Two headlines from "The Politico" that illustrate part of what's wrong with the media: McCain, GOP unleash anti-Obama plan
By JONATHAN MARTIN | 6/26/08 12:41 PM
GOP is portraying Obama as a conventional pol. [Emphasis added]
Obama: Change agent goes conventional
By KENNETH P. VOGEL | 6/26/08 8:06 PM
Faced with tough choices on a range of fronts, Barack Obama (D-Ill.) passed up opportunities to take bold stands.
Step 1: media describes politician's narrative
Step 2: media adopts and advances politician's narrative
And the MSM is especially susceptible when the politician is John McCain (just as it used to be with the Bush administration, pre-Katrina, David Gregory's protestations aside.) This cycle, the media's zeal to capture Obama's flag is, I think, fueled by two things: their need for the race to be a "horse race," rather than a boring, ratings-unfriendly blowout; and this almost obsessive umbrage at Obama's decision not to accept public campaign financing -- a vestige of the "liberal" media mindset, I suppose, but not an obsession shared by the vast majority of Americans. But there you go.
| Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, media bias, media narratives, political candidates |
