Media Expert Decries Campaign Coverage

DALLAS — The founder of a prestigious institute on media and politics added his voice Saturday to the chorus of complaint over perceived press bias in favor of Democrat Barack Obama.

Walter Shorenstein, a prominent San Francisco-based real estate developer, Democratic fundraiser and longtime supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, penned a memo to Democratic party "superdelegates" and other activists criticizing media coverage of the presidential campaign.

Shorenstein is the founder of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. His memo came days before Tuesday's key primaries in Ohio and Texas, which Clinton must win to save her waning candidacy.

The former first lady and her advisers have lashed out at the press in recent days, suggesting unfair coverage of the campaign has in part led to Obama's victories in the last 11 voting contests. They've encouraged supporters and voters to watch a "Saturday Night Live" skit that aired last weekend, depicting a group of journalists fawning over Obama.

Clinton appeared on this week's "SNL" to praise a similar sketch that parodied the media's treatment of her and her rival.

In his memo, Shorenstein concurred with the Clinton campaign's assessment.

"I am absolutely outraged with the media coverage of the presidential campaign," Shorenstein wrote in the memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press. "This is the most important election in my long lifetime, and to quote one of my favorite movies, 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!'"

He was quoting the 1976 movie "Network," in which a mentally disturbed television news anchor played by Peter Finch went on the air and implored viewers to rebel against gimmicks staged by network news executives.

"There is too much on the line for the media to ignore important issues while they obsess about Hillary's hairdo or Barack's baritone," Shorenstein continued. "Is it in the country's best interest that voters received far more information about Hillary's laugh than Obama's legislative record? Is it good for our nation that more attention is paid to the differences in their speaking style than their health care plans?"

Shorenstein attached several studies to the memo indicating the press had given more favorable coverage to Obama than to Clinton, and urged activists to forward the material to friends and voters and to complain to reporters.

"Our democracy depends upon the fourth estate to fulfill the uniquely critical role of informing voters about the important issues facing our nation," Shorenstein wrote. "Yet far too often, the campaign coverage has been biased, blase, or baseless."

Comments

[Rocky4356]

If media was against Hill aqs she wants you think. Would they not ask If Bill didn't get it on with the intern Gore would have won. Everytime Hill cries foul media she should think her stars that question is not asked. Bill gave the election to bush by his behaviour but that subject has been off limits. Instead the media is all way touting bill as the smatest thing since einstein. if bill was so smart would he have gotten himself in mess he got in-Impeachment. Has anyone said that word about the bill days. Since she includes her time as hostess of the white house in her resume.

[k8edidnt]

Actually Bill gave elections to every womanizing, drugging player that ran for office since the day Monica produced the blue dress. What they learned was just cop to it and we'll forgive you. Of course you're not going to know that until Clinton doesn't cop to it. Now you just write a book and confess to everything you can think of that you did wrong in the past and it won't be held against you. What has been off limits? What more can they say about Clinton? 16 years of press have kind of exhausted the subject. People don't care who holds the office of the presidency as long as it's a man. That includes women. The biggest obstacle women face on the road to success is other women. NB: Andrea Mitchell, Arianna Huffington, Candy Crowley and every other female pundit, anchor or reporter. Guess what? They're not going to put a black man in there either. We've just gotten a good percentage of the population to stop using the N word. So, in 2009 when John McCain is dozing at a summit meeting, the entire middle class has either lost their homes or declared bankruptcy, gas is $10 a gallon and our military is depleted to a point where we could not defend an attack from Lictenstein remember we had a chance to do it differently and we didn't.

[escapee]

I imagine it's hard to give positive coverage to someone who is behaving like an ass!

Perhaps Shorenstein is slightly biased himself?

[IkeChicago]

There is only one person controlling how the media judges the Democratic primary,

Bill Clinton as the start of the campaign said the winner of the money race is the nominee.

When Obama won Iowa, Hillary Clinton said it's all about who get the most delegates. The media concurs.

Obama goes on a winning streak, Hillary said it all about Texas, Ohio and Penn. The media concurs.

Now Hillary says it not about the delegates, or winning Ohio and Texas, it's about who won the big states, all the small states Obama won are not significant. Now the media is spewing the same line.

Who controls the media, Hillary Clinton does.

[Rocky4356]

Really at 3am in the morning Obama is going to stumble out of the bed and by accident hit the button and destroy the world. Darn i did not know that could happened like that. In truth all i know is in 2000 i paid 1.08 for gas now i pay almost four bucks. Clinton nor Bush did anything to get us off the merry go round of being dependant on oil. 2 million americans in jail the world waiting for us to implode and more attention given to brittany paris and crew. It is time for a change. The hundred years of exprience the bush team had got us in a mess. Really are there still people that think the world is against us because we are 5 trillion in debt. I guess the world wants to pay 60 bucks to fill up the car. Oh excuse me here we go again we are going off on the same tangent again. We are arguing about the scraps while they steal the house. Guys loot companies and getting hundreds of millions as severence. Pension plans raped folks forced to work way past retirement just to get by. But yet we argue about the most non sense. Four or five hundred soldiers killed because the pentagon wouldn't buy the armor to protect them. Yet we argue. 25% of homeless people are veterans yet we argue. College at a mid level college costing 50 grand but yet we argue. Now we arguing if one of the millionaires running for president is getting unfair treatment. I give up!

[indie17]

Great points! Thanks for the post!

[busybeez]

That's exactly how I see it. There is so much control of the media by the Clinton thugs it's scaring me. Who do these people think they are? The press bows to the establishment (rich and powerful) candidate as the Clintons makes a mockery of democracy. One thing we've learned, she can have the media and her rich, influential supporters, but they can't beat the people's candidate if we support him with our donations. Stay strong and don't give up! That's what they are hoping we will do. Power to the people!!!

[kevenhussienseven]

FISA UPDATE!

The House leadership is considering splitting up the Senate abomination in order to allow congressmen to trade votes (you vote yes on A, I’ll vote no, you vote no on B, I’ll vote yes) in order to give them cover to pass the entire bill.

Please read: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/1/175613/1399/825/467005

A list of Blue Dog Congressmen thought to be sympathetic to the concept of Telecom immunity is at: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/29/145640/493/398

Then call Pelosi, Hoyer, Conyers, some Blue Dogs and your own congressman and raise holy hell. Tell them that only the RESTORE act is acceptable.

From the article: “Under pressure to end an impasse over espionage legislation, House Democrats are considering a plan to vote on a bill next week that would give the government broad new eavesdropping authorities but strip out a provision that would protect phone companies from lawsuits.”

Please act!

[GoldCanyonGal]

The MSNBC hosts are just plain dogs...I'm so disappointed in their coverage...at least CNN makes an attempt at balance. This weekend they played only stump speeches...very little commentary (except for Larry King, that was rerun of a bad show on Sat)...just let the viewers hear the speeches and make up their own mind...enough with the 'tingle going up my leg' crap from MSNBC...I can't even stand to watch Olberman anymore...I refuse to watch David Shuster...losers.

[dajay]

I so agree. I was a big K. Olbermann fan and now I never even watch him. He has lost all credibility. He is nothing but a stooge for Barack Obama and his show is one hour of pro-Obama commentators and love fest. It is so ridiculous. MSNBC is right up there with Fox News. They should be ashamed of themselves, for the way they have conducted their news coverage during this primary season.

Pathetic.

[Nicolaus]

I shall watch MSNBC and continue to admire Olbermann's daring - while Senator Clinton was still trying to wriggle out from commitment to bring the troops back!

Mr. Shuster is a thoughtful and valuable journalist. He certainly made a mistake - but probably history will not view it to be as outrageous as parading the daughter of the candidate, and having her phone and then go out for a coffee date with young male superdelegates...

That superdelegate, true to his convictions, two weeks later endorsed Senator Obama.

In the event, I would suggest the issue of who is the 'losers' should not be brought up. Right?

[OldBlueDog]

Maybe the media has enjoyed having Bush to laugh at so much for the past eight years they are favoring Obama because they know with his inexperience he is bound to give them some of the same stuff to have a good laugh about.

[Rocky4356]

Please if anyone was thinking with their head instead of hearts. Could you in truth say Hill has not got a free ride. When Russert asked her about the thirty thousand jobs she promised in upstate New York in 2000 that never materialized she blamed it on Al Gore losing the Presidental race. Should not she have been asked how could u promise something that u could not deliver. Does anyone really think the polorizing Clinton is going to get universal health care through a divided congress. Has the question ever been asked why should she get a do over on health care. When she blew health care the dems owned the congress. This Bull about Obama getting a free ride is ludicrous. Hill has gotten a free pass

[OldBlueDog]

If you think Obama hasn't gotten a free ride then tell me why the media isn't digging into his financial dealings with Rezko, why the have not called him on his claim of not taking lobbyist money when one of his donors is John Rowe, head of a national nuclear lobbying firm.

[dajay]

Don't worry. THe Republicans will take care of this little tidbit, I am sure.

[meileen]

"If you think Obama hasn't gotten a free ride then tell me why the media isn't digging into his financial dealings with Rezko, why the have not called him on his claim of not taking lobbyist money when one of his donors is John Rowe, head of a national nuclear lobbying firm."

Or how he treated his mentor, Alice Palmer, working that Chicago type of politics that pushed her out of the race. He claims to be pure; how come he was cutthroat with her?

This week and the next few we’ll be reading all about Obama’s connection to the Rezko indictment as the trial judge there has admitted evidence about Rezko’s support of Obama’s campaign financing. And I’m sure the purchase of his house will come up as well. You know, the man he said he only billed 5 hours to? He finally admits to knowing him, and when pushed, that he actually viewed his home purchase with one of the Rezko couple.

Then there is his connection with Bill Ayers that the press can go batty on when McCain pushes that issue.

And now we hear he wants to bring Hagel into his cabinet. Great, the same type of person who has thwarted our every attempt to do the right thing for the American people.

Yeah, let’s spend our efforts bashing Hillary instead. That makes sense.

[dajay]

Hillary has gotten a free ride. I would love to know what media news outlet you watched all primary season.

[factcheck2]

Shorenstein is not a media expert but organizations like FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) have been remiss in not calling attention to the biased coverage. After all, that's what they do for a living, isn't it? Sen. Obama continues to make blunders in his speeches that are never analyzed for content. He described Clinton's 3 a.m. red phone ad yesterday as both a "legitimate question to ask" and fearmongering. Two diametrically opposed claims in one sentence. Here's another contradiciton. He says on the one hand that he's going to fix a broken government and bring "change". Yet many of his fundraisers and strategists are from the Bush Administration. (Time published an article about this in November called "Obama's Red State Appeal". ) His speechwriter Ben Rhodes is the brother of Fox VP David Rhodes. (Fox is the Rupert Murdoch network associated with theG.O.P. and also featured in Fahrenheit 911 for its role in calling Florida for Bush in the 2000 election.) There is also Obama's familiar refrain that he couldn't wait longer than a year in the senate before running for president because he would have had all his hope "boiled and stewed" out of him by members of Congress. These "Washington insiders", he said, are "more interested in the next election than the generation". After insulting these legislators repeatedly in cities across America for the last three months, how is he expecting to bring them together to pass his proposals for health care, college tax credits, etc?


Everything about this candidate makes you feel as though you'd just walked through the looking glass into another world. In this dreamy wonderland, experience and a record of accomplishment are not considered pros but cons. Thanks to this collapse of journalism, people may realize too late that they're being played for fools again - or rather Pavlov's dogs - just like the "weapons of mass destruction" campaign. The neoconservaties infiltrated the AARP before the Medicare vote, and they're infiltrating the Democratic primaries now, using the perfect disguise. Next time you feel all that Hillary hatred welling up inside you, ask yourself, where exactly did that intense emotion come from? If you'd like to know the answer, check out the article I've posted at thecityedition.com. Here's a direct address.

http://www.thecityedition.com/Pages/Archive/Winter08/2008Election.html

[AnninCA]

It's academese. That's a clever ruse to not make sense but sound as though you said something. Only those people truly listening and thinking would catch the obvious emptiness of his responses.

Oh....and blunders like the latest on NAFTA.

What I want to know is why isn't the press all over that?

Why? Because they are too busy writing about polls that we all know have been wrong more than right.

Then afterwards, we'll get the story on how pollsters messed up.

It's now canned and ready for print.

[kevenhussienseven]

You are so right. The press simply will not cut HRC any slack, and they just worship Obama.

Somehow though, this in your fevered little mind is a reason to nominate HRC.

I see it just the other way 'round.

[Rocky4356]

Has the press really dug into Hills claim of 35 years of exprience. No. Some of her foriegn policy is exprience is the trips she took as first lady,give me a break. If anyone has been given a free ride it is Hillary. Did anyone ask her on what night did she get that 3 am phone call that the fate of the free world was in the balance. Talk about a free ride. I have traveled alot in thast twenty years maybe i should run in 2012.

[OldBlueDog]

Why not, you can claim you are going to change the way Washington works, (cause we know Obama will not have changed it by then), while being supported by some of the most staunch insiders in Washington. You just need a good speech to repeat over and over til everyone is mesmerized. Call me I'll be glad to shout YES WE CAN!

[AnninCA]

Actually, yes. Most of the major newspapers did, indeed, look over her resume. That's what they do before endorsing.

Obama was consistently presented as inexperienced by all major newspapers, even those who endorsed him.

His protest about this is pretty silly, actually.

[alchemymom]

This post would actually be funny if it weren't representative of so much of the simply ludicrous arguments against Hillary one finds in this venue. Hillary Clinton has been given a free ride??? Your travels over the last 20 years must have been intergalactic if you can actually type that with a straight face.

I fear for my country.

[duck47]

I did not vote for Bill Clinton the first time and only voted for him the second time to keep a democrat in the White House. I was not happy when our field was narrowed to Hillary and Obama. That having been said, I don't need anyone to tell me that what has been done to Hillary by the MSM and lefty talk radio is disgusting. The behavior of over zealous Obama supporters has been even more painful to me than the first hatchet job that was perpetrated by Republicans and engaged in by the media for the papers it sold. I would like to remind everyone that when the rabid Republicans decided that the hillbilly from Arkansas would not be allowed to live in the White House but failed to stop him, they just continued their vendetta throughout his years in office. $47 million in investigations that only wrought one prosecution which didn't even happen until near the end. I think Hillary will be better off if she is not the nominee but I appreciate her willingness to stay in the race as long as she can. She obviously has more popular support than our other candidates if we need her and as long as the Republicans and the media have her to rip apart they won't be quite as focused on Obama. I will hold my nose and vote for the Democratic nominee not because of the candidate but because too many Democrats have either participated in this character assassination or looked the other way. The only positive I can think of is that maybe having watched us devour one of our own, the Republicans will be afraid of us.

[UtahLiberal435]

Oh Puhleeeze,

The media has given Obama a free pass thus far.

It's so ungodly obvious I can't believe rational individuals, even Obama supporters, could believe otherwise.

[bowloforanges]

As far as the media is concerned, the Clintons opened the door for unfair practices when Mr. Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

It is unfortunate that it is affecting Ms. Clinton, but it is something we as a nation has suffered with for years.

[greenpaz]

Hillary has been running a negative campaign and outright lying about Obama's stances and record. (Hillary: "He said he thought Reagan's ideas were good ones!") If you put out so much negative energy, guess what happens?

[Rocky4356]

If media was honest and Hill who is including her time as Hostess of the White House was honest. They would demand when this 3am phone call was made where was the president.

[CalliDem]

Ohhh Pleassse... typical for the ObamaPost to print this bullshit.

[BikerJim]

What he is taking a PRO_HILLARY stand (of course since he is a hillary supporter).... What do you mean :typical for the ObamaPost to print this bullshit."??????

[CalliDem]

Yikes .. Good eye Biker Jim ... my bad
Thanks for pointing it out.I stand corrected