MSM Bias?

[Kathianne]

Seems even Kurtz, no conservative, thinks there is some 'there' there:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/20/conservative_group_finds_netwo.html


Conservative Group Finds Networks Positive on Obama

By Howard Kurtz
It's no secret that Barack Obama has gotten awfully good coverage from the media in this campaign, and plenty of it.

Now the conservative Media Research Center says the imbalance is far greater than anyone imagined.

The advocacy group, which lives to complain about liberal bias, has studied the coverage on the network evening newscasts from May 2000 (the first mention of the senator from Illinois) through the end of the Democratic primaries in June. Overall, the group says, 34 percent of the stories about Obama were positive and 5 percent negative. The rest were characterized as neutral.

Is that just the group's spin? The research center says every comment and sound bite, whether by the reporter or someone being interviewed, was characterized as positive or negative, and only stories with a 2-to-1 edge either way were put in those categories. (Of course, it's impossible to assess how Obama stacked up against the other candidates since he is the only one examined.)

In isolating stories on the ABC, CBS and NBC broadcasts that were mainly focused on Obama, the center says, 42 percent were positive and 7 percent negative. The group found "NBC Nightly News" the most pro-Obama and ABC's "World News" the least skewed toward Obama.

Even in the roughest period for Obama -- the weeks before the Pennsylvania primary in April, when the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was dominating the political news -- the group says that 21 percent of the broadcasts' Obama reports were positive and 9 percent were negative.

"The Big Three broadcast networks have showered Obama with positive -- even glowing -- news coverage, protected the candidates from the attacks of his rivals, and shown little interest in investigating past associations or exploring the controversies that could have threatened his campaign," the group says.

Media coverage tends to be more positive when candidates are winning, and Obama did, of course, manage to defeat Hillary Clinton. The report does not include stories since he opened the general-election battle against John McCain. But other studies have found that Obama consistently gets more coverage than his Republican rival.

[red states rule]

No liberal bias in the media eh?

Last night on ABC


ABC's McFadden Goads Rick Warren Over 'Sham Operation,' GOP Views
By Scott Whitlock (Bio | Archive)
August 20, 2008 - 13:03 ET

"Nightline" co-anchor Cynthia McFadden interviewed Pastor Rick Warren on Monday about the presidential forum he held with Senators Barack Obama and John McCain and pestered him to just admit that he's a Republican. At one point, she goaded, "You know, there are some people who feel that this is kind of a sham operation. That really, we know you, as an evangelical, are a Republican, a John McCain supporter."

Warren responded by asserting he's a registered independent, but the ABC correspondent kept trying to pin the pastor and author down as a GOP supporter. Speaking of Warren's parishioners and his own preference, she queried, "But do you feel like at some point, Rick, you owe the people who look to you for guidance more than that? I mean at some point before this election are you going to get up--" After Warren interrupted and replied that he wouldn't be telling anyone who to vote for, McFadden followed-up: "So if someone were to come to you and say, you know what, forget character, I'm going to vote for the guy who is opposed to abortion, would you say they need to go back and think a little harder?"

The Saddleback Church pastor retorted, "No. I would say you made your hierarchy of values and for you the value of preserving life is the top value. Great. Good decision." Trying yet again to definitively pin Warren as a Republican, McFadden queried, "Could you vote for either one of them? That's a different question than saying who would you vote for."

The "Purpose Driven Life" author responded by saying simply that he didn't know and then offered a wink. McFadden closed the segment by opining, "The wink seems to say McCain, but Rick Warren is too savvy to speak the name, determined to keep the public dialogue going with his two very powerful friends."

The "Nightline" co-anchor's questions seemed to demonstrate an incredible naivete. Warren just completed an event hosting the two major presidential candidates in a conversation about morality, faith and leadership. Why would he compromise that by endorsing a candidate on national television? And as for Warren's wink, it could also be interpreted as a way of telling the reporter that, no matter how many times she asks that particular question, there would be no answer forthcoming.

McFadden should be given credit, however, for challenging the pastor about Barack Obama and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Warren, who did not broach the subject during his conversation with the Illinois senator, bluntly stated:

RICK WARREN: Well, I totally disavow liberation theology and black liberation theology. I think they're both wrong. I think they are radical. I think they're Marxism in Christian terms and I think they're dead wrong.

McFadden then asked the logical follow-up: "So what does it say about Barack Obama that that was his church for so many years?" Warren offered a middle ground and asserted "there's a difference between a personal connection and a political connection." He added that only if Wright had been Obama's political advisor on all matters, "I'd say then Barack, you're a lot more liberal than you're letting us on to be. You're a lot more radical than you're letting us on to be."

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2008/08/20/abcs-mcfadden-goads-rick-warren-over-sham-operation-gop-views

[gabosaurus]

Of course, RSR attempts to "support" his pathetic point with a right-wing blog. How predictable. But expected from someone with such little brain function.

If there is such a "liberal bias" in the media, how come they have yet to focus on the Keating Five Scandal? Or McTraitor dumping his first spouse for a trophy wife? Or said trophy wife being a drug addict who stole from charity to support her habit? Or, most of all, McTraitor betraying his country by collaborating with his North Vietnamese captors?
The "liberal media" have reported a lot of the charges against Obama. When are they going to start in on McTraitor?

[red states rule]

Of course, RSR attempts to "support" his pathetic point with a right-wing blog. How predictable. But expected from someone with such little brain function.

If there is such a "liberal bias" in the media, how come they have yet to focus on the Keating Five Scandal? Or McTraitor dumping his first spouse for a trophy wife? Or said trophy wife being a drug addict who stole from charity to support her habit? Or, most of all, McTraitor betraying his country by collaborating with his North Vietnamese captors?
The "liberal media" have reported a lot of the charges against Obama. When are they going to start in on McTraitor?

and of course Gabby did nto check the link and read the transcript of the show

If she did, she would have read this quote from the ABC host

MCFADDEN: While the crowd gave both candidates standing ovations, John McCain's answers clearly played better in the room. On Sunday, an NBC reporter claims people associated with Obama's campaign suggested that McCain may have had unfair access to Warren's questions, a charge both Warren and McCain deny. You know, there are some people who feel that this is kind of a sham operation. That really, we know you, as an evangelical, are a Republican, a John McCain supporter. The numbers seem to support that, that most evangelicals overwhelmingly already are registered as Republicans and support John McCain.

[Silver]

Of course, RSR attempts to "support" his pathetic point with a right-wing blog. How predictable. But expected from someone with such little brain function.

If there is such a "liberal bias" in the media, how come they have yet to focus on the Keating Five Scandal? Or McTraitor dumping his first spouse for a trophy wife? Or said trophy wife being a drug addict who stole from charity to support her habit? Or, most of all, McTraitor betraying his country by collaborating with his North Vietnamese captors?
The "liberal media" have reported a lot of the charges against Obama. When are they going to start in on McTraitor?

Nothing you say here is new or news to you or me and probably 98% of the posters here know all about this crap....so how do we know all about this if it was not reported in the MSM?

Obviously, it was reported long ago.....very long ago....

[red states rule]

Consumer confidence rises, and the liberal media calls it bad news


ABC: Treats Rise in Consumer Confidence as Bad News
By Dan Gainor (Bio | Archive)
August 20, 2008 - 12:18 ET


When is an increase in consumer confidence bad news? When ABC reports it.

Network anchor George Stephanopoulos led off the news cast with this gloom-and-doom teaser: "Terrible Tuesday. Inflation surges. Stocks dive. And consumer confidence nears a record low."

But Stephanopoulos left out a key detail: consumer confidence increased according to the network's own measure. "U.S. overall consumer confidence rose last week, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday," the August 19 Dow Jones Newswires reported. ABC never mentioned that in its report.

Instead "World News with Charles Gibson," reporter Betsy Stark addressed rising inflation and declining stocks and ignored the rise in confidence. "The government's latest report on inflation sent a powerful signal that the beleaguered American consumer may not have faced the worst of it yet," said Stark.

Stephanopoulos concluded the segment by adding that "consumer confidence is just two points from a record low." He called it "a real blow to retailers who are hoping for strong back-to-school sales this year."

Apparently, the American consumer isn't quite as downbeat. While the numbers don't show a major uptick, they did improve. "According to the survey, 11% of respondents expressed confidence in the economy, up from 10% the week before. Also, 47% of those polled said their own finances were in good standing, unchanged from the prior week. In assessing the buying climate, 19% of respondents said it was good, up from 18% a week earlier," Dow Jones reported.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/dan-gainor/2008/08/20/abc-treats-rise-consumer-confidence-bad-news