July 21, 2008
Is Obama Getting Too Much Coverage?
Critics Charge Media Has Been Unbalanced In Race Between McCain, Obama
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Play CBS Video Video Favorites In The Media? The media's coverage of Barack Obama has been criticized for showing favoritism. Many say Obama's rival, John McCain, has been dealt a significant disadvantage. Randall Pinkston reports.
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Photo Essay Barack Obama A look at the life and meteoric rise of the president-elect.
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Photo Essay John McCain Some call him a hero, some a maverick. Will Americans call him Mr. President?
The widely covered trip is the latest example of what some critics are saying is a continuing pattern that puts Obama's presidential opponent, Sen. John McCain, at a disadvantage, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston.
The trip is a high risk gamble, and as one journalism expert adds, highly unusual.
"International travel is not usually a way for candidates to win the White House," says Tom Rosenstiel, the director of the Project For Excellence In Journalism. "That says something about Obama's needs as a candidate and what the issues are this year."
What Obama is trying to strengthen is his foreign policy credibility. McCain, a war hero with decades in the Senate, claims he already has it.
What McCain doesn't have these days is media magic.
Since June 9th, when Obama effectively clinched the votes for the nomination, the Project For Excellence In Journalism took a weekly look at 300 political stories in newspapers, magazines and television. In 77 percent of the stories, Obama played an important role, and 51 percent featured McCain.
"That's an edge," said Rosenthiel. "That is a big enough difference that it is an uneven playing field probably for McCain."
And there is more to come. As Obama continues his foreign travels to the Middle East and Europe, he will be interviewed by all three network anchors - CBS' Katie Couric on Tuesday, ABC's Charles Gibson on Eednesday and NBC's Brian Williams on Thursday.
While Obama's likely to endure tough questions from the networks, the amount of media attention will probably remain lopsided.
"A lot of Republicans are very frustrated with what they see is the uncritical coverage of Barack Obama's candidacy," said David Mark, a senior writer at Politico.com.
At the end of the day, Obama may have his chief political opponent to thank for this shower of media attention.
"This could end up backfiring on Sen. McCain who sort of goaded Barack Obama into taking this trip. On his Web site, he repeatedly had a sign up about how long it had been since he went to Iraq," Mark said.
The tour could also trip up Obama. One slip or gaffe could hurt his candidacy and give him the kind of media coverage he doesn’t want.
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- Oh, come on. I see Obama way more than McCain....unfortunately, it''s on Fox News. Incredibly distorted negativity by the usual right wing hacks....but, hey, you''re right.......he get''s far more cov than McBush.
BTW, CBS, of all the disheartening things daily in this country, your inexcusable editing job is one of the worst. - Reply to this comment
- MANY WILL SHAL BE DECIVED
And it is politics and the media that is easy
A gift from the
Glee is free - Reply to this comment
- Hey Right2laugh: Read the transcript on this page & watch the video of McCain''s ''We will come home in victory.'' CBS has to EDIT OUT McCain answers for him because he got it SOOOOO wrong on the correct surge, Anbar awakening,facts and dates. Remember McCain is just learning how to e-mail, it''s a shame because if he knew how to use the internet he could just google the RIGHT answers, look at current maps so he knows what borders a country has(Pakistan/Iraq?)Findout that Czechoslovakia is no longer a country, & hasn''t been for 15 years (signs of DEMENTIA: loss of short term memory). Maybe he could lookup Sunni muslim, Shia muslim & learn the difference & how important those differences are in Iraq. McCain could even go to the carpetbagger report & see all his flip-flops (66 & counting) then maybe he could get back to the STRAIGHT TALK which now is really another way of saying "SENIOR MOMENT!"
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- If the media loves Obama, why did Katie Couric and CBS edit John McCain''s interview to erase his big mess-up?
CBS is not a paid Public Relations firm. Why are you protecting him at the expense of the American people? We need an explanation for this media bias. - Reply to this comment
- Hey Right2laugh: Read the transcript on this page & watch the video of McCain''s ''We will come home in victory.'' CBS has to EDIT OUT McCain answers for him because he got it SOOOOO wrong on the correct surge, Anbar awakening,facts and dates. Remember McCain is just learning how to e-mail, it''s a shame because if he knew how to use the internet he could just google the RIGHT answers, look at current maps so he knows what borders a country has(Pakistan/Iraq?)Findout that Czechoslovakia is no longer a country, & hasn''t been for 15 years (signs of DEMENTIA: loss of short term memory). Maybe he could lookup Sunni muslim, Shia muslim & learn the difference & how important those differences are in Iraq. McCain could even go to the carpetbagger report & see all his flip-flops (66 & counting) then maybe he could get back to the STRAIGHT TALK which now is really another way of saying "SENIOR MOMENT!"
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- And you actully still call yourselves "Journalists"? Your bias is so obvious. No hard questions for Obama. And if he remotely gets a hard question and gives a lie or vague answer, you just let it pass. Couric acts like a love-struck teenager. Your arrogance knows no bounds and you treat the American people as if they are stupid. You no longer have any credibility and I no longer watch ANY of your news stories. Though I do admit that it is extremely funny to watch you defend your actions - best comedy on TV.
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- Too much coverage? Maybe the 28% bushite followers think so but not the rest of us. Obama needs more coverage so that he can educate those who are not already on our side to come on over. OBAMA IN 08!
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- All is fair in love and war.
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- Apparently not, but then, again, he has spent most of his life living in Hawaii (even tho a U.S. state, they live differently there) and in Indonesia, a Muslim country, so you have to excuse his ignorance of American policy.
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Posted by love234ameri at 10:48 PM : Jul 21, 2008
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Yeah, those Hawaiians are real weirdo''s. LOL. - Reply to this comment
- JFK did nothing worthwhile in office other than be shot by Oswald (probably a Mafai deal). He is remembered for his good looks, his great speaking voice, his speech writers, his nice looking wife and kids, but he did nothing for his country that is note...Posted by love234ameri at 10:54 PM
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I guess you forgot about the Cuban missle crisis. - Reply to this comment
- Is Obama Getting Too Much Coverage?
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Not for me. I LOVE it! :o) - Reply to this comment
- The vitriol level of our right-wing friends shows that they are beginning to panic. To suggest that the media owes McCain equal air time is as stupid as anything else they say. Obama is the rock star and the new Messiah and the whole world is watching and rooting for him. McCain is a decent old guy but he has nothing interesting or hopeful to say; history is passing him by.
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- Posted by gnickles3 at 11:20 PM : Jul 21, 2008
If McCain would stand on his own two legs instead of trying to pull Obama''s out from under him, he might merit a little attention. As it is, he should be thankful he''s not getting any attention or people might realize what an embarrassment he is. - Reply to this comment
- Yes, he is getting too much coverage. Our news media is getting to the point that they only report one aspect of the news. Obama is like the second coming of Christ, with anything that he says the news media covering it exclusively. The news in our country is getting to be as bad as a communist country. You need to begin to cover both presidential candidates and stop acting as though he is already president. The election hasn''t been held yet.
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- Posted by love234ameri at 10:54 PM : Jul 21, 2008
Uh yeah, JFK did nothing. Seems to make sense considering you think McCain is a hero. - Reply to this comment
- I voted for JFK, my first presidential vote, my naive vote, my inexperienced vote, my vote for the best looking candidate, my stupid vote. But I have since learned honor, loyalty, and experience count in leading our country. JFK did nothing worthwhile in office other than be shot by Oswald (probably a Mafai deal). He is remembered for his good looks, his great speaking voice, his speech writers, his nice looking wife and kids, but he did nothing for his country that is note worthy. So compare Obama to JFK if you wish because that is what you will get if you elect this liar.
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- Obama is the treated like "the second coming" by the media. Hell, yes, he gets all the coverage he could possibly want from all the proObama media and newspapers. The New York Times is a disgrace to America; they belong in one of the countries that censors news as they do.
Obama said about his trip abroad "........with people like Pres. Karza or Maliki or Pres. Sarkozy or others WHO I EXPECT TO BE DEALING WITH OVER THE NEXT EIGHT TO TEN YEARS". Does this inexperienced, silver tongues liar know that in the United States of America an election for President and Commander In Chief will be held this November??? Apparently not, but then, again, he has spent most of his life living in Hawaii (even tho a U.S. state, they live differently there) and in Indonesia, a Muslim country, so you have to excuse his ignorance of American policy. - Reply to this comment
Today McCain went on TV and demonstrated his lack of understanding of the middle east, by saying Iraq has a border with Afghanistan.
That demands detailed consideration.
ALZHEIMER''s is the best explanation.- Reply to this comment
- McCain gets headlines that shout his repeated lies.
It is imperative to closely follow both campaigns.
Today McCain went on TV and demonstrated his lack of understanding of the middle east, by saying Iraq has a border with Afghanistan.
That demands detailed consideration.
Today, in Iraq, the Maliki government said, Iraq agrees with Obama''s plan to get our troops out by the end of 2010. That''s major news.
We have been at war for 7 years. You cannot cover that story TOO MUCH. The Iraq''s disagree with John and Bush and the Iraqi''s support the Obama position. You cannot cover that story too much.
Until now, the Bush-McCain "plan" was to keep our troops in Iraq for a generation. The rejection by the elected Iraqi government of the McCain Bush ''plan'' is major news, and the only spin the Bush-McCain cabal could come up with today is that the Iraqi''s may have been mistranslated.
They were not. The NY Times took that ball and ran with it and they came up with the same translation as the German magazine that first ran it. Then, after all that, the Maliki employee SAID IN ENGLISH, WE WANT THE US OUT BY THE END OF 2010. That is the opposite of John McCain''s PLAN. OBAMA wins. That''s NEWS. You cannot play it big enough. The end of the war is in sight. And we can go after Bin Laudin now, something that Bush apparently was unwilling to do. - Reply to this comment
- Is Obama Getting Too Much Coverage?
Two words ....... HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!! - Reply to this comment
The road ahead in Afghanistan, and the crucial decision Obama faces.
