Naturally, I clicked on the Yahoo! link to see who was finally calling out Our Media Stars on how they're in the tank for McCain.
My heart sank. It's from the AP. (Their TV writer, David Bauder, specifically.)
So naturally, the question - no, the assumption, is that the media are in the tank for Obama.
For evidence of the charges, well, who else are you going to turn to but a Republican Congressman and Rush Limbaugh? I mean, who else could you possibly ask for an analysis of the campaign?
The question really needs to be posed: Is this type of coverage fair?" said Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va. "This is nothing but a political stunt."
Apparently McCain's trips abroad are vital national security - oh, never mind; I can't even snark this crap anymore.
"My prediction is that the coverage of Obama on this trip will be oriented toward countering the notion he has no idea what he is talking about on foreign policy and defense issues and instead will prop him up as a qualified statesman," Limbaugh told The Associated Press. "McCain, on the other hand, is a known quantity on these issues and bla bla bla ..."
Yeah, known for being absolutely wrong on every major issue facing the country over the past 30 years, but known. Thanks Rush!
Bauder eventually gets to the numbers:
For each of the weeks between June 9 and July 13, Obama had a much more significant media presence. The Project for Excellence in Journalism evaluates more than 300 political stories each week in newspapers, magazines and television to measure whether each candidate is talked about in more than 25 percent of the stories.
Every week, Obama played an important role in more than two-thirds of the stories. For July 7-13, for example, Obama was a significant presence in 77 percent of the stories, while McCain was in 48 percent, the PEJ said.
(snip)
No matter how understandable it is given the newness of the candidate and the historical nature of Obama's candidacy, in the end it's probably not fair to McCain," [PEJ director Tom Rosenstiel] said.
Yeah, those stories about how Obama's a Mooslim terraist radical Christian Amurka-hater are really unfair to McCain.
Bauder eventually works some truth in ...
If the attention gap continues, the campaign will essentially become a referendum on Obama, Rosenstiel said. While that may serve McCain's purpose — it beats a referendum on President Bush ...
Ya think?
Seriously, I'm not the first to say this, but I'd love for the entire nation to take a week and not talk about Barack Obama at all. Let's just take a look - a real look - at John McCain. It'd be the end of his candidacy.
NBC News President Steve Capus said he finds it funny this is an issue, considering how much people have accused the press corps — and still do — of being too cozy with McCain. The Arizona senator had been a frequent guest of "Meet the Press."
And that's all the evidence Bauder can - or cares to - muster on that point.
His e-mail is dbauder at ap dot org. I already let him know what I thought, particularly about his sourcing.