It’s a steady drumbeat of stories that are always the same. Why isn’t Barack Obama up by forty points in the polls? What’s wrong with his campaign? A new CNN/Opinion Research poll has Obama ahead by a mere 51-44 margin. Nevermind that 51% is a bigger number than any Democrat has accomplished since 1964. Nevermind that with undecideds included, the poll extrapolates out to 54-55 percent of the popular vote. Aside from 1964, you have to go back to 1936 to see a Democrat that reached 55% of the popular vote. The media seems desperate to keep the contest just close enough to maintain some semblance of competitiveness. It’s probably more of a ratings consideration than anything ideological. But, then, reporters do tend to fall into the higher tax brackets these days, don’t they?
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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There are those who say that the Media wants it close because then they sell more political advertising, maintain a higher veiwership and can sell more product advertising, or that they just want to have power because its fun to be powerful and hard to abandon once you have had it.
I think they just don’t want America to rush into a choice without considering the consequences. Having helped America along that path so many times in recent memory, perhaps they have their regrets.
Just kidding: its money and power.
you had me going…
now who’s being snarky?
I think that it’s only the money.
The owners, publishers, editors and news directors are likely to be more conservative than the reporters and on air talent, Fox excepted. Unfortunately, news directors and on air talent have a mutual interest in promoting controversy and prolonging the struggle. Egos of the talent then support their own self-importance and, thus their economic well being as well as the economic interests of the enterprise.
But if we come to believe it is going to be a blowout, we might both stop watching/reading and fail to even vote. So prolonging the agony might work in our favor.
The owners, publishers, editors and news directors are likely to be more conservative than the reporters and on air talent, Fox excepted.
This used to be true. This is not so true anymore. Folks like Chris Matthews[], the recently departed Tim Russert, Glen Beck, Joe Scarborough – these guys aren’t any more “liberal” than the typical on-air talent at FOX. Even Katie Couric isn’t someone I’d consider “liberal” by any reasonable sense of the word.
On air talent makes so much money these days that their economic self-interests lie on the Republican side of the ledger more often than not. Couple that with their bosses interests, and you end up with strong incentives to be a bit on the conservative side.
[
] – Yes, I know Matthews worked for Tip O’Neil. Doesn’t matter. He’s still conservative. Not all Democrats are liberals, even if all Republicans are conservative these days.
CBS used to set the standard–when Paley was alive. They had the best reporters and did the most fearless reporting. Their anchors, especially Kronkeit and predecesors, were well respected journalists. Edward R. Murrow created the standard for broadcast journalism starting in the 30s. Paley supported them.
After Paley’s death CBS was aquired by someone who was basically an accountant. So memorable I can’t remember his name. I have a rule: Companies that are run by accountants go broke, unless they are accounting firms. No vision, no future. CBS certainly broke their news department. I can’t and won’t watch Katie Couric. Her on air persona and approach to the news indicates their plan: Turn the news into entertainment. They were better off with Bob Schieffer, he has credibility and integrity.
Enough rant for one day. I won’t get started on the near death experience of PBS.
And now….The Race Card!! The media couldn’t wait for this to be interjected again. If the McCain camp hadn’t done it today, they would have figured out how to do it themselves, like CNN’s recent “Will an Obama Presidency Hurt Blacks?”
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/
the media and McCain are using products from the factory of stupid.
McCain started this – linking Obama to Britney and Paris,… in terms of pop culture, yesterday’s news. Whatever happened to any of the new top 10 celebs?
No Britney and Paris are two white women.
Now McCain accuses Obama of playing the race card
McCain needs to walk softly in those $520 Ferragamo loafers.
I suspect that a number of the TV reporters are narcissistic and self-centered. That coupled with their high salaries which makes them natural Republicans.
You mean “talking heads,” not “reporters.” Real reporters don’t make multimillion $ salaries, and aren’t pundits. Talking heads make multimillion dollar salaries and are better called pundits. They don’t report, they twist and twist and twist information into whatever they want.
.
(Politico) – Barack Obama’s critics laid down the foundations of the strategy months ago: The Republican National Committee started the “Audacity Watch” back in April, and Karl Rove later fueled the attack by describing the first-term Illinois senator as “coolly arrogant.”
It wasn’t until the last week, however, that the narrative of Obama as a president-in-waiting — and perhaps getting impatient in that waiting — began reverberating beyond the inboxes of Washington operatives and journalists.
Perhaps one of the clearest indications emerged Tuesday from the world of late-night comedy, when David Letterman offered his “Top Ten Signs Barack Obama is Overconfident.” The examples included Obama proposing to change the name of Oklahoma to “Oklobama” and measuring his head for Mount Rushmore.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Just like that NBA ref recently convicted of rigging foul calls/games for gamblers, the Media wants this thing to be perceived as a dead-heat horse race to drag it out as long as possible. Keep your eyeballs right where they belong — centered on the screen, for the benefit of the corporations buying the time to make sure your brain stays comatose.
The media wants it close for one reason only: To make it plausible that McCain is the President when the electronic voting machines defraud the election. If Obama’s poll numbers were 20 point ahead, the American people wouldn’t believe it when McCain is appointed. This is what happened in 2000, and 2004.