In the presidential campaigns this year, there has been a lot of talk on whether or not the major media outlets are biased in their reporting of news surrounding the election. The mainstream media is supposed to be an objective source of news for their readers and viewers. There is, in fact, a liberal bias in the major media, and it is beginning to cause them to lose their credibility as a reliable way to get news.
A very recent example of the bias that the media has shown is one that involves a remark Joe Biden made about Obama two weekends ago. Biden said that within the first six months of Barack Obama being elected, there will be a huge international crisis, and the country may be very disappointed with the results of how a President Obama handles the crisis. He also said that Obama was not going to know what to do about it either, but that people should still stick with him anyway. Because the media has not heldBiden accountable for his remarks, we can just assume that Biden knows enough about Obama’s foreign policy, which doesn’t sound to good if he will let us down in an international crisis.
In contrast, Sarah Palin was more heavily scrutinized by the media following an interview she had with Charlie Gibson. In the interview, Palin was asked a question about the Bush doctrine, in regards to foreign policy, to which she asked clarification of the question. She was then criticized for having a lack of awareness about current foreign policy. The media claimed that she had no foreign policy experience, and didn’t know what she was talking about, all because she asked for a clarification of the question.
Another example of the media bias is the fact that Sarah Palin was front page news on the New York Times this past week because of the money she spent on her wardrobe during the campaign. She did in fact spend $150,000, but her wardrobe should not be front page news. Michelle Obama wears very expensive designer as well whenever she makes an appearance, but she is not put on the front page for her spendy outfits. Obama’s suits are at least $1500, but for some reason the media has overlooked this fact, and instead thinks that Sarah Palin’s wardrobe is something that cannot got overlooked.
As the presidential elections begin to wrap up, keep in mind that not all news sources are objective anymore. They clearly seem to possess too much opinion outside of the editorial pages, and not enough fact. In order to get around this, check out more than one source, and compare them.
lesser • Nov 18, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Actually the quote is “reality has a well-known liberal bias” from Stephen Colbert at his White House Press dinner thing. Good point though.
Dan • Nov 16, 2008 at 6:01 pm
“Reality has a clear liberal bias.” -Rob Corddry
Connor Gerdes • Nov 8, 2008 at 10:26 pm
You summarize “the media” without offering any outlets of where the bias is coming from..Ever watch Fox news? What a bunch of liberals..
I can’t help but laugh at your take on the Obama on Biden bit. Biden’s actuall words were “Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking.” and later added “Remember I said it standing here. if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. And he’s gonna have to make some really tough — I don’t know what the decision’s gonna be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it’s gonna happen.” You ask for this to be played up, saying Biden doesn’t know enough about Obama’s foreign policy? All he said was that it will be a tough decision over an unspecified crisis.
You want something absurd that didn’t get enough playing up? How about Palin’s husband being active in an Alaskan secessionist group?
Palin is a bimbo.
The problem with Palin’s $150,000 clothing shopping spree was that it was taxpayer money. Let me repeat that: Americans were being taxed for an icon’s clothes. Palin was only chosen because she was a star. She captured the public interest, unlike Biden — newspapers are obviously going to play her actions up.
She didn’t just ask clarification on the Bush Doctrine — she didn’t know. She had to have a complete description of the Doctrine before offering an opinion. Later in the same interview she declared that she knows what’s going on in Russia because “you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.
Let’s not forget that the day after the election we learned that Palin believes Africa is a country. Or that the world is 6000 years old.