Shocker – The Morning News Shows Give Preferential Treatment To Democrats
I know, I know. I was absolutely taken aback by this stunning revelation.
A study by the Media Research Center found that morning “news” shows seem to slant ( to put it mildly ) toward the Democrats in their coverage. This is from the story on CNS.Com:
CNSNews.com) – In covering the 2008 presidential campaign, the network morning news shows are “overwhelmingly focused on Democrats, [and] they are actively promoting the Democrats’ liberal agenda,” according to a study released today by the conservative Media Research Center (MRC).
The study examined 517 campaign segments on the morning news shows broadcast on ABC, CBS and NBC in the first seven months of 2007. It found that the shows covered Democrats “nearly twice as much” as Republicans and framed interview questions from a liberal perspective most of the time.
Actively promoting the Democrats’ liberal agenda? Whod’a thunk it?
It gets better:
The morning shows aired 61 stories focused exclusively on Sen. Hillary Clinton, 44 stories on former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, and 41 stories on Sen. Barack Obama, all of whom are seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Former Vice President Al Gore, who is not officially running, was the subject of 29 stories.
Republican candidates received less attention, according to the study. Sen. John McCain was the focus of 31 stories. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was the focus of 26 stories and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney was the focus of 19 stories.
And then there is this little gem:
Noyes acknowledged that it is legitimate for news programs to cover the stumbles of Republican candidates like McCain, but added that “the Democrats have had their share of stumbles and gaffes. Some of those have been reported, and some have been downplayed, but the network storyline on all the Democratic frontrunners is mainly positive.”
He said that former Sen. John Edwards “could be getting the same ‘deathwatch’ coverage that McCain’s been getting, but instead he got a huge gift of a town hall meeting on ABC (something no Republican has received).”
“That doesn’t mean McCain’s problems should be buried. But it does show the networks seem to have a different approach for candidates of different parties,” Noyes said. “It’s like the networks tried to throw Edwards a life preserver, but dropped an anvil on McCain.”
So the Silky Pony (or the Breck Girl, whichever you prefer – he’ll answer to either ) gets white kid glove treatment. You could never tell it.
An interesting aside about all of this is this: This illustrates that the left’s attempt at reviving the Stalinist “Fairness Doctrine” because of their heartburn that the talk radio market is overwhelmingly slanted to the right is an attempt at controlling the WHOLE pie, not just their little slice of it.
