Media Unfair to Hillary Clinton
Referee whistle: against the Mainstream Media, Personal Foul - Roughing the Passer, 15 yards
This criticism is more general than typical judgements of election fairness.
Background:
It really goes back to 1992 when some talk radio hosts especially began attacking Hillary Clinton. They never stopped attacking her. The general message seems to be that “Hillary Clinton is a power-hungry anti-christ”. It is a “big lie” strategy - keep repeating it long enough and loudly enough, and eventually more and more people believe it.
Hillary Clinton has made mistakes and is imperfect, as are all of us. Some people in talk radio and others (including some in the blogosphere) have demonized her. These Hillary-haters mix true stories with half-truths, speculation, and shameful fabrication to perpetuate the big lie. Some radio hosts have largely built their careers on attacking Bill and Hillary Clinton. Many people believe that Hillary Clinton is devisive because talk radio keeps saying so. It’s a self-fulfilling prophesy. This has been grossly unfair to Hillary Clinton.
Mainstream Media coverage of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign:
Basically, the mainstream media have been too effusive in their praise of Barack Obama. They blur the line between reporting and opinion. It is fine for analysts and commentators to state their opinions. The problem is that sometimes panel moderators and TV hosts get caught up in “Obamania”. They should report on the enthusiasm of the Obama campaign, but they cross the line when they become participants.
At times they have been dismissive of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The Clinton campaign has generated much enthusiasm, but this gets much less attention than Obama’s campaign. They even seem to buy into the “Hillary is devisive” conventional wisdom without providing analysis or giving her credit for effectively countering the attacks on her. Some in the mainstream media seem to tacitly accept and perpetuate the notion that “nobody likes Hillary”.
Many people complain that the media is biased (too liberal, too conservative, too corporate, etc.). This is difficult to pin down, but I think it is generally true that the media is biased in favor of anything to help them boost ratings and make sales.
References:
I hope that some day someone writes a book on this topic. Until then, here are few links to support my opinion:
MSNBC - Dan Abrams (and guests) - Is the Press Unfair to Hillary? (video)
Chris Matthews - Obama’s speech gave him a thrill up his leg (video)
A Calumny a Day to Keep Hillary Away
Saturday Night Live’s parody of this topic (video)
The Truth About “The Truth About Hillary”
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Comment by Bing
Posted on February 28, 2008 at 12:41 pm
She’s the first woman to win a state in the presidential primaries. She’s got intelligent depth and breadth of response on just about every issue presented to her and beyond. She’s brilliant and dedicated to public service for the greater good.
She’s made as many mistakes as I’ve made in my life and maybe a few more. She’s been trashed and beaten repeatedly but she has picked herself up every time… plus one. She fell for an imperfect guy… most of us do.
Against anyone else she’d have likely won… amazing considering I had initially counted her out because I thought that people would hate her because of her husbands disrespect.
If Obama has a really rough couple years I expect she’ll be back to save the democratic party… if she’s not on the ticket this time around of course!