Press so easy on Obama that some MSM vets are embarrassed
E. Thomas McClanahanAt Huffington Post, Howard Fineman recently gave chapter and verse on how President Obama isn’t being called to account — “pinned against the wall” — for the abysmal economy, his failed first-term promises or the enduring stalemate in budget talks.
He gives several reasons, and winds up with this:
“MEDIA. Obama was such a cool and uplifting story to so many in the media in 2008 that they essentially ceded ground to him that they have yet to reclaim. He ran a tightly controlled message campaign then, and has run an even more tightly controlled White House, with few press conferences and deep access only to those most likely to write positive stories. Univision didn’t get the memo, and its reporters hammered the president about immigration last week. It was a rare moment”
Indeed. Blogger Mickey Kaus (a Dem) laments that articles like Fineman’s can do little to diminish the “protect-Obama instinct in the subconscious of so many in the press.”
Even so, one might hope for a short burst of “the Obama-skeptical attitude that should have been normally and naturally forthcoming.”
It’s true that Mitt Romney isn’t making the most of his opportunities, and if he were more aggressive and detailed, that might influence coverage.
But there’s little doubt Obama is getting a pass, and it’s become so blatant that even some veterans like Fineman find it uncomfortable.
George Hunsucker
Northland
7 months, 3 weeks agoDon’t fret ET, you won’t have to worry about any of your fellow EB mates cringing at their lack of journalism ethics….
I feel they are a good representation of the MSM and their protection mentality, not only for the big 0, but for all things “progressive”. Never mind the FACT that they live and are paid by right of center people, they and their fellow MSM’ers will trumpet liberalism until the paper they work for eventually folds….
George Hunsucker
Northland
7 months, 3 weeks agoHollande remind you of anybody???
http://www.france24.com/en/20120928-french-government-unveils-tax-slash-2013-budget-hollande-recession-austerity
The big 0’s beloved Europe
Steven Fetter
66223
7 months, 3 weeks agoIt is what it is.
The people that interview the President overwhelmingly support and agree with his positions. In a 50/50 country, they are 80/20 for him (at least). It is hard to be skeptical of something you deeply believe in.
Watch the body language and facial expressions of the interviewers. It is scandalous that most reporter’s political agendas trumps their craft.
William R. Nelson
7 months, 3 weeks agoKool Aid is one heck of a drug.
Plus, those ‘i (heart) Obama’ knee pads are highly prized by many in the MSM.
Reginald Thornton
7 months, 3 weeks agoIt’s so sad to see the trade denigrated for the sake of idolotry. They literally melt at his gaze, like he’s a rock star. So much lying by omission to avoid falling out of the adminstration’s good grades.
Dems spent all convention telling us how well they’ve handled the AQ threat. A real journalist would juxtapose that against the facts coming out from Libya. A real journalist would have dug out those facts. But today’s “journalists” are too busy repeating and exploring how horrible it was for Romney to have jumped so early to a conclusion.
A reall journalist might now be circling back to credit Romney’s gut response. But that wouldn’t fit the administration’s theme. Neither would the truths about their having been warned, underprotecting the embassy on the most vulnerable day of the year, etc, etc.
Today’s “journalists” aren’t just shilling for Obama. They are foresaking our right to know about US safety. Sad.