Politico uncritically reports McCain media-bashing
September 03, 2008 12:34 pm ET by Jamison Foser
One pretty good sign that the media treats John McCain much more favorably than the McCain campaign would have you believe is the obedience with which the media uncritically reports the campaign's complaints about coverage.
Case in point: Politico's Jonathan Martin has an article about McCain's attacks on the media, in which he includes this line:
McCain’s campaign has also put its words into action, stripping CNN of an opportunity to interview the candidate after what it felt was unfair treatment of an aide in an appearance Monday on the cable channel.
Why does the McCain campaign think the treatment was "unfair"? Martin doesn't tell you. What happened? Martin doesn't tell you. Was it unfair? Martin makes no effort to help readers determine that -- he just "reports" that McCain's camp says it was unfair. Kind of skews things in McCain's favor, doesn't it?
What actually happened in that interview is that McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds touted Sarah Palin's experience as head of the Alaska National Guard, at which point CNN's Campbell Brown asked him for an example of a decision Palin made in that capacity. When Bounds couldn't or wouldn't come up with one, she asked again. That doesn't seem "unfair" to me; that seems like journalism.
And the Politico's decision to simply type up the McCain campaign's complaints without giving any indication of what actually happened seems more like stenography than journalism.
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If the Republican Party is so eager for the American Public to know that Sarah Palin helped win a State Championship Basketball Game for her hometown why aren't they eager to have her on the morning political talk shows this Sunday? Could it be because
SHE IS NOT READY FOR DAY ONE,
NOT READY FOR ANY DAY TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT SERIOUS AMERICANS ARE ASKING ABOUT
THIS FAILED REPUBLICAN ECONOMY,
FAILED IRAQI INVASION,
FAILED AFGHANISTAN OCCUPATION,
FAILED SERVICES TO COMMUNITIES LIKE NEW ORLEANS,
FAILED SERVICES TO OUR AMERICAN VETERANS,
FAILED ENERGY POLICIES,
FAILED PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT,
FAILED STOCK MARKET AND MORTGAGE FIASCO,
FAILED WILDLIFE CONSERVATION,
FAILED JOB PRODUCTION AND WAGE ENHANCEMENTS FOR AMERICANS AND
FAILED EDUCATION AND POLITICALLY ETHICAL POLICIES TO GUIDE OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE!
Sarah Palin is EXHIBIT A of how much the Republican Party has FAILED! No wonder they won't let her on the talk shows-
Real Journalists might ask her some IMPORTANT QUESTIONS THAT AMERICANS HAVE ABOUT OUR FUTURE!