Media Bias, Revisited: Barack Obama and John McCain

Without an overriding story in the news (outside of the ongoing, but unsexy economic crisis) much of the political talk is still about the election post-mortem. And one of the themes is that Barack Obama benefited from an adoring mainstream media, while John McCain was thrashed by them. Um, what?

This has been a recurring theme, ever since the Saturday Night Live skit, with Campbell Brown offering Obama a pillow to make him more comfortable in his debate against Hillary Clinton. But is it true? I was reading The Raw Story this morning, and happened upon a piece about how Time magazine's Mark Haleprin is "disgusted" by the fawning media treatment.

"It's the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war," Halperin said at a panel of media analysts. "It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage." This statement reminds me of Cindy McCain's claim that this Barack Obama had run one of the dirtiest campaigns in history. It's a complete blind spot for the other side of the story.

While you can click the link above to read more on Halperin's opinion piece, the better quote comes from the comments section on Raw Story, by "David." Check it out:

I can't believe that this notion of a pro-Obama media bias is taken remotely seriously for even one moment. Imagine for one moment if Obama had a pregnant out-of-wedlock daughter, and that the father had a Facebook page proclaiming himself to be a "proud Black Panther" instead a "f-in' hillbilly" or whatever it was that moronic redneck Alaskan kid said about himself. Imagine for one moment if Obama had any association at all with a Kenyan witch doctor who "blessed" his candidacy. Imagine for one moment if Obama did not know the difference between Shia and Sunni. Imagine for one moment if he needed an aide to whisper in his ear that no, militants in Iraq were not being funded by Iran. Imagine for one moment what would happen if Obama suggested that there's such a thing as an Iraq/Pakistan [border], as McCain did. Imagine for one moment if Obama stated, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should." Why was McCain never asked to explain in detail (let alone apologize for) his association with louts and criminals like Hagee, Renzi, Land, etc? Why almost no media comments on jaw-dropping flip-flops on abortion, creationism, immigration, intervention abroad, tax cuts for wealthy, etc. Meanwhile, days of cable news coverage is dedicated to Obama not wearing a flag pin. To the strangeness of his name, to his middle name, etc. Pro-Obama my rear end!

David 11.23.08 - 12:20 am