U.S. election coverage

No surprises here: study detects
ideological bias in U.S. cable campaign news. Media bias is a core concept
in Sarah Palin’s speeches, but are Republicans victims or victors?  An independent study of the Washington Post noted
Obama gets more
play when it comes to front-page coverage. If you’re wondering why, perhaps
the answer is: Sorry
Mr. McCain, but the media hates a loser. On the other hand, some commentators
see bias marching in the opposite direction. In ‘White Privilege in
the Presidential Race,’ anti-racism activist Tom Wise gives an example of Palin’s
media advantage: “White privilege is
being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of
you.”

For obvious reasons,
charges of bias from all sides are a comfort to fair-minded journalists. But
shutting out reporters doesn’t go over nearly as well. Even Fox News was
miffed by Palin’s “media
black-out.”    

No surprises here: study detects
ideological bias in U.S. cable campaign news. Media bias is a core concept
in Sarah Palin’s speeches, but are Republicans victims or victors?  An independent study of the Washington Post noted
Obama gets more
play when it comes to front-page coverage. If you’re wondering why, perhaps
the answer is: Sorry
Mr. McCain, but the media hates a loser. On the other hand, some commentators
see bias marching in the opposite direction. In ‘White Privilege in
the Presidential Race,’ anti-racism activist Tom Wise gives an example of Palin’s
media advantage: “White privilege is
being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of
you.”

For obvious reasons,
charges of bias from all sides are a comfort to fair-minded journalists. But
shutting out reporters doesn’t go over nearly as well. Even Fox News was
miffed by Palin’s “media
black-out.”    

Patricia Elliott

Patricia W. Elliott is a magazine journalist and assistant professor at the School of Journalism, University of Regina. You can visit her at patriciaelliott.ca.