Where's Robert Sarvis?

The third candidate for governor of Virginia.

The scant attention paid to Sarvis, a Libertarian by political philosophy and practice, on the pages of the Virginian-Pilot, is glaring, almost insulting.

If you look closely, Sarvis has been confined to a block on the headline, “Voter Guide 2013 | Virginia Governor” at Pilotonline.com. 

If you don’t look closely, you might mistake his name for an advertisement. Or maybe the full page at Pilotonline.com, spotlighting McAuliffe and Cuccinelli, is an advertisement: and the more you pay, the more play you get. It certainly seems so, with the photos of the two major combatants and captions and info boxes.

To know Sarvis, you have to click on the box in the banner.

No explanation. No photograph.

An unscientific survey of articles (headlines) shows that Pilot reporter Julian Walker wrote 14 articles about  McAuliffe and Cuccinelli and 2 about Sarvis.

Would you consider this “plenty of coverage” about Sarvis?

Whether or not you agree with Sarvis’ political platform, you still must concede that it is unfortunate that the media is catering to the political celebrity show of the gubernatorial race.

It does make a difference. In money. In votes.

Studies show that campaign donations escalate prior to an election, especially if the candidates are openly displayed in the press.

The media perpetuates the two-party system. And the media gets big bucks from advertisements, and the two major parties have are flush with cash.

It’s nasty little game with huge returns. For politicians, for their supporters, and for the media.

Democracy, after all, does have a price.

For more on Sarvis, read:  

Interview with Robert Sarvis, the candidate for VA governor. Or Jim Robert's article at Alt Daily.