Patterico's Pontifications

9/30/2004

Preview of tomorrow’s

Filed under: 2004 Election — Charlie (Colorado) @ 11:33 am



headlines of tonight’s debate…

“Defensive Bush Fails to Make Case for Second Term, so Says Many Voters”.
“Bad News From Iraq Seen as Undercutting Bush Credibility”
“Kerry Now Seen as Decisive in Eyes of Many”.
“Foreign Leaders Critical of Bush Policies, Say Another Term Endangers World Peace”
“Bush: Many Questions Still Remain Over Guard Service”
“Bush Attacks Fail to Damage Kerry”
“Spin Artists Furiously Try to Minimize Impact of Bush Gaffes”
“Kerry Articulates Clear Vision Towards Iraq Conflict”
“Pollsters Predict Race to Narrow in Coming Days” and, finally,
“Having Lost Momentum, Bush Scrambles to Get Campaign Back on Track”.

All of the above could appear tomorrow morning, all of the above could ‘technically’ be accurate. ‘Many’ voters do question Bush, ‘many’ voters view Kerry as being decisive and having a clear vision, there are some open questions about Bush’s National Guard Service, Bush is very likely to say something that could use some clarifying, I’m sure that at least the DNC’s pollsters will be claiming the race will tighten, and no matter what happens tonight, some liberal talking head will claim Bush is in trouble.

Which brings me (finally) to the point of this post: the reporters and editors of the MSM have enormous discretion in how they decide to portray events such as tonight’s debate. Which aspect to cover, who to quote in support of their theme and so on. My thesis is that what they will write tonight will not only influenced by their liberal view of the world (Kerry good, Bush bad) but also by what they want to see happening tonight.

Just as a sports fan will invariably look to find something positive to say about their team – even in the middle of a 10 game losing streak, the MSM will be watching tonight looking for something positive to say about their candidate (Kerry, for anyone not paying attention) tomorrow morning.

Given how critical this upcoming debate is to Kerry’s chances of winning the election (I won’t bothering linking all of the stories that describe this as Kerry’s latest last chance), combined with the fact that upwards of 85% of the MSM watching tonight will be rooting desperately for Kerry to do well and for Bush to screw up, what is the likelihood that any of these editors and reporters will be the ones to put the final nail in the Kerry coffin?

That’s right, none.

4 Responses to “Preview of tomorrow’s”

  1. 3:41 PM EST NEWS FLASH: Fox News, CNBC, CNN & MSNBC have preemptively announced that President Bush has won the debate tonight and is leading in the next two. They cited his better understanding of the issues as the main factor in his win.

    Matt (288b65)

  2. This is stupid.
    Can conservatives CRY any more over the media? Where is it written that a news organization has to be impartial? “the reporters and editors of the MSM have enormous discretion in how they decide to portray events such as tonight’s debate”…So what’s the alternative? Would you like to control all thought and ration it out as you see fit? It wasn’t that long ago that newspapers and news organizations wore their politics on their sleeves. (Cities used to have Republican and Democratic papers) It’s only been since the corporateization of our media outlets that somewhere someone thought there is supposed to some incredibly impartial way of looking at life. This is absolute nonsense. In this area, as a libertarian, I oppose the conservative crybaby attitude of MSM this and MSM that. Is Fox not the highest rated cable news network? Is AM radio not dominated by conservative thought? What about the internet? No these outlets aren’t good enough you must cry and cry and cry about someone who has a different view of life that you. We live in a free society, particularily where the media is concerned, and that means people (humans) are allowed to act freely as an individual or as a group i.e. media outlet. On a whole our media is going through major changes most of which are good and in time will even out. Thats what happens in a capitalistic society….Fox news’ ratings rise….CNN’s fall. And CBS well you know that story!

    And if your thesis is right and Kerry loses then the MSM really doesn’t have much power does it? Please enough of this MSM stuff. The conservative cause has a more important agenda to push and fight for. The crying is very unbecoming, highly unoriginal and decidedly unconservative.

    Tripp (6e03d6)

  3. Here’s what’s unbecoming, Tripp: your repeated references to “crying.” Pointing out the MSM’s bias is not crying.

    Xrlq (ffb240)

  4. Actually, I’m not crying that 85% of the media is liberal. And, I’m more bemused than upset at their belief that people buy the paper to read the front page rather than the sports, comics and the classifieds.

    What I do get upset over is the influence they have with much of America (even in this day of FoxNews and the blogosphere) wouldn’t exist if they were open about acknowledging their biases – and how this tilts the playing field against those with differing viewpoints, whether they be conservative or libertarian.

    steve (42fd80)


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