In a study by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, among John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, the press has been toughest on the Governor of Alaska.
Less than four out of 10 respondents (38%) say Gov. Palin has received the most severe treatment by the press, compared to 21% who say the coverage has been too easy and 38% who say it has been fair.
Not surprisingly, a majority of Republicans (63%) think Governor Palin has been treated unfairly by the media, while only 18% of Democrats interviewed see it that way.
Most Americans (60%) say coverage of Obama has been fair—the exact same percentage McCain received.
Press Tough on Palin, Study Says
Oct 9, 2008 • Post A Comment
The press is harder on Palin because she has moral values – the National “press” do not share these same values – and MSNBC has been over the top on ridiculing McCain & Palin- I myself am boycotting NBC & MSNBC through NOV 4th – they have really crossed the line to the point where MSNBC primetime hosts are actually telling people not to vote for McCain & Palin…
MSNBC is unprofessional, over the top and obnoxious!
Sarah Palin — if she has received any “harsher” treatment — has asked for it by giving answers that wander into nowhere and back.
And then thinking, she is qualified to run this country — and, yes, with the guy at the top of her ticket that is only to possible in the next 4 years if McCain-Palin wins.
If anything, TV anchors, such as Katie Couric, have been too kind.
For a viewer, who has watched Palin stumble, it can seem surreal — with Couric trying to be nice when asked how Palin did and the viewer still sitting with her mouth open in disbelief as Palin yet again utters “maverick” to wrap up an answer.
And now, as if being clueless wasn’t bad enough, she has become an attack dog that makes a pitbull look soft.
How can a viable U.S. candidate for public office overhear some of the things being said — and posters being waved — and not say: Enough. Enough already. That crosses a line.
I don’t blame McCain and Palin for disagreeing with the way they want to run this country but the example being set for our children and for the less educated is pathetic.
We need leaders who demand the best in us — not tolerate the worst.
I myself, though a Democrat, share many of the same moral vlaues prrofessed by Palin, Pres. Bush, etc. However, the GOP needs to get more competent leaders with those values otherwise they are setting themselves up for ridicule.
McCain is at least competent, but his ads have gone too far in their attacks. Some of Obama’s charges aginst McCain may be inaccurate, but the ones by McCain’s campaign are downright nasty and bordering on the libelous, such as calling him a terrorist saying he’s against our troops in Afghanistan.
It has nothing to with morals or values. Anytime someone comes out of “nowhere” and is a candidate for the vice presidency, there is bound to be intense scrutiny. And clearly it is the job of the press to search out and report information on the person. In the case of Palin, she has gained a combination of respect and ridicule – both deserved – and as an unknown, the public just wants to know. Would it not be strange if the presidential candidate introduced his or her selection for VP and there were no public discussion of the person’s qualification? The system is simply working as it should.
Palin is a complete unknown chosen for totally political reasons by the McCain camp with absolutely no vetting. So it’s right of the press to secure information about her. After all, we’re being asked to accept, conider and vote for someone with the potential to be the next president should something happen to McCain. Thus, it is the media’s job to vet her, particularly since she’s hand selected her interviewers (and even so, did a pretty awful job with her answers to Couric and Gibson), chooses to only go on friendly Fox News and refuses to hold a press conference. Plus, she’s shown herself to be a fear and hate-monger who baits her audiences to froth at their mouths. So, yes, she should get intense scrutiny.
Your lede sentence is misleading.
Pew did not itself analyze who the press has been harder on, they took a random survey to see what media consumers thought about how the press is treating the candidates.
Certainly a study would not take into account campaign talking points (including those by the candidate herself) that she is being treated harshly by the media — a perspective that surely affected the opinions of the consumers who were surveyed.
I AM TIRED OF SELF-RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE SAYING THE PRESS HAS NO MORALS.
IF YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SOMETHING A CERTAIN WAY AT YOUR JOB, WHAT DO YOU DO? IF YOU WANT TO KEEP IT (THEY’RE HARD TO FIND THESE DAYS) YOU DO THE STORY THE WAY THEY TELL YOU.
STOP BLAMING THE REPORTERS AND GO LOOKING FOR A SCAPEGOAT FROM EVERYTHING THAT’S WRONG IN THIS COUNTRY.
TOO MANY REPORTERS ARE OUT THERE TRYING TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT AND MANY ARE NOW UNEMPLOYED BY MASSIVE LAYOFFS.
THEY PRESS PICKS ON SARAH PALIN BECAUSE SHE’S A GOOFBALL WHO TALKS LIKE A COUNTRY HICK.
THAT’S WHY!!! IT’S NOT THAT THEY AREN’T CHRISTIANS OR THEY ARE IMMORAL.
EVERY TIME SOMETHING DOESN’T GO A BIBLE-THUMPERS WAY, IT MUST BE IMMORALITY. LOOK IN THE MIRROR!
WANT TO KNOW WHY EVERYTHING IS SO SCREWED UP? IT’S STUPID PEOPLE WHO DON’T SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE AND BLAME “THE MEDIA” FOR EVERYTHING.
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