With One Hand on McCain's Junk, Media Wonders Why It's Being Nice to Obama

Posted by William K. Wolfrum, Shakesville at 6:25 AM on March 5, 2008.

It is amazing how high of an opinion the media has of itself. I mean, I was a journalist in college and have worked at several newspapers and magazines. I know what being a journalist is all about, Being a journalist means you were too lazy or stupid to attempt to get a degree in something more difficult. As I was told early in my college career, "Make journalism your major. Journalism degrees grow on trees and you won't need to study any math more difficult than fractions."

Usually, however, when big-maned journalists are caught being insipidly one-sided, they tend to react with shock and horror. Just read a few exchanges between Glenn Greenwald and any big-name media stars when they deign to respond to him. Mostly, their responses can be simply be summarized as "How Dare You Question Me?!?!"

Now, however, the media has found a new meme to follow, all due to the show "Saturday Night Live." A skit on SNL portrayed the media as being brutal on Hillary Clinton, while being mesmerized by Barack Obama and kowtowing to him. This, and a study by Project for Excellence in Journalism appears to have shown the media that they are being far too easy on Obama:

A harder look at Obama, post-`SNL'?

NEW YORK - Life imitating art or just a coincidence? A study of campaign coverage found the media took a sharper look at Barack Obama the week after "Saturday Night Live" spoofed journalists enthralled by his candidacy.

The NBC comedy show on Feb. 23 opened with a mock debate where journalists were rough on Hillary Clinton while being starry-eyed about Obama. It matched complaints the Clinton campaign had made -- and she even referenced the comedy skit during a real debate last week.

During the week, Obama was the dominant person in 69 percent of presidential campaign stories, according to a study by Project for Excellence in Journalism. That's the biggest percentage one candidate had received in any week this year.

Many of the stories took a tough look at Obama, such as a Feb. 25 ABC "World News" study on his Illinois legislative record and a "CBS Evening News" report on his career three nights later.

It's hard to say whether "SNL" acted as a de-facto assignment editor, since some of the stories were probably being prepared before the NBC show aired, but it did seem to crystallize a thought that had been percolating, said Mark Jurkowitz, the project's associate director.

"There were a lot of factors at play," Jurkowitz said. "But there's no question the skit, if nothing else, was perfectly timed."

Is it possible that the media is now looking at itself in a mirror and seeing that the way they portray candidates matter? Well, if it is, the mirror only goes up about chest high, because for the life of them, those in the mainstream media are truly unable to see the unending handjob they give GOP Presidential nominee John McCain.

As Chris Matthews said: "Every time I look at a poll--and I expect McCain to win every one of these polls. The press loves McCain. We're his base, I think."

The Media is not just McCain's base, they're competing with lobbyists to run his campaign.

Remember the name Vicki Iseman? Well, the press sure doesn't. And that story of McCain suckling at lobbyists' (and possibly Iseman's) teat just came out last week.

So forget about hearing about McCain's involvement in the Keating 5. Or how he dumped his first wife. Or his notorious temper. Or his buddying up with anti-Catholic John Hagee. Or McCain's penchant for racist statements. Or his flip-flopping of opinions on a plethora of issues.

Mark my words, in the inevitable final battle between McCain and Obama, you'll hear a hell of a lot more about the debunked stories of Obama being schooled in a madrassa than you'll hear about any of McCain's un-falsifiable flaws and fouls. Because the media may be willing to take Obama to the dance, but it's McCain who they've married. Ezra Klein gave some thought into why the media loves McCain and came up with this:

There are a lot of dimensions to the press's adoration of McCain, but this is a significant one: The qualities we most admire in others are those we don't have, or fear we don't have, in ourselves. The press isn't impressed by smart, cerebral candidates because the press is full of smart, cerebral, people, who sort of believe they are smarter and more cerebral than the politicians they cover. There's almost a resentment there, and it comes out in the reporting which often tries to show that the reporter is smarter because they can take down the candidate. They can win the debate, poke flaws in the argument, identify inconsistencies.

What very few (male) reporters feel comfortable with is their personal physical courage. Their ability to fare well in a bar fight, or make a credible threat to someone stalking their wife, or endure five years of torture in a Vietnamese prison camp. McCain has something that they don't understand, and that they want. And it's one reason they like him. Because not only does he possess those qualities, but he also appears to like them. And that validation from a tough guy is reassuring. Add in that they've not had any reason to go after him -- it's always easier to like a scrappy insurgent -- and you've got a recipe for a pretty adulatory relationship. The question is what happens now, when he's the nominee, and they have to go after him, and he stops liking them, and some of that angry toughness is turned against their friends.

I don't entirely agree with Klein, but his points are pretty valid. Mainly I see the big-time media players as vain and out-of-touch, much like the politicians they cover. I once wrote a blog entry talking about how sportswriting is one of the easiest professions in the world. You're basically a fan with a pen. It was about a year ago that I wrote that, and now I see the same is true for political writers. They are fans with pens and microphones.

My fist day of my first journalism class I was told to avoid the sin of agenda journalism. Today, the American media is based solely on Agenda Journalism. Some one tells them something, they write it. They have no follow ups, no knowledge of the subjects involved, and barely any interest it often seems. They just write what they are told. Today, a court stenographer would likely be a Pulitzer-Prize caliber journalist.

So while the media is giving a good, five-second look at itself on how it has covered Obama, they'll never do the same in regards to McCain. John McCain has thoroughly seduced the media, and the media will dutifully report his agenda. And no "Saturday Night Live" skit will change that.

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William K. Wolfrum is a regular blogger for Shakesville