Media in love with Obama?

Recent polls, McCain agree: Press is twitterpated WORLDNETDAILY - July 22, 2008 A new poll demonstrates Americans believe by a more than three-to-one ratio that the news media is trying to help Sen. Barack Obama win the presidential election this fall, a perception that John McCain has now taken advantage of in a humorous new feature on his website. McCain's front page invites visitors to vote for their favorite of two YouTube videos that feature clips of reporters gushing in affection over the presumptive Democrat candidate and confessing a media bias. Meanwhile, a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey taken even before Americans raised their eyebrows over the New York Times' acceptance of an Obama op-ed piece and rejection of McCain's, found that 49 percent of voters believe most reporters are trying to help Obama with their coverage. Similarly, only 14 percent believe the media is helping Sen. John McCain, and a mere one in four voters (24 percent) believes most reporters offer unbiased news coverage. McCain's website is now poking fun at the media for creating this perception with its new "Media Love" campaign. "It's pretty obvious that the media has a bizarre fascination with Barack Obama," the site reads. "Some may even say it's a love affair. We want you to be the judge. Click here to watch the new video and vote today!" You can view the video that was leading the voting when WND went to press below: [See link below for video] A second, related report released by Rasmussen shows Americans see bias not only in coverage of the candidates, but in major issues as well. A full 50 percent of Americans polled believe the media is making economic conditions seem worse than they really are, and 41 percent believe reporters are trying to make news of the Iraq war seem unfairly negative. Only 25 percent think most reporters present fair coverage of the economy, with the same percentage believing the American people are getting an unbiased picture of Iraq. The poll that asked about candidate coverage found self-described Democrats to be far more trusting of the media than their Republican counterparts. A plurality of Democrats (37 percent) see news coverage as unbiased in the presidential campaign, while 27 percent perceive a slant toward Obama and 21 percent a slant toward McCain. Among Republicans, 78 percent believe reporters are giving Obama a boost, and a mere 10 percent judge the coverage unbiased. Independents, it seems, tend to agree more with the Republicans. Half of the unaffiliated respondents (50 percent) believe reporters are helping Obama, 21 percent perceive unbiased coverage, and a mere 12 percent see a pro-McCain slant. Coupled with the perception of bias is an underlying mistrust of the media, with less than one in three (30 percent) doubting most reporters would hide information hurtful to their preferred candidate, while 25 percent were unsure and 45 percent stating they believed reporters would cover up news that didn't fit their bias. The mistrust of the media, also heavier among Republicans than Democrats, seems to correlate with the way Americans perceive economic issues. Republicans, for example, who are more likely to see media as bashing the economy, are also more likely to view the economy positively. Democrats – who trust the media more and see less of an unfair negative slant – view the economy more negatively. Of those polled, 59 percent of Republicans affirmed the United States has the world's best economy, while a mere 18 percent of Democrats would make the same judgment. The poll also showed Republicans are far more likely to trust a stockbroker than a reporter for their economic news. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=70272 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.