Pack Journalism

Pack journalism describes the practice of journalists covering the same stories from the same perspective. With the advent of 24-hour news programming, reporters from different geographical areas can travel across the globe to cover the same news event. Pack journalism was originally used to label the “packs” of journalists who traveled with political candidates to cover the news on the campaign trail.

The phrase “pack journalism” (also known as “herd journalism” and “fuselage journalism”) is attributed to Thomas Crouse, who introduced the concept in his book Boys on the Bus. Published in 1972, Crouse described how journalists were transported en masse (called “packs”) from one campaign location to another to cover speeches, fundraisers, and other campaign events. During the McGovern presidential campaign coverage, only a few reporters, known as a “pool,” were allowed to attend certain functions (such as small dinners). Those reporters wrote a story about the function, and it was copied and distributed to the rest of the “pack” of journalists. The “pack” passed along the same information in the form of their own news reports. As a result, everyone reported the same event from the same perspective because only a few reporters were granted access to the actual event. After a while, according to Crouse, the journalists “began to believe the same rumors, subscribe to the same theories, and write the same stories” (p. 8).

Still today, there are lead reporters and news outlets (such as The New York Times and The Washington Post) that the rest of the pack follows. The pack reporters restate what the lead reporters and outlets report. The result is that these “pack journalists” contribute little to alternative viewpoints in news. Instead, there is a drive to be in sync with other major outlets.

The pack mentality can result in a “feeding frenzy” among reporters. An often-cited incidence of pack journalism occurred in the O. J. Simpson trial. News outlets were scrambling to find the latest piece of information relevant to the trial and its outcome. Reporters often exhibit this behavior when any news story breaks.

Another problem with pack journalism is that reporters, having covered the same incident, pass along the same erroneous information. This is evidenced in the news reports immediately following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, in which multiple news sources reported that the suspects in the bombing were of Middle Eastern descent. More recently, a tragic misstatement led reporters scrambling to be the first to break the news that the 12 miners trapped in a West Virginia mine in January 2006 were found alive. Sadly, shortly thereafter it was reported that only one of the 12 miners was found alive.

Crouse's words appear to reflect journalism to this day. In Boys on the Bus, he states, “Campaign journalism is, by definition, pack journalism; to follow a candidate, you must join a pack of other reporters; even [Page 528]the most independent journalist cannot completely escape the pressures of the pack.”