The Project for Excellence in Journalism finds some support for the hypothesis that the press is out to get John McCain. Its study finds, during the six weeks since the Republican Convention, Sen. John McCain has gotten four times as many negative stories about him in the mainstream press than Sen. Barack Obama. McCain has also had half as many positive stories.Politico comes up with some reasons for this which don’t include a liberally-biased media. One is that McCain and his surrogates harshly criticized the media before, during and after the Republican Convention. The campaign also shut off access to the formerly always available McCain. Many journalists, including myself, thought this strategy could backfire on McCain, and it looks as if it has. Secondly, McCain has been trailing for much of the last six weeks, especially after the Wall Street crisis. It’s tough to put losing in a positive light.Thirdly, Obama’s camp has quelled controversy and bickering, and the McCain camp has not. Obama’s campaign has also made sure to keep a tight hold on message control. If unnamed campaign advisers aren’t feeding the media tasty tidbits (as is the case in the McCain campaign) the only thing the press can report on is exactly what Obama tells them.So if McCain and his handlers want to dole out blame, they should first look in the mirror.
Is Mccain Getting The Screw Job From The Press?
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