Media Bias?....What Media Bias??

POSTED BY: Jongsstraw
UPDATED: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 20:25
VIEWED: 4127
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SIGNYM

Thursday, July 24, 2008 6:34 PM

I thought this opinion piece by Glenn Beck was a piece of scheiss. He hits the nail on the head several times, but then deliberately slides off into whinging and innuendo. First, he starts off with everything that the media does wrong... and strangely, I agree with him.

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Sometimes it's hard to tell if Barack Obama is running for president of the United States or Mr. Universe."

If you're guessing that's a quote from Michelle Obama, you're wrong. It was the first sentence of a recent article about Obama's frequent gym visits, published by the esteemed Associated Press. So many Americans have apparently been worried that Obama might lose his great six-pack abs, the AP felt obligated to step in and put our minds at ease.

"The Democratic presidential contender exercises regularly," the Pulitzer-worthy article continued, "but over a 24-hour span this week, he took it to a new extreme. Twice on Wednesday and again Thursday morning, Obama traveled to a lakefront apartment building near his Chicago home to work out with a friend at his gym."

Whew.

But as a media outlet that claims to offer news "of the highest quality, reliability and objectivity with reports that are accurate, balanced and informed," the AP knew that it couldn't stop there. Its hard-hitting investigation revealed the answer to another question that's kept so many people up at night: "What does Barack Obama wear when he goes to the gym?" The jaw-dropping answer? "A baseball hat, white T-shirt and black sweat pants."

Wow. Sleep well.

But the AP realized that to have its reporting taken seriously, it would need to go even deeper and reveal exactly how much Obama perspires. Fortunately, it has world-class resources at its disposal: "When he shot hoops earlier this year with members of the University of North Carolina varsity men's basketball team, (the photographers accompanying him) didn't see Obama sweat."

My gosh, it's like he's not human! I'm surprised they didn't report how much he bench pressed, the incline level he used on the treadmill or what songs were on his iPod. Then again, I probably just didn't look hard enough.... According to the Tyndall Report, a service that monitors the three network news broadcasts, ABC, NBC, and CBS have spent a total of 114 of their national airtime minutes covering Obama since June. They've spent 48 minutes on his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain. And then you have the almost embarrassing way the media have gushed over Obama's trip to the Middle East. There were 200 requests for the 40 press seats available on Obama's plane, and all three top network anchors (Katie Couric, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams) made the trip and are broadcasting live from each country Obama visits.

You can't buy that kind of publicity. And neither could McCain. McCain made a trip to the Middle East in March and didn't have to worry about finding seats for any network anchors, because none of them wanted to go. And while Obama was flying from country to country this week in a plane packed with celebrity reporters, McCain flew to an event in New Hampshire. After his Boeing 737 landed in Manchester, he stepped out onto the tarmac and glanced at the one reporter who'd bothered to show up. Yes, one.

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Why the disparity? According to Men's Vogue deputy editor Ned Martel, there's a simple explanation: Obama "is what is called in the magazine world an 'interest driver.' " Translation: Obama sells magazines.

As a conservative, I can't argue with that logic. "The Media" aren't around for their health, they're around to make money, and if Obama drives sales or ratings, then I can't really blame them for continuing to tap that well until it runs dry. I could make an argument that McCain's campaign has plenty of interesting angles that would sell and rate -- but, quite hone

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