Everything is a Contest

Why does the media have to perpetuate the political divide in this country by continuing to portray every political action of our state legislators as some type of sporting event?  They always report political actions as some “win or loss.”  Monday’s Advocate front page headline “House Republican leadership dealt first major loss” was a perfect example of this sport-contest mentality.

We have a Republican majority in Baton Rouge, and whenever there is debate about a proposed bill, House and Senate members huddle to make sure that passage won’t appear like a “win” for the Democratic governor, or as a “loss” for them. And the press reinforces this behavior by headlines like the one that appeared Monday.

Maybe it’s just an over-abundance of male testosterone but the extent of this desire to always appear as “the winner” is destroying this state.

The media needs to lose the sporting event mentality by changing its focus from identifying “winners and losers,” and instead report about how these legislative actions will benefit our state and its citizenry.

Maybe then our legislators will get the message that there are no “winners and losers” at the State Capital, but only long term effects for Louisiana.