and almost always defers judgment when it comes to Republicans.
Theres nothing people and the media appreciate more than a rise than a fall. Its what sells advertising and the only time you’re going to see monolithic style reporting is when someone like George W. Bush pulls out the “us against them” nationalism that puts the fear of tyranny in our hearts. We can already see the media skeptical and nuanced tone when it comes to reporting on Barack Obama.
When the republicans put the price tag out there for the war in Iraq the media barely scratched its head. Every time a democrat proposes a change to health care you get a ‘behind the numbers’ look at just how americans are going to pay for it!
Everyone loved the underdog story when Barack was up against Bill and Hillary Clinton but now you can see they’re already struggling to create a horse race kind of drama out of the election with McCain.
Its sad that the media doesn’t have a Prime Directive like they do on Star Trek or a “Do No Harm” oath like physicians have because if they did I think the “news” product would be far more informative and less National Enquirer.
Can the media help itself but to raise doubts about someone like Barack Obama? The temptation must be palpable. Will they use their unconditional support for George Bush’s war against Iraq as “the lesson” they learned to apply more skepticism to Barack Obama?
Heres and example of the AP’s “hard hitting” reporting on Barack Obama while ‘non” reporting on George Dubya.
These are the things I fear from such a fickle system.
Long story short - Barack Obama is going to win in 2008 but the question is, how hard will the media make it for him and how much of a dramatic horse race will the media require to peddle their pathetic wares are questions that scare me.
In the final months and years of Clintons presidency all we heard about was how Lame Duck his presidency was and how inneffective he was going to be. Have we heard a single thing about GW’s uselessness?
The media has clearly forgotten what its role is within a functioning democracy and thrown its girth in with the ranks of The National Enquirer in order to sell advertising.
