Lee Cowan, the NBC reporter assigned to Obama's campaign, was asked a question that had been on the minds of many journalists, candidates, and the public: Are journalists favoring Obama over Clinton in their election coverage?
"I don't think that it's kind treatment versus unkind treatment...[Obama] hasn't been around as long, so there isn't as much to pick at. He plays everything very cool. He's not as much of a lightning rod. His personality just doesn't seem to draw that kind of coverage," responded Cowan in attempt to explain why Obama has an advantage over Clinton (while at the same time casually praising Obama).
Hilary Clinton has certainly indicated that the press has been going easier on Obama. Clinton reprimanded Tim Russert and Brian Williams during the Cleveland debate on MSNBC for asking her a disproportionate amount of "first" questions. Apparently, many Democrats agree with Clinton. In a New York Times/CBS News phone poll, almost half of respondents who described themselves as voters in the Democratic primaries/caucuses believed that the media had been "harder" on Clinton than the other primary candidates, while only 10% thought that the media had been "harder" on Obama.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism, a research institute that studies weekly campaign coverage from 48 news sources, said that Obama had attained more prominent mentions in coverage that Clinton ever since mid-February.
Mike Glover, and Associated Press reporter covering the Clinton campaign, acknowledged that Clinton's loses have had an affect on media coverage. "We're covering a candidate who's lost 11 straight primaries. They're covering a candidate who has won 11 straight primaries."
Newsweek columnist Johnathan Alter, who has traveled with the Obama campaign, called Clinton's attempt to weigh stories as either favorable or unfavorable to her as "silly", saying "People got it into their head that if you say something good about a candidate, you have to say something bad about him, and if you don't that's not fair. What Clinton partisans wanted was for us to create a phony balance that was at odds with what our eyes were telling us. That's not the job of a journalist."
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Have you noticed any bias in the press favoring Obama? Favoring Clinton?
Can journalists be completely objective, or is it impossible to avoid some bias? (Keep in mind the movie we watched at the start of the year: Alexandra Pelosi's "Journeys with George").
How much harm is media bias capable of causing a candidate?
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I definitely think the media is a little more biased towards Obama, but it is true that he has won the past 11 primaries, so it makes sense that they would cover him more.
It also is pretty hard not to be a bit biased; especially in this case w/ Obama's likablity.
The media has harmed Clinton's campaign, in that they have highlighted how unlikable she is(i.e. printing the worst possible photos of her). Overall though, it's up to the candidate to get their message out and make themself seem likable; if they aren't it will show no matter what.
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