Where is the reporting on Barack Obama that corresponds to the critical media attention showered on Sarah Palin? Though acknowledged as a remarkably inexperienced presidential candidate, one sees little evidence that Obama's history has received the type of scrutiny Palin's has received. Details about Obama's Rezko assisted home acquisition, his cut-throat entry into politics and his associations with Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn simply haven't been pushed akin to the tales spun around the Alaska governor.
What explains it?
I believe three factors have resulted in the unprecedented political tilt of the would-be objective news media, with a fourth for honorable mention.
Political bias
Don't bother arguing. Surveys consistently show that journalists have a leftward political tilt over the past two to three decades.
Democratic failure in the presidential elections
This one certainly isn't my idea, though I don't recall whom to credit; I think Rush Limbaugh has at least talked about it. The press blames itself for allowing Gore and Kerry to lose. How could so many vote for Republicans? They must be crazy! Educate them, we will! Scuttle the Swift-boaters! Lead them just a little bit in the news with a touch (poke, shove, chokehold) of news analysis.
Fear
The McCain/Palin ticket is ahead in the polls????? OMG! We have to do something!
Brought together at this juncture in time, these three factors put immense pressure on the media. The instances of biased reporting and abandonment of the objective model increase beyond the norm (remains to be seen by how much) because of the sense of desperation.
People are noticing the slant. One piece of evidence comes from my site statistics. The search terms "Politifact" and "biased" and the like are drawing an increasing trickle of visitors to this blog. I started critiquing some of PolitiFact's more ridiculous entries months ago when I failed to notice anybody else challenging their work.
As for the attacks on Palin, I have yet to see anything significant beyond what was obvious from the start: Palin is inexperienced. But since she's about as experienced as Obama, the rest of this media circus makes no sense minus the common media aim to set a presidential crown on Obama.
Oh, the fourth factor? Fox News. Fox unashamedly adapted the European model of journalism (that is, no pretense of objectivity) in favor of an ideological brand of news tailored to carve out an audience. The result? Great ratings, and an overwhelmingly jealous mainstream media where journalists probably feel a bit like they have to introduce just a little bit of bias simply as an antidote for Fox.
How they must cringe when they notice survey data that indicate that most people expect them to offer news coverage slanted toward Obama.
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Oct 7, 2008: Corrected spelling of Bernadine Dohrn's last name
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