{"id":6022,"date":"2008-11-09T12:22:10","date_gmt":"2008-11-09T12:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2008\/11\/wp-admits-it-was-in-the-tank-f.html"},"modified":"2008-11-09T12:22:10","modified_gmt":"2008-11-09T12:22:10","slug":"wp-admits-it-was-in-the-tank-f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2008\/11\/wp-admits-it-was-in-the-tank-f.html","title":{"rendered":"WP admits it was in the tank for Obama"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, not in so many words but that’s the implication \ud83d\ude42 of the Ombudson admitting that they had way too much positive coverage of Obama and didn’t ask him the tough questions<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts.
\nMy assistant, Jean Hwang, and I have been examining Post coverage since Nov. 11 last year on issues, voters, fundraising, the candidates’ backgrounds and horse-race stories on tactics, strategy and consultants. We also have looked at photos and Page 1 stories since Obama captured the nomination June 4. Numbers don’t tell you everything, but they give you a sense of The Post’s priorities.
\nThe count was lopsided, with 1,295 horse-race stories and 594 issues stories. The Post was deficient in stories that reported more than the two candidates trading jabs; readers needed articles, going back to the primaries, comparing their positions with outside experts’ views. There were no broad stories on energy or science policy, and there were few on religion issues.
\n[…]
\nBut Obama deserved tougher scrutiny than he got, especially of his undergraduate years, his start in Chicago and his relationship with Antoin “Tony” Rezko, who was convicted this year of influence-peddling in Chicago. The Post did nothing on Obama’s acknowledged drug use as a teenager. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What’s bad for the MSM is that we all know that they wanted Obama to win and did everything they could to make it happen. They got the candidate they wanted and when he blows it (yeah, I’m that sure — not if, when) they’ll take the heat for their decision to throw journalistic ethics aside to support their candidate. It’s one thing for the voters to ignore the issues and Obama’s background but it’s another for the MSM to do it. The public can form an emotional attachment to a candidate, ignoring all the negatives and only focusing on the positive but it’s another for the MSM to do it too. They have an obligation to the public to do their job and this election cycle they refused.
\nI think this sums up this election:
\n\"obama-and-the-media1.jpg\"<\/span>
\n(via<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, not in so many words but that’s the implication \ud83d\ude42 of the Ombudson admitting that they had way too much positive coverage of Obama and didn’t ask him the tough questions: The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[399],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-2"],"yoast_head":"\nWP admits it was in the tank for Obama - Reformed Chicks Blabbing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2008\/11\/wp-admits-it-was-in-the-tank-f.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WP admits it was in the tank for Obama - 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