Palin and the Media
If only the saying “any publicity is good publicity” where true-how different this political season would be. When it comes to political coverage, the mainstream media Liberal media is biased, hypocritical, and professionally dishonest at its best. No better modern example exists than the differences in coverage between Senator Barack Obama and Governor Sarah Palin.
Obama has been the leading beneficiary of countless positive news stories since he announced his bid for the Presidency in early 2007. No other presidential candidate (Democrat or Republican) has received as much positive media coverage as Obama has. In fact, Obama’s campaign success is primarily due to the media’s anointment of him. If asked in March of 2007 who would become the Democrat’s presidential nominee, no political commentator, analyst, or Democrat party member would have listed Obama in the top three. Hillary Clinton was practically assured the nomination in early 2007. However, no one would have, or could have, predicted the favoritism that the media would have for Obama. This unknown freshman Illinois Senator quickly became the media’s favored candidate. News stories of his greatness swarmed the national stage. All of a sudden, Mrs. Clinton’s bid for the presidency was in question and then it was no more.
The media claims that Obama’s preferential treatment is due to his popularity (popularity induced by the media). This positive feedback loop unfortunately makes sense coming from today’s mainstream media where original stories are made by few and journalism is analogous to plagiarism. Regardless of how Obama became popular, he is so now; he is a national phenomenon for Democrats.
Compare this to that of Gov. Palin. Palin has also become a national phenomenon in the Republican Party (from individual merit rater than media uplift). If the mainstream media where unbiased, one would expect to see an equally positive anointment of Palin as the one we saw for Obama. However, this is not the case. Yes, Palin has received substantial media attention, but none of it has been positive. Instead of the messianic covers on news magazines that Obama received, Palin receives gritty, hillbilly covers of her toting guns. Instead of the endless coverage of Obama rallies, Palin receives endless coverage about her pregnant daughter. The mainstream media in America has lost its way. When did journalism stop being about presenting the facts and started becoming a means to an end?
