NBC's Williams Suggests Obama Likely to Be 'Swift-Boating' Victim --10/31/2007

1. NBC's Williams Suggests Obama Likely to Be 'Swift-Boating' Victim
During Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate on MSNBC, NBC anchor Brian Williams posed a question to Barack Obama which managed to simultaneously impugn Republicans as executors of disreputable campaign practices and portray Obama as a likely victim of it -- all based on Mitt Romney flubbing Obama's name and memories of the Bush campaign's attacks on John McCain in 2000. Explaining that his question would be "about religion and misinformation," Williams, who co-moderated the debate with Tim Russert, raised how Romney "misspoke twice on the same day, confusing your name with that of Osama bin Laden," as if, apparently, that was some sort of effort to suggest Obama is Muslim. Williams proceeded to highlight how "your party is fond of talking about potential swift boating," before he got to his charged political point in the form of a question: "Are you fearful of what happened to John McCain, for example in South Carolina a few years back, confusion on the basis of things like names and religion?"

2. ABC: Iraqis Adapt to 'New Normal' as 'Violence on Downward Trend'
Both NBC and ABC on Tuesday night noted the smallest number of American servicemen killed in Iraq since March of 2006, but while NBC's Brian Williams stressed the total number killed since the war began, ABC's Charles Gibson segued to a story about "booming" markets and significantly improving life in Baghdad. Eight days ago, ABC uniquely highlighted Fallujah's "extraordinary comeback story." Williams cited three soldiers killed, observing "that brings the toll for October to 37 Americans dead, which we should point out is the lowest monthly total in a year and a half. Since the war started almost four and a half years ago, more than 3800 Americans have died in the war in Iraq." Gibson listed 36 as killed and clarified "some of them in non-combat-related incidents." After relating how "that is the lowest number of U.S. deaths since March 2006," Gibson described "violence on a downward trend" in Iraq so now "Iraqis are learning to adapt to what might be called a new normal." Reporter Miguel Marquez conveyed how Baghdad's largest market is "booming. Big sales, says this vendor. Everything, 2,000 dinars. There hasn't been an attack here since February." Marquez highlighted "pockets of security where life is starting to get back to normal," but, he noted, "it's not a normal by most standards" since "most people...are too afraid to leave their homes."

3. CNN and Washington Post Play Up 'Bitter' Soldier's Words on Iraq
Beyond ABC (see #2 above), the mainstream media's long march against the Iraq war continues unabated. On October 27, the Washington Post ran a front-page story with an attention-grabbing headline taken from a quote by an American soldier serving in Iraq: "I don't think this place is worth another soldier's life." Two days later, on October 29, CNN's Jack Cafferty on The Situation Room used the same quote for his "Question of the Hour:" "What does it say about the conflict in Iraq when troops there are saying things like, 'I don't think this place is worth another soldier's life.' Our soldiers are saying that stuff."

4. GMA Grills Huckabee, But Gushed over Clinton's 'Knowledge Base'
ABC's George Stephanopoulos highlighted adversarial quotes and characterizations for an interview with 2008 Republican candidate Mike Huckabee on Tuesday's Good Morning America. The former Clinton operative quoted conservative Phyllis Schlafly as saying "[Huckabee] destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas" and Betsy Hagen of the Eagle Forum who compared the GOP contender to Bill Clinton and labeled him a liberal. In a previous piece, ABC reporter Jake Tapper highlighted an American Spectator article that derided Huckabee as "a guy with a thin skin, a nasty vindictive streak and a long history of imbroglios about questionable ethics." One could argue that Stephanopoulos's critique hit Huckabee from the right and, by quoting Schlafly, questioned whether the former governor is conservative enough to be the GOP nominee. However, just two weeks ago ABC medical expert Dr. Tim Johnson conducted a fawning interview with Hillary Clinton over her health care plan. He lauded the Democrat for knowing "health care better, I think, than any other candidate" and gushed over how impressed he was with the New York Senator's "knowledge base." She certainly didn't face any adversarial quotes about temperament and "questionable ethics."

5. Study: Media Elite's Campaign News More Biased than Talk Radio
According to a new study, those news organizations which hold themselves up as the most neutral and professional -- big newspapers, the broadcast networks and taxpayer-subsidized National Public Radio -- are actually producing campaign stories that are the most tilted in favor of Democrats, while online news and talk radio have actually been the most balanced. The study, released Monday from the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) and Harvard's Shorenstein Center, found newspapers and broadcast TV outlets devoted far more time to covering the Democratic candidates than the Republicans and that the tone of those stories was much more favorable to the Democrats, mirroring the results of a Media Research Center study released in August. PEJ discovered that on NPR "stories about a Democratic candidate were more seven times more positive than negative" and "the tone of coverage in the 30-minute evening newscasts was much more positive toward the Democrats than Republicans" while the morning shows were nearly as tilted as the evening news, with Democrats benefitting from 43.4 percent positive stories vs. 17.6 percent negative stories, compared to 26.8 percent positive vs. 31 percent negative for Republicans.

6. 'Top Ten Things Overheard During Dick Cheney's Hunting Trip'
Letterman's "Top Ten Things Overheard During Dick Cheney's Hunting Trip."

NBC's Williams Suggests Obama Likely
to Be 'Swift-Boating' Victim

During Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate on MSNBC, NBC anchor Brian Williams posed a question to Barack Obama which managed to simultaneously impugn Republicans as executors of disreputable campaign practices and portray Obama as a likely victim of it -- all based on Mitt Romney flubbing Obama's name and memories of the Bush campaign's attacks on John McCain in 2000.

Explaining that his question would be "about religion and misinformation," Williams, who co-moderated the debate with Tim Russert, raised how Romney "misspoke twice on the same day, confusing your name with that of Osama bin Laden," as if, apparently, that was some sort of effort to suggest Obama is Muslim. Williams proceeded to highlight how "your party is fond of talking about potential swift boating," before he got to his charged political point in the form of a question: "Are you fearful of what happened to John McCain, for example in South Carolina a few years back, confusion on the basis of things like names and religion?"

[This item was posted late Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

On October 23, Romney made this gaffe, which he immediately corrected: "I think that is a position which is not consistent with the fact. Actually, just look at what Osam, uh, Barack Obama, said just yesterday, Barack Obama, calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq. 'That is the battlefield. That is the central place. Come join us under one banner.'"

The question, in full, from Williams at about 10:09pm EDT during the October 30 two-hour debate from Drexel University in Philadelphia: "Senator Obama, we're going to transfer into a new area here. A question specifically for you because you're in a rather unique position. It's about religion and misinformation. Governor Romney misspoke twice on the same day, confusing your name with that of Osama bin Laden. Your party is fond of talking about potential swift boating. Are you fearful of what happened to John McCain, for example in South Carolina a few years back, confusion on the basis of things like names and religion?"

ABC: Iraqis Adapt to 'New Normal' as
'Violence on Downward Trend'

Both NBC and ABC on Tuesday night noted the smallest number of American servicemen killed in Iraq since March of 2006, but while NBC's Brian Williams stressed the total number killed since the war began, ABC's Charles Gibson segued to a story about "booming" markets and significantly improving life in Baghdad. Eight days ago, ABC uniquely highlighted Fallujah's "extraordinary comeback story." [See below] Williams cited three soldiers killed, observing "that brings the toll for October to 37 Americans dead, which we should point out is the lowest monthly total in a year and a half. Since the war started almost four and a half years ago, more than 3800 Americans have died in the war in Iraq."

Gibson listed 36 as killed, not 37, and clarified "some of them in non-combat-related incidents." After relating how "that is the lowest number of U.S. deaths since March 2006," Gibson described "violence on a downward trend" in Iraq so now "Iraqis are learning to adapt to what might be called a new normal." Reporter Miguel Marquez conveyed how Baghdad's largest market is "booming. Big sales, says this vendor. Everything, 2,000 dinars. There hasn't been an attack here since February." Marquez highlighted "pockets of security where life is starting to get back to normal," but, he acknowledged, "it's not a normal by most standards" since though "large-scale violence between Sunnis and Shiites has stopped" in one neighborhood, "there are still criminal gangs" so "most people...are too afraid to leave their homes." Still, "with wedding season coming up," a woman florist "is hopeful that business and life will get back to something like normal."

[This item was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

An October 23 CyberAlert posting, "ABC Airs Upbeat Iraq Story on Fallujah's 'Remarkable Turnaround," recounted:

A rare upbeat story on Iraq ran Monday night on ABC's World News. Anchor Charles Gibson touted "an extraordinary comeback story" about Fallujah, the city of one of the war's bloodiest and longest battles, but now where reporter Miguel Marquez discovered bustling markets, Marines welcomed by kids and no car bombs or shootings of Marines in several months. Gibson effused about how "we have an extraordinary comeback story tonight from the place where the Marines suffered their worst losses of the war. Fallujah is undergoing a remarkable turnaround. Tribal leaders, local officials and the U.S. Marines have united behind a common cause. Bringing security to a place that had been one of Iraq's most insecure."

Over matching video, Marquez described how "the markets bustle. Traffic chokes the streets. Marines, once despised here, are now a welcome sight." Viewers saw video of a Marines with kids before Colonel Rich Simcook told Marquez: "This is one of my big measures of effectiveness, where, you know, kids will come up to you, you know, they feel safe to come out and play." Speaking with a Marine Sergeant, Marquez wondered: "When's the last time you were shot at these days?" The Marine replied: "I'd say, end of March." Marquez saw a corollary sign things are going well: "The last car bomb in Fallujah was in May." Though Marquez added some caveats about high unemployment and the lack of weapons for the Iraqi police, he concluded on the bright side: "There are encouraging signs. Schools just opened, and enrollment is at its highest since before the war. Construction, from huge infrastructure projects to fixing sidewalks, is everywhere. Fallujah even sports solar street lights..."

For the entire CyberAlert rundown: www.mrc.org

The brief item from Brian Williams, in Philadelphia, on the October 30 NBC Nightly News:
"One issue certain to come up tonight [at the Democratic debate on MSNBC], the war in Iraq. Three more Americans were killed there today when an IED went off southeast of Baghdad. That brings the toll for October to 37 Americans dead, which we should point out is the lowest monthly total in a year and a half. Since the war started almost four and a half years ago, more than 3800 Americans have died in the war in Iraq."

The story on the October 30 World News on ABC:

CHARLES GIBSON: In Iraq today, another indication of how things are changing. This month, 36 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. Some of them in non-combat-related incidents. That is the lowest number of U.S. deaths since March 2006. With violence on a downward trend, Iraqis are learning to adapt, to what might be called a new normal. Here's ABC's Miguel Marquez in Baghdad.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ: Shorja market, Baghdad's largest, is booming. Big sales, says this vendor. Everything, 2,000 dinars. There hasn't been an attack here since February. Today, the market is secured with concrete barriers. Everyone entering gets frisked. All goods must be carted in by hand. "The security keeps out the bombs," says this businessman. "But we have a very hard time carrying in our merchandise." And shoppers take a risk getting out. Since February, at least 48 people have died in bomb, gun and mortar attacks in the area surrounding Shorja market. It's a similar story across Baghdad. Pockets of security, where life is starting to get back to normal. But it's not a normal by most standards. Captain Mark Battjes has been trying to get the Jamiah [?] neighborhood back on its feet for the past five months.
CAPTAIN MARK BATTJES, 3rd INFANTRY DIVISION, U.S. ARMY: We're at the process of going from being a ghost town to coming back to something like normal.
MARQUEZ: On this day, Captain Batttjes is helping businesses apply for grants, up to $25,000 each.
BATTJES: Things are starting to explode. That money is starting to grease the wheels in the economy.
MARQUEZ: Yustafa Roqman [sp phonetic] is one of 700 business people in Jamiah seeking a grant. Security is good enough, he says, that his computer store will open next week.
ROQMAN: I am beginning to building my future.
MARQUEZ: On one deserted lot, Achman Ahmad's [sp phonetic] flower shop is the first business to reopen in a year and a half. "Now that other people in the neighborhood have started to reopen," she says, "we reopened." But so far, not one customer. Large-scale violence between Sunnis and Shiites has stopped here. But there are still criminal gangs. Most people in Jamiah are too afraid to leave their homes. Still, with wedding season coming up, Achman is hopeful that business and life will get back to something like normal. Miguel Marquez, ABC News, Baghdad.

CNN and Washington Post Play Up 'Bitter'
Soldier's Words on Iraq

Beyond ABC (see #2 above), the mainstream media's long march against the Iraq war continues unabated. On October 27, the Washington Post ran a front-page story with an attention-grabbing headline taken from a quote by an American soldier serving in Iraq: "I don't think this place is worth another soldier's life." Two days later, on October 29, CNN's Jack Cafferty on The Situation Room used the same quote for his "Question of the Hour:" "What does it say about the conflict in Iraq when troops there are saying things like, 'I don't think this place is worth another soldier's life.' Our soldiers are saying that stuff."

For the Saturday, October 27 Washington Post story, go to: www.washingtonpost.com

The Post story, by Joshua Partlow, detailed the experience of American soldiers in a neighborhood of Baghdad called Sadiyah, which is known for its slide into sectarian violence over the past 14 months. The piece seemed to be tailored to put a negative spin on the recent drop in violence across Iraq. For example: "While top U.S. commanders say the statistics of violence have registered a steep drop in Baghdad and elsewhere, the soldiers' experience in Sadiyah shows that numbers alone do not describe the sense of aborted normalcy -- the fear, the disrupted lives -- that still hangs over the city."

[This item, by Matthew Balan, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

At the end of the article, the sentiment was reinforced by another quote from a soldier patrolling Sadiyah:
"Those who patrol the neighborhood every day say the fight has left them tired, bitter, wounded and confused....The American people don't fully realize what's going on, said Staff Sgt. Richard McClary, 27, a section leader from Buffalo. 'They just know back there what the higher-ups here tell them. But the higher-ups don't go anywhere, and actually they only go to the safe places, places with a little bit of gunfire,' he said. 'They don't ever [expletive] see what we see on the ground.'"

The context of the "money quote" that was used in the Post's headline doesn't make it clear whether the soldier -- Sgt. Victor Alarcon -- was referring to the neighborhood of Sadiyah or to the entire country of Iraq:
"Next month, the U.S. soldiers will complete their tour in Iraq. Their experience in Sadiyah has left many of them deeply discouraged, by both the unabated hatred between rival sectarian fighters and the questionable will of the Iraqi government to work toward peaceful solutions.
"Asked if the American endeavor here was worth their sacrifice -- 20 soldiers from the battalion have been killed in Baghdad -- Alarcon said no: 'I don't think this place is worth another soldier's life.'"

Yet, Cafferty, in his Monday "Cafferty File" segment, which came nine minutes into the 5pm Eastern hour, made it clear that he thought the soldier meant the entire country:
"To say that our troops have performed heroically is an understatement. But we'd better begin listening to what some of them are starting to say. The 'Washington Post' had a terrific piece over the weekend about a battalion of soldiers serving in a southwestern part of Baghdad. They had been deployed for 14 months in a district torn apart by increasing levels of sectarian violence, and some of them are downright tired, weary, bitter, and skeptical. When one of them was asked if the U.S. effort in Iraq was worth their sacrifice, he said this: 'I don't think this place is worth another soldier's life.' That's a quote. Twenty soldiers from that kid's battalion have been killed in Baghdad.
"So here's the question: what does it say about the conflict in Iraq when troops there are saying things like, 'I don't think this place is worth another soldier's life.' Our soldiers are saying that stuff. E-mail caffertyfile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/caffertyfile."

The "tired, weary, bitter, and skeptical" line is a parphrase of the subtitle of Partlow's article: "After 14 months in a Baghdad district torn by mounting sectarian violence, members of one U.S. unit are tired, bitter and skeptical."

GMA Grills Huckabee, But Gushed over
Clinton's 'Knowledge Base'

ABC's George Stephanopoulos highlighted adversarial quotes and characterizations for an interview with 2008 Republican candidate Mike Huckabee on Tuesday's Good Morning America. The former Clinton operative quoted conservative Phyllis Schlafly as saying "[Huckabee] destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas" and Betsy Hagen of the Eagle Forum who compared the GOP contender to Bill Clinton and labeled him a liberal. In a previous piece, ABC reporter Jake Tapper highlighted an American Spectator article that derided Huckabee as "a guy with a thin skin, a nasty vindictive streak and a long history of imbroglios about questionable ethics."

One could argue that Stephanopoulos's critique hit Huckabee from the right and, by quoting Schlafly, questioned whether the former governor is conservative enough to be the GOP nominee. However, just two weeks ago ABC medical expert Dr. Tim Johnson conducted a fawning interview with Hillary Clinton over her health care plan. He lauded the Democrat for knowing "health care better, I think, than any other candidate" and gushed over how impressed he was with the New York Senator's "knowledge base." She certainly didn't face any adversarial quotes about temperament and "questionable ethics." For more, check the October 23 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org

[This item, by Scott Whitlock, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

To be fair, Stephanopoulos did offer some neutral questions and even this softball: "I know you had a big concert on Saturday night...Who's the one rock star you would just love to jam with before the end of this campaign?" And, certainly, hitting a GOP candidate on the issue of being conservative enough is valuable for Republican primary voters. But if Mike Huckabee is going to have to respond to such stinging critiques, it would be nice if Hillary Clinton faced reporters who do more than coo about her "knowledge base."

A transcript of the Stephanopoulos segment, which aired at 7:16am on October 30:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And that is where I began with Governor Huckabee, earlier this morning. Good morning, Huckabee. Boy, the better you do, the bigger the target you've become. Some of your old adversaries in Arkansas are stepping out now. Betsy Hagan of the Eagle Forum saying about you, 'He was pro-life and pro-gun, but otherwise a liberal. Just like Bill Clinton, he will charm you, but don't be surprised if he takes a completely different turn in office.' Phyllis Schlafly, 'He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas and left the Republican Party a shambles.' What do you say to that?
MIKE HUCKABEE: There are probably over a hundred Republican elected officials and appointed officials who are ready to counter that argument. So, sure, you can always find somebody that I made mad. You know, George, when you're governor 10 and a half years, as I used to say, you got to wake up every day and make ten new friends because you're going to lose seven by something you said or did.
STEPHANOPOULOS: How about more generally? It seems like the conservative Christian movement this year is having a hard time finding a candidate. And I was struck by the fact that right now, at least, Mayor Giuliani is the most popular candidate among white evangelicals and he's got a plurality of the Christian conservative vote. How do you explain that given his pro-choice, pro-gay rights positions? He's had three marriages. How do you explain that and what do you do about it?
HUCKABEE: Well, I don't know that I can explain it, except that there's a lot of anxiety about the prospect of Hillary becoming president. But what they sometimes forget is that nobody knows her better than me and nobody has successfully run against the Clinton political machine in Arkansas as I did not once, twice, three times, but four times and won.
STEPHANOPOULOS: What's the one-line case against Hillary?
HUCKABEE: Well, I think that people know that if Hillary is president, there's going to be a different focus on more taxes, more government, more intrusion into the lives of people in terms of government having more control than the private sector and that brings some anxiety. There's also the concern she's not going to be that strong on the Islamofascist movement we face as an enemy and I think there's just that sense of anxiety.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You look among white evangelicals. Last year, 80 percent said they would vote for President Bush. This time, only 60 percent say they're open to a Republican. Same thing for white Catholics, white main line Protestants. What is going on inside the Christian movement? You're a former minister.
HUCKABEE: Well, some of it, George is there's a maturing and seasoning within the evangelical world. Many of us, including me, believe that we've also got to address the issues that affect the poor. We can't just be-- We're for sanctity of life and we're for traditional of marriage. We also have to be conservationists and be good stewards of the Earth. We have to deal with issues like poverty and AIDS. And if we don't deal with those issues, we're really not being true to our own Christian calling. I think that's part of what's kind of what's happening in the movement.
STEPHANOPOULOS: How do you take it to the next step? How do you close the deal with Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani?
HUCKABEE: Well, obviously, I'm doing something right. And I think it shows that people are beginning to pay attention to the message. And in the last six days, we've raised more money online than we've raised in the first three months of the entire campaign. So, it's beginning to catch just at the right time as I had hoped and prayed it would.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I know you had a big concert on Saturday night. Who's the one -- Who's the one rock star you would just love to jam with before the end of this campaign?
HUCKABEE: You know, at some point, I want to be on stage with Keith Richards and just, you know, turn it loose. I think it would be pretty incredible to be on stage with somebody who has lasted, you know, longer than the entire rock era. I think that would be pretty slick.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, I don't know if it would help your campaign, but it sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Governor, thanks very much for joining us this morning.
HUCKABEE: My pleasure, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Keith Richards at the inaugural ball? But you know, what he's hoping for, the breakout moment in Iowa like so many other candidates.
HUCKABEE: Keith Richards. Mike Huckabee. What kind of spectrum is that? We'll be back.

Study: Media Elite's Campaign News More
Biased than Talk Radio

According to a new study, those news organizations which hold themselves up as the most neutral and professional -- big newspapers, the broadcast networks and taxpayer-subsidized National Public Radio -- are actually producing campaign stories that are the most tilted in favor of Democrats, while online news and talk radio have actually been the most balanced.

The study, released Monday from the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) and Harvard's Shorenstein Center, found newspapers and broadcast TV outlets devoted far more time to covering the Democratic candidates than the Republicans and that the tone of those stories was much more favorable to the Democrats, mirroring the results of a Media Research Center study released in August. PEJ discovered that on NPR "stories about a Democratic candidate were more seven times more positive than negative" and "the tone of coverage in the 30-minute evening newscasts was much more positive toward the Democrats than Republicans" while the morning shows were nearly as tilted as the evening news, with Democrats benefitting from 43.4 percent positive stories vs. 17.6 percent negative stories, compared to 26.8 percent positive vs. 31 percent negative for Republicans.

For the PEJ study, "THE INVISIBLE PRIMARY -- INVISIBLE NO LONGER," go to: www.journalism.org

For the MRC's study, "Rise and Shine on Democrats: How the ABC, CBS and NBC Morning Shows Are Promoting Democrats On the Road to the White House," go to: www.mrc.org

The PEJ study looked at a wide array of media -- broadcast and cable TV, liberal and conservative talk radio, public radio, newspapers and the Internet -- but in most cases used sampling techniques to keep the number of stories to a manageable amount. For daytime cable TV, for example, the group looked at just a half-hour per day of CNN, MSNBC and Fox; for newspapers, the researchers only read stories that appeared on the front-page.

Nevertheless, the study -- which looked at campaign coverage from January 1 through May 31 -- offers additional evidence that the elite news media are tipping in favor of the Democrats, in both amount of coverage and the tone of coverage. According to the report, here's how the researchers measured the tone of each campaign story:
"While reading or listening to a story, coders tally up all the comments that have either a negative or positive tone to the reporting. Direct and indirect quotes are counted. In order for a story either positive or negative, it must have 1.5 times the amount of positive or negative comments (with an exception for 2 to 3, which is coded as neutral). If the headline or lead has a positive or negative tone, it should be counted twice into the total value. Also counted twice for tone are the first three paragraphs or first four sentences, whichever comes first."

Using that methodology, the researchers found that the news sources that hold themselves up as the most objective -- newspapers, the three broadcast morning shows, the three broadcast network evening newscasts and NPR -- were in fact the most tilted, all in favor of the Democrats. At the same time, cable news, commercial talk radio and online news were overall more balanced (with conservative and liberal talk radio basically cancelling each other out).

[This item, by Rich Noyes, was posted Tuesday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Some key details from the massive report:

# National Public Radio: According to the report, "like the media overall, the first 30 minutes NPR's Morning Edition produced more stories about Democratic candidates than Republicans (41% vs. 24%). What was different was how little negative coverage Democrats received, especially compared with all other media. Stories about a Democratic candidate were more seven times more positive than negative: 41% positive vs. 6% negative." For Republicans, the comparable figures are 30 percent positive vs. 20 percent negative.

# Newspapers: The researchers examined the front pages of 13 daily newspapers, checking the New York Times every day and a dozen other papers every other day. "Democrats got much more positive coverage in the daily papers examined than they did elsewhere. Fully 59% of all stories about Democrats had a clear, positive message vs. 11% that carried a negative tone. That is roughly double the percentage of positive stories that we found in the media generally....For the top tier Democrats, the positive tilt was even more the case than for Democrats in general."

# Evening Newscasts: "The tone of coverage in the 30-minute evening newscasts was much more positive toward the Democrats than Republicans." An accompanying chart shows that nearly four in ten evening news stories about Democrats (39.5%) were rated as positive, while just 17.1 percent were coded as negative. For Republicans, the figures were reversed: 37.2 percent negative, vs. 18.6 percent positive.

According to the raw data tables appended to the report, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric had the biggest tilt in favor of the Democrats and against Republicans, while the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams was the most balanced (but still pro-Democratic). See: www.journalism.org

# Morning Shows: Unlike the MRC's study of TV's morning shows, this study looked at just the first half-hour of each two- or three-hour program. But the report found the same tilted agenda uncovered by MRC: "The [morning] shows produced almost twice as many stories focused on Democratic candidates than on Republicans (51% vs. 27%)."

Exploring the raw data tables appended to the report, the morning shows look nearly as tilted as the evening news, with Democrats benefitting from 43.4 percent positive stories vs. 17.6 percent negative stories, compared to Republicans 26.8 percent positive vs. 31 percent negative.

# Cable, Online and Talk Shows: The PEJ study found cable news overall to be just slightly pro-Democratic, with Democratic coverage 34% positive vs. 25% negative, compared with 29 percent positive and 30 percent negative for the GOP. MSNBC was the most pro-Democratic, Fox the most pro-Republican, with CNN somewhere in between.

The online sample -- a survey of the top stories at CNN.com, Yahoo! News, MSNBC.com, Google News and AOL News -- contained very few campaign stories, just 104 in five months. The tone of these stories was practically the same for both Republicans and Democrats, with twice as many positive stories as negative ones.

For talk radio, the group looked at both conservative and liberal talk radio, with the results basically balancing each other out -- 14 to 18 percent positive for the Democrats and Republicans, respectively, compared to 67 and 70 percent negative. With one exception, the liberal hosts were the most partisan, never praising any of the top GOP candidates or criticizing Barack Obama or John Edwards. Hillary Clinton, however, the subject of more negative than positive reviews on the liberal shows -- 17 percent positive vs. 33 percent negative.

Some news stories on this study have misleadingly charged that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has received mostly negative coverage, such as Tuesday's New York Post:
"If there's no such thing as bad publicity, Hillary Rodham Clinton is walloping Barack Obama -- earning twice as many negative stories, according to a new media survey.
"The former first lady has been the chief media obsession of the TV campaign, generating more coverage -- good and bad -- than any other candidate, according to a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism." See: www.nypost.com

But to reach that conclusion, one must count conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity alongside supposedly objective news sources like ABC, CBS, NBC and the New York Times.

While the report does not detail the tone of Clinton's by each media source, it does report that conservative talk radio accounted for "nearly 20%" of the 294 stories examined, and that "nearly nine-out-of-ten Clinton segments in conservative talk (86%) were clearly negative in tone." Apply some arithmetic and the tone of Clinton's coverage -- without conservative talk radio -- instantly becomes mostly favorable: roughly 33% positive, vs. 26% negative.

In other words, while Hillary may not be the darling of either liberal or conservative talk radio, the media elite are still showering her with lots of good press.

'Top Ten Things Overheard During Dick
Cheney's Hunting Trip'

From the October 30 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Things Overheard During Dick Cheney's Hunting Trip." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com

10. "Has everyone updated their will?"

9. "The crisp air is giving me goose bumps -- no, wait, it's another heart attack"

8. "This can't end well"

7. "My pacemaker also makes bird calls"

6. "I want that quail taken alive -- let's find out what the son of a bitch knows"

5. "Bush was supposed to come, but his father got him out of it"

4. "Condi, grab a shotgun and go get yourself a man"

3. No number 3 -- writers making picket signs for upcoming strike

2. "You shoot one old guy in the face, avoid talking to authorities, delay taking a blood-alcohol test and you're labeled a bad guy"

1. "Duck!"

-- Brent Baker