Kudos to Politico’s Richard Benedetto for writing about the way the mainstream media has been covering the Obama presidency in his column “Watchdogs are heeling for Obama”. We would’ve gone a little further and titled the piece “Media lapdogs are lying down for Obama.”
Benedetto’s journalism students gave the media a C+/B- for their covering during the first 100 days. After chronicling a few instances of media double standards in the way similar-to-identical statements made by GWB and BHO were portrayed, the columnist felt a C+ was about right.
His list seemed a bit short. How about the way similar events were covered? One of the major stories that’s been virtually ignored was the Iowa/North Dakota flooding. Remember the overwrought and outright false Katrina coverage? (“10,000 dead”?!)
As a widely circulated conservative-leaning email asked, Where was the hysterical 24/7 media coverage, with reports of lootings, shootings at rescuers, of rapes and murder? Where were the stories of people screaming that Barack Obama hates white, rural people? Where were the government bailout vouchers and government debit cards? Are the values of Iowa and Louisiana residents that different or is the media just that skewed?
What grade would you give the media for their coverage of Obama’s first 100 days? We’d give ’em a D for duplicitous double-standards.
Source: Politico.com
This post was last modified on October 18, 2023