In his final speech on the Senate floor, Chris Dodd bemoaned the rise of the "24/7 political media industry that seems to favor speculation over analysis and conflict over consensus."
The new media explosion, as Dodd calls it, coincides with the decline of legacy newspapers, most of which no longer have full-time DC-based political writers. "Case in point,'' Dodd said. "Ten years ago, 11 or 12 reporters from Connecticut covered the delegation's legislative activities. Today there is only one doing the same work."
Yet that wasn't true Tuesday. In a testament to the newsworthy-ness of Dodd's departure (or the persuasive powers of Dodd's press aide, Bryan DeAngelis), the Courant, the Journal Inquirer, the New Haven Register and the Day of New London all sent staffers to Washington to cover the speech. Christine Stuart of CT News Junkie made the trip, as did Laurie Perez of Fox 61 and Dennis House of Channel 3.
One reporter who wasn't covering Dodd on Tuesday is the one who covered him the longest and probably knows him the best. David Lightman joined the Courant's Washington bureau (back when the paper still had a Washington bureau) in the early 1980s, right around the time Dodd first arrived in the Senate. He served as bureau chief until 2007, when he left to cover Congress for McClatchy.
On Tuesday, Lightman was busy filing a story about President Obama's meeting with congressional leaders at the White House, not Dodd's valedictory speech.