HuffPost News Hunt: Keeping the Media Honest When It Comes to Covering McCain

It's suddenly become fashionable to critique the role the media played in the run-up to the war in Iraq. Six years after it could have made a real difference.

Are we seeing history repeat itself in the run-up to Election Day?

The same journalists rendered "too deferential" by George Bush's soaring post-9/11 approval ratings, now seem intent on providing cover for John McCain, whose election would mean a perpetuation of Bush's disastrous policies.

The last thing we need is another round of media hand wringing four years down the road, with the 2013 version of Katie Couric bemoaning yet another "embarrassing chapter" in American journalism.

To try to keep that from happening, the Huffington Post's OffTheBus is launching the John McCain News Hunt, an investigative project designed to get the real story on the media's coverage of McCain -- and document the ways the media is giving him a free ride.

And we need your help.

For the next 7 days, OffTheBus, in partnership with NewsTrust, a great social news sharing site, will be evaluating news articles and opinion pieces -- as well as radio and TV spots -- about McCain. This analysis will make it possible for us to identify the journalists and media outlets that are providing the best -- and the worst -- coverage of McCain. It will also spotlight the areas of McCain coverage that are deficient, areas that OffTheBus' citizen-journalists can then focus on.

But this kind of assessment will only work if it is wide-ranging -- which is where you come in.

We'd love it if you could put in some time over the next week reviewing McCain coverage -- ideally evaluating 10-15 stories between today and next Sunday. NewsTrust's innovative news ratings feeds make it easy for anyone to rate the news by evaluating an article or a TV news report on its fairness, sourcing, context, and other core principles of good journalism.

For the McCain News Hunt, NewsTrust will provide HuffPost readers with a constantly updating feed of McCain coverage from traditional and new media sources. You can also upload stories that you come across, which will be added to the review mix.

Click here to sign up. Once you get an OffTheBus/NewsTrust account you can start reviewing McCain material on the NewsTrust site. You'll also be able to review stories directly on HuffPost. Every story posting on our site also links to NewsTrust. Look for the green/blue NT symbol, click it, and access the NewsTrust tools without leaving HuffPost.

You can see the latest results of the News Hunt by checking out the NewsTrust page on McCain.

The more stories you review, the more clear-eyed our look at the way the media are covering McCain will be. So, whatever time you can give to this would be a big help. You can do it any time you have a free moment, whether it's first thing in the morning, during your lunch break, or in the middle of the night.

Let's do what we can to make sure there will be no after-the-fact books about how the media "enabled" John McCain to hide behind his phony reputation as a maverick and win the presidency.

Sign up for the News Hunt and help keep the media honest. Our future is riding on it.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[drblack]

Call it what it is. CORPORATE MEDIA there is nothing mainstream about it.

[jupitor]

Finally! Only here have I heard about Mccain Mispeaking over shite and sunni's in Iraq! It was so disturbing to me to hear him over and over again mispeak about how Iran was training Al Queda and sending them into Iraq! How can this man make any judgement on the war or any other when he can't keep his facts straight? Also, I would think after mispeaking these facts over and over again that he would have the Iraq and Iran Goverment down his throat? Unless I blog I rarely hear about the terrible memory problem Mr. Mccain has. I never hear about the fact last Feb. he had his face band aid, and than his Dr. proclaims he has had no reoccuring cancer! This makes me very angry at the MEDIA! As they go after Obama for the word BITTER, even! my uncle had the same kind of cancer on his face, and I know what those band aids on the face means! Why won't they make all his medical records public? I also want ans. on why they can use his wife comp. plane and break those rules. Mccain is getting a free pass by the media, and has all along. The only one comeing close to reporting ahalf of the problems with mccain is msnbc.

[drblack]

The Corporate media is the propaganda wing of Big Business, so I hardly expect them to be honest.
Integrity from these sources began dying in the early 80s.
This is a great idea Arianna and HuffPost is one of the best places for real news.

Obama threatens the establishment,just as Dean did. This is why the Corporate Media made a big deal about nothing to stop Dean.
Obama has been smart and McCain is such a Flip-Flopper it will be hard for the Corporate media to hype McCain and destroy Obama without destroying itself.
You are correct that they will simply omit the worst of McCain's elitist,record, His corporate scandals and his extreme support for all things Bush.

[nana53nana]

Mr. McCain will never get my respect because he's
nothing but a kiss ass to the Bush Regime!!!
That is not what makes a president.

[Faithtoo]

Thank God someone is doing this. We certainly cannot expect corporate media to expose McCain for the fraud that he really is. That love affair will probably never end.

Thank you Arianna!

[wrabbitt]

The best way is to watch all the news sources available to you and draw your own conclusions. That way you eliminate the stammering, and stuttering of almost all of the cable commentators. I may be wrong but, don't they teach public speaking in college anymore? And, almost all news services are directly aligned to a particular candidates views, First of all we are not interested in waterboarding anyone, we are not electing Rev. Wright to office of any kind.We are not stupid so don't try talking down to us, Sexist, and racist are not the same, Having a candidate that other elected officials are comfortable with, is counter productive,Big oil,big drug, and all health affiliated lobbyists are involved in bribery of duly elected public officials,which at last look was still illegal., Our government is whats wrong with America, don't blame the people,The greedy self centered, members of congress and the senate,differ greatly from who we elected, a promise was made and now forgotten, Pay raises seem to be every year, and they changed the rules for that too, if you don't vote for it you still get it. Sounds like we have trusted them too long. America has a choice this November, But, we can all voice our anger now, Email your elected officials, Tell them your feelings on what they do, and what they don't. Shouldn't there pay be based on the average salary?

[labqi]

After the end of the Cold War, the CIA found another arena to bring home the bacon. The MSM media is littered with well hidden CIA plants at the executive levels, put in place by resume's only the CIA can cook. These 'embedded' executives have actually been responsible for the 'deferential' treatment. All is fair in love and Iraq war !!

[labqi]

Sorry I beg to differ. It is the OWNERS of the media, the persons (Ropert Murdoch,Katherine Koss) that pay the pipers and call the tune. These are the people to be ferreted out into the open and their gravy train pipers will soon follow suit.

Also,the CIA has not had much to do since the end of the Cold War, a lot of the high level MSM executives are actually CIA and other plants - put in place with the kind of resume's that only the CIA can cook up. The CIA has simply branched into new fields to keep their salaries coming. It is these 'embedded' executives who have actually been the root cause of the 'deferential' treatment.

[indy100]

Great idea! Anybody who watches any US news (as opposed to BBC or others) and has half a brain realized years ago that the supposedly "left wing" media is really a right wing machine. Unfortunately too many people (especially here in Utah) get all their "news", and I use the term very loosely, from FAUX NEWS. Watching FOX NEWS is basically getting your "information" (mostly inuendo, rumor and celebrity fluff) from Rupert Murdock, friend of the Neocons, and owner of MULTIPLE news outlets.

I'd love to see real, actual news coverage of McCain and all his warts. It's too easy for people to bury their heads in the sand and say later "I didn't know".

[TimFredrickson]

My estimation of Katie Couric just went up 3 fold for her admission that the news media's coverage of the Bush run up to the Iraq invasion was one of the most embarrassing moments in news media history. I have seen so many other reporters and anchors in total denial when it is quite clear that they did an astonishing bad job. Anyone that was truly paying attention could clearly see that the reasons for war were truly made up, manipulated, or flawed.

[jazzman]

Put the pressure on Ariana. The Bush adminstration might have been the drunks that crashed the car but the media are the enablers that kept feeding them the booze. Let's slap the smug, self-deceptive, condenscending MSM up the side of the head and tell the media to stop enabling the phony, 'straight talk' 'maverick' or 'moderate Republican' persona of McCain and start telling the truth about this off the wall, out of control, misinformed, mistake ridden, ultra right, corrupt militarist politician.

[ceesaw]

Great! it's about time. We need to have some balance reporting.

[santamonica39]

THANK YOU THANK YOU Arianna for focusing on this. I was appalled to see a recent poll that showed John McCain was more trusted on Iraq than Obama by like 10 points. McCain who doesn't seem to know ANYTHING about Iraq, who was wrong about going to war (said it would be easy) and who continues to make what the media calls "gaffes" but which are really evidence of how completely unqualified he is to be commander in chief. This needs to be the focal point of the democrats work from here on out - to make the MSM cover this stuff accurately. How in the hell did John McCain become the guy who has a better chance of wooing Jewish voters (according to the new MSM spin)??? He sought the endorsement of John Haggee!!! He said Obama was the candidate of Hamas because some Hamas leader said Obama would be a good president. Why can't we start calling John McCain the candidate of the Nazis? He not only was endorsed by Haggee but SOUGHT his endorsement!

[Julie02]

The media was instrumental in swiftboating John Kerry and damaged Al Gore's campaign by twisting his words. The Obama campaign has to fight the media in order to stay on course.

[iamjoyce]

After this assignment, I say we all watch and give examples of McBain on the verge of or holding down that rabid temperment. THAT is something the media is definielty skirting. Wait until Obama goes after him in the GE. He'll crumble and then explode!

[jnelsonleith]

A good place for observers to focus is coverage (or lack of coverage) on McCain's role in handing American defense contracts to a company (EADS) part-owned by the Kremlin and free to sell military technology to Iran and North Korea.

[Schallvain]

I think you have your facts mixed up. EADS is majority-owned western european consortium. The remaining minority is free floating investments, which could just about anybody, including you.