Sunday, November 2, 2008

"Faux News"?

The Project for Excellence in Journalism has compiled a study of network news coverage of the Presidential candidates, and the results are illuminating.


On Fox News, in contrast, coverage of Obama was more negative than the norm (40% of stories vs. 29% overall) and less positive (25% of stories vs. 36% generally). For McCain, the news channel was somewhat more positive (22% vs. 14% in the press overall) and substantially less negative (40% vs. 57% in the press overall). Yet even here, his negative stories outweighed positive ones by almost 2 to 1.

The wording is interesting, and fits the leftist idea that Fox News is "right wing", in that compared to the other networks it is more negative/less positive of Obama, and more positive/less negative of McCain. But don't compare Fox to the other networks; just look at the numbers:
CandidatePositiveNeutralNegative
McCain22%38%40%
Obama25%35%40%

The way I read this, Fox News treated Obama slightly more positively than McCain. It's only because they didn't bow down and worship at his feet, along with the other networks, that they are "right wing". What is undeniable, however, is that MSNBC is "left wing":
MSNBC stood out for having less negative coverage of Obama than the press generally (14% of stories vs. 29% in the press overall) and for having more negative stories about McCain (73% of its coverage vs. 57% in the press overall).
Both Fox and MSNBC are "out of the mainstream", but that only tells us how skewed the "mainstream" has become.
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]

6 comments:

  1. O'Reilly was trumpeting those figures yesterday, I think. No wonder they clobber the clowns in the ratings. As Huey Lewis once said, "It's hip to be square."

    OT, just saw the McCain/Fey opening to SNL. Like Ovaltine, "it's GOLD!."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Affleck as Olbermann was no less funny as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm a conservative

    - let me follow cherry picked "evidence."
    - let me think in terms of only "absolutes."
    - let me BELIEVE in my reality that I can completely construct in a pew on a Sunday morning.
    - Let me roar against the "evils" of egalitarianism and the "mostrosity of enlightened humanism."

    Yes I am a conservative, and if you don't like it i'll use force, propaganda, threats, fear, and intimidation to silence your voices...all 6 billion of you out there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. E cubed is a VERY fitting metaphor for the conservative movement... LOL

    "were going down!" Eject eject eject!

    ReplyDelete
  5. OHHHHHH!
    Another Anymouse has crawled out of the hole!

    Anymouse @ 4:18
    - let me follow cherry picked "evidence."
    Do you really believe (really, really, in your heart of hearts) that the press coverage has been balanced this election cycle?
    When the New York Times runs a front page story about Cindy McCain's recovery from prescription drug addiction but can't be bothered about Barrack sending a hefty earmark to Michelle's employer?
    When Sarah Palin is crucified for not knowing the Charlie Gibson definition of the "Bush Doctrine" and Joe Biden gets a pass for saying that the French and US kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon? WTF?
    There's no need to pick cherries. It's frakkin' Cherry Jubilee time for the MSM.

    let me think in terms of only "absolutes."
    As hard as it may be for you to accept; life comes only in terms of absolutes. Reality isn't nuanced.

    let me BELIEVE in my reality that I can completely construct in a pew on a Sunday morning.
    Ummmm... yeah. Man, Straw. Rinse, Repeat.

    Let me roar against the "evils" of egalitarianism and the "monstrosity[sic] of enlightened humanism."

    Equality of opportunity I will defend to my death. Equality of outcome means all our deaths. Since I've never met an enlightened humanist, I'll have to take your word on that one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey-nonnie-mousie:

    You appear to lack both in basic search skills and a sense of irony. I'll spare the veterans here the trouble of explaining this to you:

    The name is in reference to those of us who are recovering liberals, bailing out of the failed worldview and policies heading for disaster and fiery death. There's still time, Mouse. Take it from a former fellow traveler: bail out while you still can. A parachute is boring, but it beats a fireball (i.e. jackbooted thugs) every day of the week. Oyster out.

    ReplyDelete

We reserve the right to delete comments, but the failure to delete any particular comment should not be interpreted as an endorsement thereof.

In general, we expect comments to be relevant to the story, or to a prior comment that is relevant; and we expect some minimal level of civility. Defining that line is inherently subjective, so try to stay clear of insulting remarks. If you respond to a comment that is later deleted, we may take your response with it. Deleting your comment isn't a personal knock on you, so don't take it as such.

We allow a variety of ways for commenters to identify themselves; those who choose not to do so should take extra care. Absent any prior context in which they may be understood, ironic comments may be misinterpreted. Once you've earned a reputation for contributing to a conversation, we are likely to be more tolerant in those gray areas, as we'll understand where you're coming from.