Embedded Reporters Go Back to the Real World

Photo: Todd Heisler / New York Times

With the newspaper business continuing on its steady decline, some of the larger newspaper and television outlets found an inexpensive way this election cycle to maintain nonstop coverage of the candidates as they crisscrossed their way from battleground state to battleground state over the past two years: Campaign Embeds. (See The New York Times story published this morning.) These predominantly young and inexperienced writers are paid to follow candidates to each of their hundreds of campaign stops, serving as the eyes and ears of the elite media at each of the campaigns' backwater town rallies and urban dinner parties. It's not a glamorous job at all, and the reporters will face a harsh uphill battle come the end of November when they are thrust into today's not-so-sunny job market. If I'm still on the reporter track in 2012 though, I might be persuaded to apply. Think about it: Being able to travel cross-country on your company's dime while contributing to the first draft in history...not too shabby.