The Media and the 2008 Presidential Election

THE MEDIA AND THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
The 2008 presidential campaign may well be decided by the way the news media cover the candidates over the next few months. It's about the ability and willingness of the political media and pundit class to affix narratives to each candidate that shape subsequent news coverage -- and voter attitudes. These narratives tend to have a few things in common: 1) The narratives about progressives tend to be negative (Al Gore was a liar and a wimp, Howard Dean was crazy, John Kerry was a flip-flopping wimp, etc.); 2) The narratives about conservatives tend to be positive (John McCain is a straight-talking maverick, Rudy Giuliani is "America's Mayor," etc.); 3) The narratives about progressives are often based in large part on the media's endless repetition of snarky comments, stories, and anecdotes about purported personal qualities; and 4) Progressives and journalists often blame the victims of these narratives, chalking them up to inept candidates and campaign staff. No matter how many different progressives get unfairly defined by the media as soft and dishonest and ineffectual, too many people refuse to hold journalists accountable.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200612160001