Howard Kurtz

About the author: Howard Kurtz is a media analyst and reporter for the Washington Post newspaper.

In the 1992 election, voters and politicians turned away from the adversarial, scandal-driven campaign coverage of newspapers— the so-called old media—and shifted to the new media of talk shows and "infomercials" for election news. Ross Perot in particular made effective use of the new media to build a campaign based on opposition to traditional media and politics. But the old media and its attack-dog style played a vital role in exposing the true character of Ross Perot.

By the late spring of 1992 it was clear that the presidential campaign had broken free of the establishment press.

Frustrated by the narrow, cramped agenda of daily journalism, the candidates began to sidestep...