This study's findings belie the myth of the Lib'rul Media. A small skew overall in favor of Democrats can be explained by the MSM's favorable coverage of Obama, a liberal, vs. its very negative coverage of McCain, a conservative. But keep in mind McCain is tremendously unpopular even among "real" conservatives, so he's an easy punching bag for the MSM.
Rather, this study reinforces the belief that we have a Corporate Media that is interested in whittling down the field of presidential primary candidates as quickly as possible to a few household names like Hillary and Rudy, in order to start the "horse race" reporting, which, the MSM has believes, secures higher ratings than actually reporting on the issues and "no-name" candidates like Kucinich and Huckabee.
The question is: Is the Corporate Media right?
People say they care about issues and the candidates' character and backgrounds, but do we really? Or do we really want to see precisely what the Media gives us: the political bloodsport of "celebrity" candidates, million-dollar fund raising, vapid, focus group-crafted sound bytes, day-by-day poll ratings, and big-name endorsements from Oprah and Arnold?
THE INVISIBLE PRIMARY—INVISIBLE NO LONGER:
A First Look at Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign
October 29, 2007 | Journalism.org
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