# Media bias favors McCain, not Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 28, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946 "2008-10-28T15:05:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/1 "2008-10-28T15:05:04Z")
[To the extent there is any.](http://mediamatters.org/items/200809190012?f=h_top) Now can we please drop this anticipatory-sour-grapes meme about the [liberal media](http://www.whatliberalmedia.com/) being “in the tank” for Obama? If McCain loses this election, it will be because the people prefer the Democrat this time around. It will not be because of any Dem dirty tricks, or “voter fraud,” or media bias, or Obama’s Wright or Ayers or Rezko connections not getting enough play. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/2 "2008-10-28T15:28:00Z")
**BrainyG** … you’re smarter than that. It’s about when and how something is reported, not whether the subject is mentioned. There has been news about Ayers, Wright and Rezko in the last year. The media has “covered” them only to the extent they can’t ignore it like they’d like to. What new news has there been about Keating or Liddy? You know that tape the LA Times won’t release about the PLO spokesman that Obama was celebrating with (don’t ask me to cite it… how can I)? No news there either huh? ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/3 "2008-10-28T15:35:14Z")
> [@](#): > > You know that tape the LA Times won’t release about the PLO spokesman that Obama was celebrating with (don’t ask me to cite it… how can I)? No news there either huh? If you can’t cite it how the hell do you know about it? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/4 "2008-10-28T15:38:10Z")
Media bias is inversely proportional to your political affiliation. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/5 "2008-10-28T15:40:53Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > If you can’t cite it how the hell do you know about it? Eh…FWIW: [http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/confirmed-msm-holds-video-of-barack.html](http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/confirmed-msm-holds-video-of-barack.html) ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/6 "2008-10-28T15:41:00Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > There has been news about Ayers, Wright and Rezko in the last year. The media has “covered” them only to the extent they can’t ignore it like they’d like to. Which of those is “news” and which are just smears dug up by Rove, Inc.? Almost every Republican talking point gets covered here as “News”, even when it’s just “Palin says Obama is bad”, film at Eleven stuff. Even worse, ever since the Rush Limbaugh and his ilk started bitching about the “MSM”, you see ridiculous crap on almost every news show when they cover politics. Usually they have an “expert” from both sides who just proceed to give their party’s spin, all in the name of being “fair and balanced”, instead of investigating which claims are valid. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/7 "2008-10-28T15:46:15Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > What new news has there been about Keating or Liddy? The banking crisis, notable for its similarity to the [S&L crisis,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_crisis) which involved the [Keating Five](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_5). That’s what journalists call a “news hook.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/8 "2008-10-28T15:51:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [To the extent there is any.](http://mediamatters.org/items/200809190012?f=h_top) Now can we please drop this anticipatory-sour-grapes meme about the [liberal media](http://www.whatliberalmedia.com/) being “in the tank” for Obama? If McCain loses this election, it will be because the people prefer the Democrat this time around. It will not be because of any Dem dirty tricks, or “voter fraud,” or media bias, or Obama’s Wright or Ayers or Rezko connections not getting enough play. You cited a liberally funded 501 (c) (3) for an opinion on news bias. You were done before you started. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/9 "2008-10-28T15:55:22Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Eh…FWIW: [http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/confirmed-msm-holds-video-of-barack.html](http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/confirmed-msm-holds-video-of-barack.html) Nothing there substantiates anything you allege. And Khalidi is not a PLO spokesman, he’s a Palestinian academic, who, shockingly, would like a bit of his homeland back. Which everywhere but the USA is seen as a perfectly reasonable ambition. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/10 "2008-10-28T15:58:07Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > If you can’t cite it how the hell do you know about it? > [@Magiver](#): > > You cited a liberally funded 501 (c) (3) for an opinion on news bias. You were done before you started. How is the Pew Research Center then? > [@](#): > > One question likely to be posed is whether these findings provide evidence that the news media are pro-Obama. Is there some element in these numbers that reflects a rooting by journalists for Obama and against McCain, unconscious or otherwise? The data do not provide conclusive answers. > > [http://www.journalism.org/node/13307](http://www.journalism.org/node/13307) ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/11 "2008-10-28T15:58:13Z")
So let me get this straight: if a liberal organization says there’s no media bias, we can ignore it. But if a conservative organization says there’s media bias, we stop the presses? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/12 "2008-10-28T15:59:05Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > You cited a liberally funded 501 (c) (3) for an opinion on news bias. You were done before you started. I threw down the gauntlet. If you have a comparable countercite, bring it. Of course, by your standards such a countercite, regardless of the sources or funding or bias or lack of bias of the studies it was based on, would only be credible if it did **not** come from Accuracy in Media or some RW think-tank. Good luck. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Discordia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Discordia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discordia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/13 "2008-10-28T15:59:31Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Eh…FWIW: [http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/confirmed-msm-holds-video-of-barack.html](http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/confirmed-msm-holds-video-of-barack.html) That’s a blog. I believe **CRSP** asked for a _cite_. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/14 "2008-10-28T15:59:40Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > Nothing there substantiates anything you allege. And Khalidi is not a PLO spokesman, he’s a Palestinian academic, who, shockingly, would like a bit of his homeland back. Which everywhere but the USA is seen as a perfectly reasonable ambition. Sorry if I was unclear. I do not buy all that crud I linked to…just providing a link to the allegation further upthread is all in the interests of information. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/15 "2008-10-28T16:00:09Z")
I guess, when SNL decided to do their skit about the media giving softballs to Obama during his primary fight with Clinton, they were really taking a risk, huh? Since there was no bias, noibody really knew what they’d be talking about. How odd that nearly everyone who saw it knew instantly why it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/16 "2008-10-28T16:05:15Z")
How does that prove that media bias exists? It only proves that the audience _believes_ media bias exists. You could have a skit about more babies being born on the full moon, but it don’t make it so. ---
**Author:** ![Discordia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Discordia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discordia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/17 "2008-10-28T16:09:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I guess, when SNL decided to do their skit about the media giving softballs to Obama during his primary fight with Clinton, they were really taking a risk, huh? Since there was no bias, noibody really knew what they’d be talking about. > > How odd that nearly everyone who saw it knew instantly why it was funny. Clearly, everything that SNL has ever joked about has a basis in reality. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/18 "2008-10-28T16:10:49Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > What new news has there been about Keating or Liddy? One of the Keating Five running for president is kinda new… ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/19 "2008-10-28T16:14:37Z")
> [@Discordia](#): > > Clearly, everything that SNL has ever joked about has a basis in reality. > > Or not. I’m sure they’ve done pieces of completely non-sequiter humor. But no – this political piece was not non-sequiter humor. They were emphasizing the phenomenon that everyone saw by exaggerating it. That’s a very well known approach to humor. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946/20 "2008-10-28T16:15:02Z")
I’ll say it again … conservatives claim a liberal mainstream media bias solely because the mainstream media is \*not \*conservative. It doesn’t matter how down the middle any reporting is, if they don’t support the right, in their minds they are automatically supporting the left. When Limbaugh and his ilk spew their bullshit it’s considered fair and true because it’s what they want to hear. When CNN floats a headline that doesn’t trash the left, it’s not what the want to hear, ergo, biased. I really don’t think a lot of conservatives know what “bias” means most of the time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-bias-favors-mccain-not-obama/469946.md?page=2)