If you watch the news (any channel) or read the newspapers or Internet blogs the ratio of stories, items, honorable mentions between Barack Obama and John McCain is not even close. Every hour long cable TV news magazine show devotes 57 minutes to Obama and 3 minutes to that other guy. The analysts parse every niggling detail of the Obama phenom and squeeze in a quip (accompanied with an unflattering picture) about the other candidate.
But the Center for Media and Public Affairs is telling us that Obama is getting far more negative press than is McCain. Well, by sheer force of airtime alone this was an inevitable result. Out of 57 minutes a total of 4 minutes of negativity directed toward Barack eclipses the whole 3 minutes spent on McCain. It's simple math.
The CMPA article cites only Fox News - the least serious news network and most prone to advance a conservative bent -
Obama ran even farther behind McCain on Fox News Channel’s Special Report with 79% negative comments (v. 21% positive), compared to 61% negative comments (v. 39% positive) for McCain since June 8. During the primaries Obama had a slight lead in good press on Fox, with 52% favorable comments (v. 48 % unfavorable), compared to 48% favorable (v. 52% unfavorable) for McCain.
What about all the other alphabet networks ABCCBSNBCCNNMSNBC etc etc and all their fawning and breathless Obama coverage interspersed with a few "tough" questions???
I don't buy it. Neither does the Orlando Sentential's Kathleen Parker.
Parker has a nice piece today that ponders what the electorate must think about this lopsided race. The polls are either completely off - showing a horse race - or likely voters are uneasy with Barack.
Obviously the Main Stream Media is sold!
CW
1 comment:
McCain is reaping what he sowed. Under McCain-Feingold the press was granted unsurpassed power to influence any race they happen to choose. With 1st amendment protection there is no way to mitigate the damage they can do to the entire election process. Signing that damn bill and relying on the supreme court to rule on its obvious unconstitutionality may prove to be the biggest black spot in Dubya's enduring legacy.
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