B.O. and the Media

The media loves B.O.  We all knew that during the campaign, but it seems that they just can't get over him.  Much ado (about nothing) has been made regarding B.O.'s first 100 days in office.  Does anyone remember this kind of to-do about any other president's first few days in office?  Of course, the answer is "no" because it hasn't ever happened before.

The recent White House Correspondents Dinner pointed out the media's many flaws.  As Brent Bozell notes in a recent column, the media has gone out of its way to make sure Obama's line is toed and oppositionist voices are not aired.  Of course, this is the same media that is epitomized by the so-called CNN reporter who was supposed to be covering the April 15th TEA Parties, but ended up just criticizing the guy she interviewed on the air.  I still haven't figured out when editoralizing become reporting.  The media love B.O., and since they do, they don't ask hard questions, and like the speakers and comedians at the dinner, they don't criticize him.  It seems it's more fun to continue making fun of President Bush, even though he's no longer news and the point of the dinner having a comedian is to make fun of the current president (late night comedy writers defended the lack of jabs at B.O. by saying he's just been too competent, which means late night comedy writers don't actually pay attention to the news or the president, who once announced he'd visited fifty-seven states).

The Media Research Center released a report on the media coverage of Obama during his (in)famous first 100 days, and they unsurprisingly found that the traditional media voiced opposition viewpoints less than 15% of the time.  It's weird how when I was growing up and having my mind messed with by the public school system that I was always told reporters presented both sides of various stories.  I guess that was just one of those things that only happens in theory.  Also, as a parting thought, other states where oppositionists get their voices heard only 15% of the time have names like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.