GOP field running against the media

Media coverage of conservatives is again in the spotlight, with the furor over the treatment of presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” TV show.

Fallon’s house band, The Roots, played a segment of Fishbone’s “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” to accompany Bachmann’s stage entrance night. Rep Bachmann was unaware of the musical reference at the time, but later described the incident as “an outrage” and “clearly a form of bias on the part of the Hollywood entertainment elite.” The controversy is the latest in a series of contentious media episodes that have marked the GOP presidential race, from a June Newsweek cover of a heavily photo-shopped Mitt Romney bearing the headline “The Mormon Moment” to the recent coverage of allegations of sexual harassment against Herman Cain. A number of GOP hopefuls — Bachmann, Cain and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich prominent among them — have responded with head-on attacks on the media. The attacks may be sincere but, experts say, they also have the advantage of having an electoral appeal, at least to the Republican electorate.