Journalists and Bias

Due to conventions of reporting -- professionalism, objectivity, reliance on expert sources, etc -- the private political leanings of journalists may not impart partisan bias into the actual coverage.

FAIR's 1998 survey of the Washington press corps -- a rare survey focusing on journalists' private views on economic issues -- found the press corps to be more conservative than the public on economics, not more liberal.

Two great web resources

For "following the money" behind candidates: Center for Reponsive Politics, aka OpenSecrets.org

For factual disputes: Annenberg Political Fact Check, akaFactCheck.org

Worst Debate Ever

Two veteran mainstream reporters in Politico, John Harris and Jim Vandehei, declare last night's Obama/McCain debate the Worst Ever and long for a Ross Perot or independent to be on the stage. But they seem clueless about the main culprit: the BI-partisan (not "non-partisan," as mainstream outlets call it) Commission on Presidential Debates. They write:

The problem is the commission that has been invested with pseudo-constitutional status to run the debates but, in fact, weakly defers to candidates and clings to antiquated formats. No serious candidate would skip a debate. So the commission should use its leverage to insist that the debates are interesting to voters, rather than safe for candidates.

This misses the point. No one except the TV networks and mainstream media vests the CPD with "pseudo-constitutional status to run the debates." As I pointed out in 2000, the commission was set up by the two major parties to make the debates "safe for candidates" of the two major parties. The League of Women Voters and other truly nonpartisan groups or college campuses would be happy to sponsor debates but the TV nets are wedded to the CPD.

Email & Fox News Warn of Obama's Radical Muslim Upbringing

Brilliant hosts of Fox News morning show discuss Obama and Madrassa.

Jon Stewart ridicules tabloid-oriented TV news for warning public about Internet hoaxes.

Are Conservatives Working the Ref?

Gwen Ifill, tonight's debate moderator, has a book coming out in January on black politicians, with Obama in the title. If Obama wins, the book -- even if it's a totally neutral account -- is more relevant and will get higher sales. The existence of the book has been known about for a couple months. Only in the last two days have GOP supporters raised a fuss in blogs, talk radio and Fox News. Apparently the McCain campaign itself is not making a fuss. Are these folks working the ref, hoping to get softer treatment for Palin tonight, or tougher treatment of Biden?

Ifill has long been known as a totally neutral -- even bland and non-aggressive --interviewer. But the choice doesn't reflect well on the process or the secretive Commission on Presidential Debates.

A piece from CJR on the topic.

"John McCain is Aware of the Internet"

At Personal Democracy Forum in June, a gathering of folks across the spectrum who use new communications technology in politics, a disagreement erupted on one panel between the deputy inernet director of the John McCain campaign (young man toward left of screen) and his counterpart on the John Edwards campaign (young woman toward right of screen.) It stemmed from the fact that McCain does not use a computer.

Bill Clinton Caught on Tape.

Citizen-journalist Mayhill Fowler, in rope line unidentified as a reporter, elicits choice words from Bill Clinton on a "sleazy" and "slimy" and "dishonest" reporter in particular -- and general "bias of the media for Obama."