Common un-wisdom, redux

Hillary Clinton’s surprise victory in the New Hampshire primary proves that the job of political reporting will be even more treacherous this year than discussed in this prior post.

Succumbing to the collective wisdom of the surveys and the pundits that prevailed less than 48 hours ago, I, like just about everyone else, bought into the idea that Hillary was going down to her second defeat after Iowa. I, like just about everyone else, was wrong.

With the results of the first two primaries dramatically defying the prognostications of the pollsters and the press, the media now have one of two things on their hands: A potential crisis of credibility or a cracking good, nail-biter of a story.

If everyone, including me, goes easy on the predictions and heavy on solid reporting, this election could turn out to be a tonic for the media business.