December 29, 2008

Mainstream Media

Pro-Obama Media Bias

Monique Chartier

In response to assertions by commenters under Justin's post "All The Difference from D to R" that no bias exists in the press, below are two studies conducted just before the election which demonstrate otherwise.

An MSNBC article of October 31 cites the Center for Media and Public Affairs.

Comments made by sources, voters, reporters and anchors that aired on ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts over the past two months reflected positively on Obama in 65 percent of cases, compared to in 31 percent of cases with regards to McCain

And a October 22 article at Journalism.org references a study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The media coverage of the race for president has not so much cast Barack Obama in a favorable light as it has portrayed John McCain in a substantially negative one, according to a new study of the media since the two national political conventions ended.

Press treatment of Obama has been somewhat more positive than negative, but not markedly so.

But coverage of McCain has been heavily unfavorable—and has become more so over time. In the six weeks following the conventions through the final debate, unfavorable stories about McCain outweighed favorable ones by a factor of more than three to one—the most unfavorable of all four candidates—according to the study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Or is it contended that, well, yes, there was bias during the election but all media bias ceased on November 5?

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The United States of America; land of FREE speech!

Posted by: Ken at December 30, 2008 12:31 AM

Funny, the right used to complain about McCain getting better treatment than other candidates.
The MSM trashed Obama when it looked like he would blow Hillary out back in february. It will happen again.

Posted by: rhody at December 30, 2008 10:58 AM

You say

Comments made by sources, voters, reporters and anchors that aired on ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts over the past two months reflected positively on Obama in 65 percent of cases, compared to in 31 percent of cases with regards to McCain.

The study also says

Obama’s 2 to 1 lead in good press also held true for the candidates’ issue coverage, which includes evaluations of their policies and proposals. A slight majority (53%) of statements about Obama’s policies and proposals were favorable, compared to one out of four (24%) favorable comments about McCain and one out of six (16%) favorable toward Palin. The combined totals were 52% positive issue coverage of the Democrats and 24% positive toward the GOP.

I say

The difference between the 65% favorable noted above and Obama’s narrower victory margin might be attributed to racial prejudices among a segment of voters, Palin’s greater appeal to the radical Right, the moon being in the seventh house and Jupiter’s alignment with Mars, Republicans stuffing ballot boxes as best they could, the wacko 20% that thought Bush was doing a great job, or an ancient Babylonian curse. How do you explain the difference? It’s your assertion that it is bias, but the 52% margin cited as a combined total accurately reflects Obama's victory margin. Is coverage supposed to be 50-50 on all things political, no matter what the politician says?


You say

But coverage of McCain has been heavily unfavorable—and has become more so over time. In the six weeks following the conventions through the final debate, unfavorable stories about McCain outweighed favorable ones by a factor of more than three to one.
This may be attributed to McCain’s stands, statements and policies and the deteriorating and obvious financial crisis that began emerging at about the same time. What reason do you have for pointing out the supposed biases that you imply? Also, I noticed that Fox News was not mentioned. Do you consider Fox news a major media source? Check out their election and campaign coverage.
OldTimeLefty

Posted by: OldTimeLefty at December 30, 2008 11:06 AM

rhody, you are smarted than that. The media are biased to the left. They promoted John McCain when he was the scorn of the conservatives. As soon as McCain was needed no longer, they turned on him.

The media have yet to "trash" Obama as you assert. Only Governor Palin owns the right to say she was "trashed" during this election.

Ken is right when he advocates free speech. I will be the first to stand up in defense of the media's right to say what they will. But the so-called fourth branch should not be left unchallenged nor its biases unexposed.

Posted by: mikeinRI at December 30, 2008 11:10 AM

The media also helped inflate Palin into the folk heroine Hunter-Gatherer Barbie in record time before it began examining her record.
And the MSM turned on Obama pretty hard after that SNL debate sketch making fun of the media's alleged coddling back in March. The MSM often overreacts to criticism - it's like a referee who gets worked by a basketball coach. Bitch loud enough about the call, and you'll certainly get the next one your way.
And conservatives know how to work the referees.

Posted by: rhody at December 30, 2008 7:50 PM
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