A well-stated argument that many on the right are putting forth.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Story?id=6099188&page=1

10/28/2008 10:56:39 AM

its the right's fault for letting the state of our nation get like this.

its not the media's fault that most of america is sick and tired of the way this nation is being ran.

too bad

10/28/2008 11:00:48 AM

10/28/2008 11:02:21 AM

Quote :

"its the right's fault for letting the state of our nation get like this. its not the media's fault that most of america is sick and tired of the way this nation is being ran."

I dont necessarily disagree with you, but I did think that the points made about the job and influence of the editors were good ones.

10/28/2008 11:05:49 AM

I would rather put the blame where it squarely rests.

On myself and my fellow Americans on making tabloid news a much more successful financial endeavor than in-depth reporting.

10/28/2008 11:16:19 AM

Could it be that the media is leaning farther left because the left is making more sense to them?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14982.html

Quote :

"OK, let’s just get this over with: Yes, in the closing weeks of this election, John McCain and Sarah Palin are getting hosed in the press, and at Politico. And, yes, based on a combined 35 years in the news business we’d take an educated guess — nothing so scientific as a Pew study — that Obama will win the votes of probably 80 percent or more of journalists covering the 2008 election. Most political journalists we know are centrists — instinctually skeptical of ideological zealotry — but with at least a mild liberal tilt to their thinking, particularly on social issues. So what? Before answering the question, indulge us in noting that the subject of ideological bias in the news media is a drag. The people who care about it typically come at the issue with scalding biases of their own. Any statement journalists make on the subject can and will be used against them. So the incentive is to make bland and guarded statements. Even honest ones, meanwhile, will tend to strike partisans as evasive or self-delusional."

Quote :

" As it happens, McCain’s campaign is going quite poorly and Obama’s is going well. Imposing artificial balance on this reality would be a bias of its own."

10/28/2008 11:18:52 AM

Quote :

"Could it be that the media is leaning farther left because the left is making more sense to them? "

sure. however, I dont think the author of the article was against people/writers having their own opinions. in fact, he mentions that having some bias is human nature. his point was against the editor's whose jobs are to try and limit the unintentional bias within an article and to keep the 'news' objective.

[Edited on October 28, 2008 at 12:50 PM. Reason : .]

10/28/2008 12:50:29 PM

Quote :

"I would rather put the blame where it squarely rests. On myself and my fellow Americans on making tabloid news a much more successful financial endeavor than in-depth reporting."

man, this is spot on as well. we the people care more for drama than reporting. that is a HUGE problem.

10/28/2008 12:51:44 PM

^ agreed, a more informed electorate wouldn't keep sending the same people back to congress, hoping for a different outcome...

Quote :

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein"

[Edited on October 28, 2008 at 12:55 PM. Reason : .]

10/28/2008 12:55:30 PM

Quote :

"As it happens, McCain’s campaign is going quite poorly and Obama’s is going well. Imposing artificial balance on this reality would be a bias of its own."

10/28/2008 1:04:23 PM

Quote :

"its the right's fault for letting the state of our nation get like this. its not the media's fault that most of america is sick and tired of the way this nation is being ran."

I think you completely missed the point. But seeing as you replied less than 4 minutes after the link was posted, I somehow doubt you read the article.

too bad



I think the most damning paragraphs come at the bottom of the 3rd page and the top of the 4th. The biggest problem with the press is not that they report on how much Palin screws up, or how badly McCain gaffes, but the fact that we know more about Palin's daughter's unwed pregnancy than we do about large segments of Barack Obama's life. We know more about Joe Wurzelbacher than we do about Obama's college years, or his long standing affiliation with the Chicago Democratic Political machine. It isn't that he's been vetted and found ready for office, he hasn't even been investigated.

But it is easier to find some obnoxious redneck who won't vote for Obama based on race, or some fundamentalist with 10 kids who is voting for Palin because of Jesus than to actually question the credentials of the Democratic golden boy.

If you're doubting this is happening, just look at the scrutiny that Clinton got in '92 and 96. Compare that to the lazier journalism of Bush v Gore. Followed by the even weaker journalism of Bush v Kerry. The media simply ate up what Bush fed them. This year happens to be exceptionally bad. With shrinking print revenues and staffs, who knows if it'll get any better.

10/28/2008 1:16:48 PM

I think the ABC article makes a few good point but the larger story is just this:
THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN IS A TRAIN WRECK.

Night after night even when McCain was up in the polls I would turn to my wife and say "I just don't understand how this helps the campaign. Are they even trying to control the narrative?"

I cringed everytime McCain gave his big grin and arms wide open hug. Don't they have body language coaches?

I was shocked the way he gushed over Sarah Palin we she was introduced. Aren't they even trying to hold back the creepy old man story?

The way the McCain gave JV luggage tags to their own press corp. You want to piss off the people who are writing stories about you?

The repeated slandering of the East Coast Elite in the Convention. Are you aware of who controls information in this country?

When he called for Charlie Cox to be fired in the middle of a crisis. Why doesn't he just tell the White House staff to "get off his lawn."

Canceling on David Letterman to get caught on Katie Cuoric. I mean seriously someone should have been fired over that.

And the worst. The worst were those debates.

"Senator Obama doesn't understand" "My friends" "We can do all of them" "Nuclear power [scare quotes] safe [unquote]" "[scare quotes]Health of the mother[unquotes]" "That One"

Why didn't he just call Senator Obama a whippersnapper and get it over with.

This campaign was a messaging nightmare.

Don't even get me started on the Celebrity-Hussein-Terrorist-Elitist-Socialist angle. They should have picked one theme, one BELIEVABLE theme and gone with it. Let me give you a hint it shouldn't have been Celebrity, Hussein, Terrorist or Elitist.

Also, what happened to Mr. Bipartisan. This election was tailor made for him and he forgot to show up??? He should have run to the middle more than any candidate in history. He should have sounded leftist for christ-sake.

Do really think that Rush Limbaugh was going to let his people vote for Obama? Hell No! McCain should have ignored the base.

I'm sorry I have more to say but I just need to stop.

10/28/2008 2:50:27 PM

no doubt the McCain campaign has been run badly but this is about the people who are reporting on it. you cannot ignore the points about the holes in Obama's biography that have been ignored.

10/28/2008 2:56:15 PM

My point was that you cannot expect the press to go out and do hard hitting pieces about the other side when you are serving them negative headlines on a platter. Laziness is human nature.

10/28/2008 2:58:57 PM

Quote :

" its not the media's fault that most of america is sick and tired of the way this nation is being ran"

90% of america are uneducated and politically ignorant, who are reliant on the news to tell them what to think


and when you have a bleeding heart media, what the fuck do you think will happen

10/28/2008 3:01:59 PM

Quote :

"I would rather put the blame where it squarely rests. On myself and my fellow Americans on making tabloid news a much more successful financial endeavor than in-depth reporting."

10/28/2008 3:04:30 PM

Quote :

"I would rather put the blame where it squarely rests. On myself and my fellow Americans on making tabloid news a much more successful financial endeavor than in-depth reporting."

well said marko

10/28/2008 3:28:49 PM

^^^You're saying it's the liberal media's fault that people are sick and tired of things? Really? It couldn't be REALITY that is making them sick and tired of things?

10/28/2008 4:05:43 PM

media distorts reality in their favor

this is not new

10/28/2008 4:06:39 PM

My dad has lost $70,000 out of his 401k in the past few weeks, and he's angry about it. I guess the liberal media got to him...

10/28/2008 4:10:36 PM

and to blame bush alone which the media will have you believe is absolutely ridiculous


this was a bi partisan failure ... but you dont hear that on the news .. except from cavuto

10/28/2008 4:12:11 PM

Did I say who he blamed? That's not the issue. You're saying the media is responsible for people beign sick and tired of the way things things are. You're a joke.

10/28/2008 4:14:58 PM

[Edited on October 28, 2008 at 4:18 PM. Reason : not going to waste my time on a liberal waterhead about this]

10/28/2008 4:17:37 PM

Quote :

"My point was that you cannot expect the press to go out and do hard hitting pieces about the other side when you are serving them negative headlines on a platter. Laziness is human nature."

very good point. if the mccain campaign hadn't been so erratic and all over the map, they could have controlled the message more clearly. the obama campaign did a stellar job of controlling the image that mccain=bush. mccain simply should have stuck with the "don't let him take your monies!!!" -- probably could have saved him.

although i disagree with your notion that he should have gone far with the "socialist" card. mccarthyism brings out the worst in people and only divides the nation.

[Edited on October 28, 2008 at 4:36 PM. Reason : ]

10/28/2008 4:33:16 PM

Quote :

"this was a bi partisan failure"

as much as i'd love to place blame solely in Bush's lap on this one, TKEshultz is right.

the much talked about deregulation that occurred that was most likely the beginning of this snowball occurred under the Clinton administration...

10/28/2008 4:38:21 PM

Quote :

"I think the ABC article makes a few good point but the larger story is just this: THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN IS A TRAIN WRECK."

Don't blame the campaign, blame the media!

Seriously, Obama didn't start to take off in the polls until the debates, did the media tell John McCain before the debates not to connect with the American people? McCain has dug his own grave in this election, not the media.

Quote :

"this was a bi partisan failure ... but you dont hear that on the news .. except from cavuto"

How do you not hear this on the news? I agree it's a bipartisan failure, and I didn't reach the conclusion on my own, i read it in the news somewhere. McCain and the republicans have just done a piss poor job getting this out, and I think the blame for this is largely on McCain's short temper. He seems to get hung up on small things, while ignoring the bigger picture.If he was running his campaign like Obama, and just ignoring the smaller attacks, they'd be a lot closer in the polls.

[Edited on October 28, 2008 at 4:41 PM. Reason : ]

10/28/2008 4:38:24 PM

carzak, your dad took a risk by putting his money in the market. Be sure to remind him of that.

10/28/2008 4:41:37 PM

Quote :

"My dad has lost $70,000 out of his 401k in the past few weeks, and he's angry about it. I guess the liberal media got to him..."

And I lost 10,000 dollars out of mine, plus an extra 1,500 out of an IRA.....Not to mention my home has devalued 25,000 in the past year.

I want prosecution for the wall street execs. I partially blame the morons who decided to lend money to low credit low income individuals. These people buy middle and upper income housing, end up foreclosing and lower the value of entire neighborhoods in the process.

I blame both parties. Indeed, we are in a financial crisis. But losing my cool and voting for someone because of spite is not something I am going to do. We must get back to ideals of INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY.

10/28/2008 4:42:30 PM

Quote :

"How do you not hear this on the news?"

i watch the news daily, and every major channel, i have never once heard this argued on any show besides cavuto and oreilly


all ive seen on other stations is overt condeming of bush, continuously. if you had no idea what was going on, and watched cnn or msnbc for your soul news source .. or read any newspaper .. of course youre going to think bush is the cause of all this ,,, the democrats will never take any responsibility for this ... ESP BARNEY FRANK who was one of the only people you can ACTUALLY point a finger at

10/28/2008 5:34:12 PM

Quote :

" Do really think that Rush Limbaugh was going to let his people vote for Obama? Hell No! McCain should have ignored the base. "

If he hadn't have sold out, the Republican party would have dropped him in a heartbeat and nominated Romney at the convention. Knowing several people at the RNC, they all basically has the same sentiment, McCain was either going to sell his soul, or he'd be cast out

10/28/2008 6:05:21 PM

^ after he got the nom, why couldn't he revert to how he was?

10/28/2008 6:06:13 PM

well, he could have done that, but waiting until the convention would have made him look like a flip flopper. the only way he could have gone back to the "normal mccain" would have been to do so in Feb., but he fell off the map until June. Another huge mistake, I think

10/28/2008 9:04:40 PM

^ he still got painted as a flip flopper, that's in fact, essentially, what we're talking about now. It would have lasted for a week, and then he would have really been in this game. It would have made him very competitive with Obama's "fresh new" style.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14982.html
Here's a more detailed introspection of the media and bias. It's a little longer at 3 pages, but gives you more to think about that some guy's op-ed.

10/29/2008 1:22:01 AM

Quote :

"As it happens, McCain’s campaign is going quite poorly and Obama’s is going well. Imposing artificial balance on this reality would be a bias of its own."

10/29/2008 3:37:24 AM

this argument isnt about imposing artificial balance.

mccain and palin are running for the highest office. they should be heavily scrutinized and asked the tough questions by the media. I believe they have.

I dont think Obama has.

10/29/2008 8:35:42 AM

Some good audio clip of a Catholic Priest, and close supporter of Barack Obama, threatening to kill a gun shop owner:

http://www.isra.org/quick/pfleger_calls_for_murder_052607.mp3


Again, Obama will win Tuesday. He has run a significantly better campaign than McCain. George Bush has done an abysmal job of running this country. None of that changes the fact that no-one in here knows much of anything about who this man is.

10/31/2008 10:54:18 AM

McCain's campaign hasn't been run as well as Obama's, I'll give you that. But to say its been horribly run is bullshit. And you probably believe that b/c the media pounds it into your head 24/7. But then I guess its our fault the media is biased towards the left?

10/31/2008 11:08:51 AM

the media isn't biased.

10/31/2008 11:11:30 AM

No kidding. So you could tell me with a straight face that the NY Times isn't biased? I'd love to see that.

10/31/2008 11:13:44 AM

i wonder what mccain was thinking when he picked that palin chick

10/31/2008 11:14:44 AM

i'm not saying some outlets don't have biases, but the media, meaning it as a whole, is not biased. both sides are presented and if you take the provided opportunity to read these multiple sources then you can formulate your own opinion. unless you are mentally tractable and find yourself engulfed by one side of sources and disgusted with the other.

10/31/2008 11:16:22 AM

^^^^^ No, I believe it because it is true. I hardly watch TV and I don't watch much TV news. I get all my hard news from the Economist. See kwsmith2's post above and you'll see what I am talking about. McCain is still trying to shore up his conservative base instead of reaching out to his old constituency, the middle. He has shamelessly and awkwardly pandered to the hard right of the party while abandoning the principles that made him so popular in the first place.


Barack Obama has capitalized on his key strength, that he is an articulate, attractive, black man. Say what you will, the only thing that differentiated him from the rest of the contenders in the Democratic primary is the fact that the was an articulate, attractive, black man. David Axelrod saw this though, and ran him, in Obama's own words, "as a blank screen upon which people project their hopes and dreams." He is a chicane, but an adept one.



^ I prove, pretty conclusively, that there is a left leaning bias here: message_topic.aspx?topic=485359&page=2

10/31/2008 11:16:45 AM

Quote :

"Do really think that Rush Limbaugh was going to let his people vote for Obama? "

This has been my question all along.

Why did McCain feel that he had to pander to the evangelicals? It's not as if they're going to vote for Obama. Instead of picking Sen. Lieberman like wanted to, he chose sarah palin as the double gimmick of Female Neocon. And his entire campaign has been tailored towards the social conservative crowd, alienating moderates who will likely vote for Obama out of disgust for the GOP -- I'm one of them.

10/31/2008 11:17:20 AM

when has he said he wanted to pick Lieberman?

[Edited on October 31, 2008 at 12:25 PM. Reason : .]

10/31/2008 12:25:15 PM

^^^ As a radical, I'm a little amused by talk of media bias. From my perspective, it's all horribly tilted in favor of the status quo. Establishment leftists or establishment rightists, doesn't much matter.

10/31/2008 12:29:50 PM

^^damn dude read some newspapers or something

10/31/2008 12:33:17 PM

Don't know if this has been posted elsewhere already, but this is an absolutely hilarious interactive website:

http://palinaspresident.us

[Edited on October 31, 2008 at 12:37 PM. Reason : ...]

10/31/2008 12:34:29 PM

old

10/31/2008 12:37:23 PM

IIRC, word was that Lieberman didn't want to run as McCain's VP.

I thought Tom Ridge was on the short list. did Ridge decline as well, or did McCain pass him up in favor of securing the moonbat vote?

10/31/2008 1:04:11 PM

pretty sure lieberman woulda accepted had john mccain picked him

10/31/2008 1:06:33 PM