The Media and the US Elections
The respected Pew Research Centre has just released its latest findings on media treatment of the really tight US Presidential race.
And no surprises, it found reports about Barack Obama are almost always more favourable than those about his rival John McCain.
It says the study found reports about McCain substantially unfavourable since the end of the party conventions.
It was pretty much the same problem the Hillary Clinton campaign complained about during the primary season. How the media was so much softer on Obama, and harder on Clinton.
I’ve just returned from a long holiday in New York City and Washington DC, and as much as I want to stay away from work related activities, I couldn’t. The election is everywhere in the news.
I personally noticed that cable news network MSNBC has all but become a Barack Obama campaign station, while the right-wing Fox News will spin any news item not so much to convince people to go McCain, but to smear Obama as a left wing socialist.
Bill O’ Reilly even joked on The View calling Obama a “communist.” Was it taking it too far?
Meanwhile in the hotly contested state of Florida, a local TV station WFTV-Channel 9 got a mouthful from the Obama campaign because it didn’t like the questions asked to VP candidate Joe Biden when he was interviewed. The anchor Barbara West quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama is “not being a Marxist” with the “spreading the wealth” comment. ( http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html )
Two weekends the New York Times published an interview with Barack Obama where he whines…
“I am convinced that if there were no Fox News, I might be two or three points higher in the polls. If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn’t vote for me, right?
“Because the way I’m portrayed 24/7 is as a freak! I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?”
Meanwhile, the Republicans are also on the defensive after news leaked about Gov Sarah Palin’s expensive wardrobe collection, and the party was not at all happy the media is personally attacking Palin instead of ripping apart her policies or lack of it.
And is Sen. John McCain happy to hear that he’s already being written-off in this election? Well of course not. He warned the media to brace for a long election night. He says the polls may point to his demise but he knows how close the race will be and warned that Americans may be going to bed without knowing who their president will be.
Will we see 2000 elections all over again? Hang in there and stay tuned.
Joim Melissa Hyak and me for complete coverage of America Decides on the morning of November 5th from 9AM Sin/HKG/Mnl.