When are these guys going to figure it out. We are watching you.
You can not get away with your propaganda any longer. We may
be small but we have the truth on our side and that will win in
the end. Hang in there the change will come like a tidal wave
and it is coming soon.
***Media Research Center CyberAlert Special***
3:05pm EDT, Wednesday August 29, 2007
MRC Study: "Rise and Shine on Democrats; How the ABC, CBS and
NBC Morning Shows Are Promoting Democrats On the Road to the
White House"
Below is the text of the Executive Summary for a study
coordinated and written by MRC Research Director Rich Noyes,
with research assistance from MRC news analysts Geoffrey Dickens,
Scott Whitlock and Justin McCarthy, which was posted today.
Now, the text of the Executive Summary for the August 29
Special
Report study:
Rise and Shine on Democrats
How the ABC, CBS and NBC Morning Shows Are Promoting Democrats
On the Road to the White House
As the 2008 presidential campaign season gets underway,
wide-open primary races in both the Republican and Democratic
parties are competing for the media's attention. So are the
broadcast networks covering both sides equally, or are they
tilting the campaign playing field in favor of liberal
Democratic candidates?
To find out, Media Research Center analysts reviewed all 517
campaign segments on ABC's Good Morning America, CBS's The
Early Show and NBC's Today from January 1 through July 31.
Those three broadcast morning shows draw nine times the
audience of their cable news competitors, and are geared
toward everyday voters, not political junkies. These programs
are therefore a prime battleground in each campaign's quest
for positive media attention.
The results are astonishing: Not only are the network morning
shows overwhelmingly focused on Democrats, they are actively
promoting the Democrats' liberal agenda.
Among the major findings:
# The networks offered nearly twice as much coverage of the
Democrats. More than half of all campaign segments
(284, or 55%) focused on the Democratic contest, compared with
just 152 (29%) devoted to the Republicans. The remaining
stories either offered roughly equal discussion of both parties
or did not focus on the major parties.
# All three Democratic frontrunners received more attention
than any of the top Republican candidates, with New York
Senator Hillary Clinton receiving the most coverage of all.
# Undeclared liberal candidates such as former Vice President
Al Gore and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg received
more network TV attention than many of the declared Republican
candidates.
# The network morning shows doled out nearly three times as
much airtime (4 hours, 35 minutes) to interviews with the
various Democratic campaigns. In contrast, the Republicans
received just 1 hour and 44 minutes of interview airtime.
# In their interviews with the candidates, the network hosts
emphasized a liberal agenda. Of the substantive questions that
could be categorized as reflecting a political agenda, more
than two-thirds (69%) of the questions to Democrats reflected
a liberal premise, and more than four-fifths (82%) of the
questions to Republicans came from the same perspective.
# The top Democratic candidates received much more favorable
coverage than their GOP counterparts, with Senator Clinton
cast as "unbeatable" and Illinois Senator Barack Obama tagged
as a "rock star." The most prominent Republican, Arizona
Senator John McCain, was portrayed as a loser because of his
support for staying the course in Iraq.
# Not once did network reporters describe Senator Clinton and
former North Carolina Senator John Edwards as "liberal," while
ABC only once labeled Obama as "liberal." Yet the networks
showed no hesitation in attaching the "liberal" label to
Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani, who was so branded 12
times.
These early returns suggest that ABC, CBS and NBC are skewing
their news in ways that will benefit the Democratic candidates
in 2008. The broadcast networks have a responsibility to cover
both parties in a fair and even-handed manner -- not for the
sake of the candidates, but for the voters. That means giving
viewers a chance to hear from all of the major candidates in
interviews, asking them similar questions, and balancing the
day-to-day news coverage to keep both Democratic and Republican
primary voters equally well-informed.
END of Executive Summary for the MRC's Special Report
- Brent Baker
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