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Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The Left & Right Agree: Blame The Media
Sarah Palin at the walkthrough before tonight's speech in St. Paul. (ABC News via AP)

So Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska is about to give her big-time speech at the Republican National Convention and the GOP strategy is pretty clear:  Attack the media for reporting anything that doesn't shower her with praise as a maverick compatriot cut from the same cloth as U.S. Sen. John McCain.  Nothing new there, really.  Certainly not the first time a political campaign saw the upside in trying to pick a fight with the media.

But the left wants in on the action too.  Media Matters for America tonight started circulating complaints that the media -- as if it was some sort of giant monolithic agency that doesn't run the gamut from Fox News to MSNBC -- has bought into McCain's reasons for picking Palin to run for vice president.  A sampler:  Media Matters says the media has ignored the fact that Palin switched her position on the so-called "bridge to nowhere," that she hired a lobbyist to bring back millions in federal "earmarks" to the tiny town of Wasilla when she was mayor there, and that she faces an ethics investigation from alleged pressure from her administration to fire her former brother-in-law, an Alaskan state trooper.

As you can see from the links above, the media has chased all those angles pretty well.  In fact, Media Matters credits many media outlets for reporting on the stories that the media won't report.  Really.

That's not what the GOP has been complaining about, at least not up on the surface.  Instead, we're hearing a roar of righteous indignation -- from both Karl Rove on Fox News and Pat Buchanan on MSNBC -- about how Palin has been treated poorly in media reporting.  The chief complaint:  That it was revealed that Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant.  The chief point left unsaid:  McCain's camp revealed that first in a press release on Monday.  They did so in response to the rumors circulating on left-wing blogs during the holiday weekend about the personal lives of the Palin family.  But a Lexis-Nexis search shows that no so-called mainstream media outlet -- print, wire or broadcast -- reported the pregnancy or the other rumors until the McCain camp announced it.  The rumors were included for context, to explain why the McCain camp, which had known about the pregnancy but not announced it earlier, decided to change direction on all that. 

But why let all that get in the way of an effective strategy, no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on?
Posted by Chris Brennan @ 10:03 PM  Permalink | 8 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:04 AM, 09/04/2008
    The media has every right to investigate and report on Palin's past. The complaint against the media is they have been unwilling to do the same to Barack Obama. Investigate them both, not just the Republican.
    — Frito1
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:24 AM, 09/04/2008
    Obama's been vetted for the last 4 yrs. This woman came out of nowhere with 60 days to the most important election in a long while. The McCain camp started this feeding frenzy and now they're mad that people are taking a hard look at her.
    — No Ids
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:12 AM, 09/04/2008
    "The chief complaint: That it was revealed that Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant.":::Yeah, I'm sure that is what they are complaining about. Nothing to do with the fact that the press are exploiting this 17yr old, and using her as a political football for every left wing quack to attack Palin for. To be fair, why don't we talk about how Obama is never home, and doesn't feel the need to give his children gifts. Where is the outrage? It's obvious. Liberals don't eat their own, but they will certainly feast on a republican's child.
    — ObamaHATER
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:13 AM, 09/04/2008
    The "media" is pretty much a giant monolithic agency, that has pretty much gone the way of TMZ and Entertainment Tonight. It just has different outlets with different slants. When was the last time local news lead with something other than the weather...."Four People Killed Today in Center City...but the big story...we are going to have a beautiful weekend".
    — phillybob
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:17 AM, 09/04/2008
    and remember, the media's need for content means that all news is viable. it is the irony that the largest media outlets (i.e., fox, cnn, time/warner among others) are bankrolled by wealthy economically and socially conservative proprietors. fundamentally, the bottom line is money making for the media, and i've never heard rupert murdoch complain about the moral integrity of his network's mouthpieces. murdoch laugh's all the way to the bank. in short, the right commits hypocrisy calling out the so-called liberal media. it's the right's friends, who are the architects of the media cartels.
    — josefbreuer
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:59 AM, 09/04/2008
    The only people who still have questions about the certificate are loonies. The press has already checked it out, as it's on Obama's website. This all happened months ago.
    — Politburo


8 comments
About The Philly Clout Team
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Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics ­– which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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