It was obvious when it first dropped that John McCain's "the press loves Obama" hail mary was an act of desperation designed to distract from the Illinois Senator's incredibly successful overseas tour. That aside, a study by The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University has found that for the first six weeks of the general election campaign, the press has actually been tougher on Obama. Surprise, surprise.
The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where researchers have tracked network news content for two decades, found that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Obama than on Republican John McCain during the first six weeks of the general-election campaign.
You read it right: tougher on the Democrat.
During the evening news, the majority of statements from reporters and anchors on all three networks are neutral, the center found. And when network news people ventured opinions in recent weeks, 28% of the statements were positive for Obama and 72% negative.
Network reporting also tilted against McCain, but far less dramatically, with 43% of the statements positive and 57% negative, according to the Washington-based media center.
Again, it was obvious that this latest talking point was complete B.S. from the start. It's just nice to have an independent group confirm it. I wonder what the next laughable act of desperation to come out the McCain camp will look like... Whatever it is, you can be sure that the right-wing dittoheads will run with it.
