AL.com: Birmingham News, Mobile Press-Register and Huntsville Times. The three papers covered the 2010 governor's race in depth and on a day-to-day basis, offering substantial competition to the Anniston Star and Gannett's Montgomery Advertiser. As a whole, Alabama's papers are actively engaged and their major newspapers all offer endorsements. Reporters Sebastian Kitchen (Advertiser) and George Talbot (Press-Register) are among some of the stand-out reporters while former state Rep. Steve Flowers serves one of the premier political analysts in the state.

Alaska- This has been a tumultuous election season, to put it mildly, in the 49th state. But the state's newspapers have risen to the occasion, with Anchorage Daily News leading the coverage of the Republican primary upset, write-in campaign, and ballot count that led to what appears to be a historic win for Sen. Lisa Murkowki's (R). Fairbanks Daily News-Miner has also had notable coverage, as has the Alaska Dispatch -- which sued to access Joe Miller's (R) employment records. It was also an Alaska Dispatch reporter that was arrested by Miller's private security detail in perhaps the biggest scandal during the campaign.

Arkansas- Arkansas uses a conglomerate Web site of its own in ArkansasOnline.com, which is chiefly the host site for the state's newspaper standard-bearer Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The online content is protected behind a pay wall, however, unlike its rival Arkansas News Bureau. Several individuals stand out for covering politics, including John Lyon (News Bureau), Sarah Wire (Gazette) and columnist John Brummett (Gazette). Conservative blogger Jason Tolbert of "The Tolbert Report" offered frequent and blunt assessments of the 2010 Senate and gubernatorial races without an overwhelming sense of ideological bias, along with now-former "Blake's Think Tank" blogger Blake Rutherford.

Arizona-Tucson's Arizona Daily Star's political news blog is one of the best in the state, while Arizona Capitol Times, a newspaper dedicated to state politics often gets into the nitty gritty that other papers shy away from. The best starting point however, remains Arizona Republic, the state's largest paper. Recall that the Republic first reported that Senate candidate and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R) pitched government grants -- a piece that was one of the biggest stories from that race.

California- The Golden State had two huge races to cover this year. The exciting gubernatorial race got the most in-depth coverage, with the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee leading the coverage, while the Fresno Bee and Contra Costa Times holding their own. But the gubernatorial race at times seemed to suck up all the air in the state's press, and the less exciting but equally competitive Senate race could was often short-changed as a result.

Colorado- Colorado's media landscape suffered a blow when the great Rocky Mountain News went out of business in February of 2009. And as a result, the coverage of the Senate and gubernatorial races was slow to ramp up in 2009, despite fascinating primaries on both sides. But the Denver Post recovered by the conventions, and began producing strong coverage on what had to be the some of the most entertaining races in the country. The Post was helped by quality small-town coverage by the Durango Herald, Pueblo Chieftain and the Fort Collins Coloradoan. Connecticut- For a small state, Connecticut has extremely good in-depth political coverage, spearheaded by the Connecticut Hearst papers, Hartford Courant, New London Day and the New Haven Register. New York City papers like the New York Times also cover the state, usually belatedly, but occasionally broke scoops like the Dick Blumenthal (D)-Vietnam story this year. But the best coverage of this cycle goes to newcomer CT Mirror, a non-profit operation of talented policy and political reporters who covered this year's Senate and gubernatorial races with unusual sophistication. Delaware- The Wilmington News Journal is the only worthwhile newspaper for political coverage in Delaware, with the Newark Post making an occasional contribution. While the News Journal had the best coverage of the Senate race after Christine O'Donnell (R) won the primary -- and after she announced she wasn't going to speak with national press organizations -- their coverage before O'Donnell's possible upset over Rep. Mike Castle (R) was minimal. National media covered the race once the Republican race between Castle and O'Donnell hit the home stretch. Florida- If there's any state with more than enough press coverage, it's got to be Florida, with the partnership of the Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times leading the way, especially in investigative journalism. But that's not all -- the Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post and Tampa Tribune also featured wide-ranging coverage. And all of those papers also had blogs that are some of the best in the business, like "The Buzz" and "Political Pulse." By the end of the cycle, with a fizzling Senate race and an over-covered gubernatorial race, we were hoping that some Florida reporters might decide to move to a different, less blanketed state. Georgia- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by far dominates political reporting in the Peach State, with "Political Insider" Jim Galloway as the go-to guru. The AJC and AP often covered the same investigative stories during in 2010 or piggybacked on each other's reports regarding the gubernatorial race. The level of depth and frequency of investigative pieces stands out the most from both the AJC's Alan Judd and AP's Shannon McCaffrey. Otherwise, Savannah Morning News's Larry Peterson served as a constant presence on the reporting scene as did the staff from NBC-Atlanta affiliate WXIA.

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Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief
Steve Shepard, Executive Editor
Julie Sobel, Editor
Kevin Brennan, Deputy Editor


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