Sotomayor: The News Coverage Angle

Joe posted some wonderful links to resources for the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.  I'd like to augment them with a few of my own.  Many of the news outlets have their own take on the nomination, and speculation runs rampant as to the "meaning" of the nomination and the story behind it.  Here is a roundup of some of the reporting.

CNN has its own page devoted to the nomination with statements from political leaders and noted commentators, some of whom have negative feelings towards the nominee.  There is a large collection of short videos (around 2  minutes each) that track Judge Sotomayor's personal story, her work on the Second Circuit, and the reaction of various interest groups to her nomination.

The Washington Post is all over the nomination in its general news coverage.  However, the Post has its Opening Arguments blog that tracks all things related to the nomination.  The blog tracks the political aspects of the nomination, as well as links to documents that are relevant to the discussion. 

One of the most fun political blogs is FiveThirtyEght, written mostly by Nate Silver.  This was a great resource for the last election cycle as its strength is forecasting results based on statistical tracking and analysis.  The site accurately predicted the electoral margin of victory for Obama, as well as most House and Senate races (compared to other political sites).  In one current post, the site notes that current senators voted 36-11 to confirm Sotomayor in 1998. 

This story from the Chicago Tribune notes comments from various individuals.  One of the best quotes in it comes from former Yale Dean and current Judge Guido Calabresi of the Second Circuit:  "We have some judges on the left end of the spectrum. Sonia's well in the middle.  That's one of the things I have been pointing out to people. . . . Activism has a meaning -- judges who reach out to decide things that aren't before them. Sonia simply doesn't do that."

The New York Times has its own "Choosing the Next Justice" page with a roundup of all of its coverage.

In case anyone is wondering, foreign newspapers hardly have any coverage on Judge Sotomayor's nomination beyond single news stories about it.  The news frenzy is purely American.  [MG]