Media on the defensive over Palin coverage

[True_Blue]

Source: LA Times

NEW YORK -- News executives Thursday tried to shake off the excoriations of the media emanating from the Republican National Convention, defending their coverage of GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin as responsible and evenhanded.

While top television network officials and newspaper editors largely dismissed the critiques as partisan rhetoric, some fretted that charges of media bias had reached a new and disturbing level.

"I really do take exception to it," NBC News President Steve Capus said. "These terms get thrown around in an awfully cavalier way, and they're incredibly damaging. We're in the business where words matter, and those are awfully, awfully strong accusations."

Speaker after speaker pounded the media Wednesday night, accusing news organizations of slanted and sexist coverage in their reporting about the 44-year-old Alaska governor and her family.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-na-mediaattacks5-2008sep05,0,2321560.story

[skooooo]

1. Howard Fineman on CNN today...

...accused the McCain campaign of intimidating the press, and him personally because they put a false report out there about Fineman.

[silex]

2. Wow..

:wow:

[Suich]

5. Welcome to DU, silex!

:party: :applause: :party:

[silex]

24. Thanks

Someone recommended this site.Glad I finally found it!:hi:

[Claire Beth]

28. Welcome to DU! n/t

[silex]

30. Thx

:hi: I'm learning a lot here.

[cobalt1999]

18. Once upon a time, we had a press that couldn't be intimitdated.

Instead of whining about the politicians, the press should just say "fuck you" and do their job.

[w13rd0]

3. Wasn't this part of their strategy?

Palin can read her lines well, she was a newscaster of sorts and went to school for it. Just like the bobbleheads on Fox, it's the GOPs standard practice of make pretty say ugly things, then cry victim when they get called out on it. Fuck these are some UGLY people with UGLY souls.

[Born Free]

33. yes, and the media will be afraid to speak out

much like the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, the media will be too scared to question anything, and allow the right wing to say anything and repeat it as it were true. It's sad, but happens every time...no wonder USA is in it's current state

[JerseygirlCT]

35. Yup. Although I think if she's going to go on Fox, they're

gonna want her blonder and with much more lip-gloss.

She's got the mean and stupid thing down well, though.

[greyghost]

4. Do your jobs people, or continue to be scooped by the Enquirer!

[gratuitous]

6. NOW they're defensive?

Gee, when we were complaining before, and pointing out perfectly legitimate criticisms, the popular media folks just shrugged it off by saying that both sides were bitching, so that meant they must be playing it right down the middle. Now the GOP is squealing like stuck little piggies, and they get all defensive.

Why IS that?

[Nihil]

20. To answer your (rhetorical) question for the benefit of certain visitors ... :-)

If the temp security guard raises an eyebrow at you for turning up late,
you can ignore him.

If the CEO calls you in and bitches at you for turning up late, you'd
better pay attention.

The difference? The CEO pays your wages.

That's why the MSM are responding to allegations of bias now.

:shrug:

[Uncle Joe]

31. I believe you nailed it and I would add those Owner/CEOs definitely lean

toward the corporate loving Republican Party.

Edit for P.S. And here is an example of fat-cat influence in their dysfunctional reporting.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200809050006?f=h_top

"Media uncritically repeat McCain claim that Obama "will raise" taxes"

[marshall]

7. I still believe the over the top "who's the momma" stuff was a plant

Even here, I think there were plants pushing the inane stories. They got wilder and more unbelievable by the minute. Now the media is cowed away from real investigation because Palin was thrust into the national spotlight with such outrageous and ultimately false stories. She's basically innoculated against hard hitting reportage.

[PaDUer]

17. The repubs have been

keeping Palin away from the media so they can't ask her any questions at all..MSNBC said a fews hours before Palin gave her speech that they were going to keep the party rolling from speaker to speaker quickly so the news commentators don't have a chance to discuss anything being said about what was said, and they did just that..also, watch how they quickly whisk her away while she's on "tour" so she doesn't answer any questions asked..What are they afraid of--lots.

[trudyco]

29. The MSM NEVER does hard hitting news- at least not TV

I don't know why Thom Hartman swallowed the baby story, but how Palin behaved towards her youngest birth is sicko. The baby could have died. So one wonders why she would do that (and endanger herself). It is so outrageous that the story of a fake pregnancy seems possible. Especially since her own staff didn't know she was pregnant until very late in the pregnancy AND it was her fifth child so she should have shown early.

Don't just assume it was trolls flaming the story. Now the ones about incest might have been. That came from nowhere.

[CitizenPatriot]

8. is it time to write them again?

I wrote CNN today (before I rad the Fineman thing) and asked them not to be blackmailed by this GOP transparent attempt to manipulate the media. I wanted them to know there is an audience out here who are looking for a place to get REAL news. If they want to deliver it, great. We will watch.

If they cave to this BS, it's over.

Frankly, I'm glad they're defensive (though it would be nice if they even gave a crap when we said these things) because it means they aren't CAVING yet.

[RamboLiberal]

9. They ought to be defensive over hyping this speech like

Palin was the Virgin Mary who had the baby Jesus! That speech was mediocre and juvenile at best. And they damn well know it. Only E.J. Dionne had the guts to point out it was at an 8th grade level!

[Kelly J]

10. Did he actually say that?

LOL, did he really say 8th grade level?

[EFerrari]

11. Welcome to DU, Kelly J.

I love Dionne. :)

[Kelly J]

12. Thanks

Thanks for the welcome sfexpat2000, it's great to be here! :)

[UpInArms]

26. yeppers, he did

here's the DU discussion thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x381351

and here's Dionne's article

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/judging_palin_by_an_eighth-gra.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

and welcome to DU, Kelly J!

:hi:

[Kelly J]

38. Thank you

Thank you UpInArms for the welcome. And thanks for the links, I'm still learning how to find my way around this massive site. :)

[JerseygirlCT]

36. Exactly

They couldn't possibly have been more adoring. It was pretty disgusting.

Now, if she or anyone else had actually said something worth listening to, in a way that actually made you want to listen, then there might have been reason for the raves.

There was precious little honesty or real analysis happening this week. Just lots and lots of fawming.

[cap]

40. Rovian tactic again

"cut and run" -- simple anglo saxon slogans

[DeeDeeNY]

13. The intimidation of the media certainly worked on the Vick Iseman story

That story disappeared quickly after McCain complained

[annabanana]

42. We have to give them pats and kisses, folks.. If all their

feedback is the nasty accusative stuff from the RNC and they DON'T hear from the public, they will pull in their horns.

[chill_wind]

14. They'll get touchy for a day. Then they'll fall right back in line, as they have

for the last eight years. The fascists are demanding it.

[jeffreykoopersmith]

15. AMERICAN POLITICS NOT ON THE DEFENSIVE - OFFENSIVE AGAINST PALIN AND MCCAIN

[madmom]

16. Hey she wanted to play with the big dogs, now tke your lumps!

[JerseygirlCT]

37. I don't think she realized that human beings, unlike moose

actually tend to speak back.

And ask questions.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

19. As Jon Stewart famously said "The facts have a liberal bias"

So there you go, what is the media supposed to do?

Probably NO ONE has ever had to wade through more negative press on every level than Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. The McCain campaign has their offical house organ Fox News mockingbirding on their behalf 24/7 as well as all of right wing talk radio.

They can't handle when the press is reporting FACTS. Nothing is going to change the FACTS and the press has to report the FACTS. It's a shame that the FACTS are so damaging to the McCain campaign.

[barbtries]

21. the dems have got to speak out on this

the woman is unqualified. forget the rest - no way is she prepared to run a country!

[Stinky The Clown]

22. I challenge that headline

I saw a media more on offense than I've seen in a while.

I saw pushback against those who press this point. I saw it as recently as this morning, by Joe Scarbrough, of all people, against Rick Davis (one of McLame's campaign staff). MSNBC, at least, has had their on air talent doing a lot of push back.

ABC has done some, too.

I have very little confidence in the media, but this is a good sign.

[mikeytherat]

23. Just like this headline: "McCain Camp Knocks Down Enquirer's Palin Rumor"

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/03/politics/fromtheroad/entry4413030.shtml

Now go here and look at the headlines:

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/

This is "knocking down" the rumor? Oh, yeah. They look really scared.

mikey_the_rat

[ShortnFiery]

25. The M$M are part of the scam on The American Electorate. No Slack for those bastards. eom

[tavalon]

27. SOP

The GOP excoriates the media, the media rushes to placate them. Wash, rinse, repeat.

[krkaufman]

32. "What are they trying to hide?" needs to be the constant refrain ...

"What are they trying to hide?" needs to be the constant refrain of Dem. surrogates ... in any interviews with the media or even on the stump, befriending the media and taking their side .... emphasizing that we have only 60 days to do a full review of this relative unknown that John McCain judged to be best qualified to assume the Presidency, in his stead.

Talking points...

• The reporting on the pregnancy *did* go overboard, but was likely a result of the campaign's hiding the information at the time Palin was introduced to the country.
  
  
• The Republican attack against the media is just a variation of the "best defense is a great offense" approach. The McCain campaign only has to cow the media into backing off a bit, delaying and denying access, to allow their VP candidate to sneak unquestioned and untested through the next 60 days.
  
  
• The McCain campaign, it appears, is going to follow the Bush/Rove approach of staged town halls and speeches, and will likely allow a small number of interviews with friendly media, where they can set the ground rules, as we've seen in the past -- such as demanding a list of questions, in advance. (I'm sure Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly will be happy to squeeze Gov. Palen in.)
  
  
• Gov. Palin and Sen. Biden will be debating on Oct. 2nd, but, given the restrictive formats and limited time typically seen in (Vice)Presidential debates, the debate cannot be considered a substitute for the traditional media vetting of a candidate.
  
  
• Senators McCain and Biden have been in the public eye for decades and have been through a few Presidential campaigns, each; while Sen. Obama has been on the national stage for over 4 years and under intense scrutiny as a Presidential contender for more than 2 years. Sen. McCain introduced Gov. Palin to a national audience just 7(N) days ago, and appears to be obstructing the review to which every serious contender for the White House need be subjected. In the simplest sense, is there something that John McCain is trying to hide? The only way to answer the question is to make Gov. Palin openly available to the news media, to get done in 60 days what everyone else on the tickets have been going through for 2+ years.
  
  
• Sen. McCain was the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee for over 6 months, but having made a last-minute choice for running mate, Sen. McCain has only given the American people 60 days to learn about a relatively unknown candidate before they have to cast their votes for the country's next President. It is possible that it could be Gov. Palin putting her hand on a bible next January 20th, 2009, to be sworn-in as President. The voters will not be able to make an informed decision, November 4th, on Gov. Palin's ability to judge our priorities and confront our international adversaries if they haven't even seen her take on the news media.
  
  
• Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are proclaiming that they want to bring reform and transparency to Washington, but they turned their backs on transparency less than 7 days after forming their ticket. To demonstrate their commitment to transparency and reform, Sen. McCain needs to make Gov. Palin openly available to news media requests for interviews, and Gov. Palin needs to instruct her lawyers and surrogates to discontinue any actions that could be viewed as obstruction of the ongoing ethics investigation, in Alaska, related to Gov. Palin.

The media needs to be pushed to grow a backbone, and then McCain needs to be either challenged or shamed into allowing media access to his running mate.

(link)

[Winterblues]

34. Republicans keep going back to what works

They howled Liberal Bias for all the eighties and nineties and it worked. The Media became Biased against any Liberal or Democrat. In fact Liberal became a bad word. Now that the media is discovering the truth again the Republicans start their howling once more..

[cyr330]

39. Yeah, right. . .

The media will be blowing so much hot air up her ass about how she didn't shit in her panties while she was giving her speech and how wonderful it was and what a spectacular speaker she is, etc. They disgust me. All she has to do is not spit up while speaking, and they'll state that she hit it out of the park. I HATE the MSM.

[sfwriter]

41. It is CHICKENSUIT time...

Shame McCain and bring out Caribou Barbie.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3935501&mesg_id=3935647