Although the results of a new poll may not be surprising to NewsBusters readers, it is nonetheless shocking to actually see it in print: 68 percent of Americans "believe most reporters try to help the candidate that they want to win."
Even more predictable given how obvious it's been, a majority of respondents also felt Barack Obama has gotten the best press coverage so far during the campaign.
Such are the findings of a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey just announced moments ago (emphasis added throughout):
Just 17% of voters nationwide believe that most reporters try to offer unbiased coverage of election campaigns. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that four times as many—68%--believe most reporters try to help the candidate that they want to win.
The perception that reporters are advocates rather than observers is held by 82% of Republicans, 56% of Democrats, and 69% of voters not affiliated with either major party. The skepticism about reporters cuts across income, racial, gender, and age barriers.
As for who they're in the tank for:
Voters have little doubt as to who is benefitting from the media coverage this year—Barack Obama. Fifty-four percent (54%) say Obama has gotten the best coverage so far. Twenty-two percent (22%) say McCain has received the most favorable coverage while 14% say that Hillary got the best treatment.
And, respondents seem very concerned about how such bias will impact the upcoming elections:
Looking ahead to the fall campaign, 44% believe most reporters will try to help Obama while only 13% believe that most will try to help McCain. Twenty-four percent (24%) are optimistic enough to believe that most reporters will try to offer unbiased coverage.
Even Democrats tend to believe their candidate will receive better treatment—27% of those in Obama’s party believe most reporters will try to help him win while only 16% believe they will help McCain. A plurality of Democrats—34%--believe most reporters will be unbiased.
Among unaffiliated voters, 44% believe reporters will try to help Obama and 14% believe they will try to help McCain. Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans expect Obama to receive preferential treatment while only 8% believe reporters will try to help McCain.
Press members around the country should be ashamed of these findings...assuming humility is something such folks possess.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.
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I am absolutely stunned by
June 8, 2008 - 16:01 ET by gopsteveI am absolutely stunned by these findings!
yeah right
Oh and I'm sure the major
June 8, 2008 - 16:02 ET by bigtimerOh and I'm sure the major networks and cable stations are going to report this major news....
Maybe Fox will, that is about it...they have Rasmussen on quite a bit with his recent polling.
Anyway...I won't be holding my breath waiting to see if anyone reports this....lol.
What is even funnier to me is the msm doesn't think the people out here in the real world see them for exactly what they are....a leftist working machine 24/7.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
The other 30%
June 8, 2008 - 16:08 ET by jefflebowskimust be reporters themselves! The coverage this election cycle is so unabashedly biased towards Obama that there is no possible way that these TV and newspaper hucksters can honestly call themselves "journalists." At least that moron Olbermann doesn't try to camoflage the fact that he's a rabid, barking at the moon leftist.
Jeff Lebowski
www.angrywhitedude.c...
Obvious to the Most Casual Observer
June 8, 2008 - 23:46 ET by JayTee"majority of respondents also felt Barack Obama has gotten the best press coverage so far during the campaign"
I want to see the Press Coverage of his IRAQ Trip.....if he makes one...and how long it takes to get a Soldier to shake his Hand....
They will find one, and he will be Black....but Mailiki should Stiff him...as he does NOT support the Iraq People...he would leave 'em in the Dust.
The Republican Revolution will not be Televised
Of all the groupings here
June 8, 2008 - 16:05 ET by MidAmericaOf all the groupings here only the ones that think the coverage will be fair are the ones that are significant. These are people who say they are accepting whatever they see and hear. They would have to be persons who watch 'evening news' or read newspapers as their main news source. Everyone else must have alternate viewpoints and sources to consider and are making value judgements about any individual news item.
"These are people who say
June 8, 2008 - 19:58 ET by Indiana Joe"These are people who say they are accepting whatever they see and hear."
Good point, MA. I'd also hazard that they are the great "undecideds" that it seems every election turns on. God help us come November.
I think a more accurate poll would show that 100% of informed people believe 70% (at least) of the MSM is pushing the left's agenda.
;^)
John McCain's support from
June 8, 2008 - 16:10 ET by alamojbJohn McCain's support from the media came over the course of the last few years where the "straight talking maverick" was given way disproportional free coverage by the media compared to his fellow Republican senators. Probably the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of campaign coverage.
Now that it appears the primaries are over, and the Republicans are stuck with a RINO, much of the media will throw their weight for the most part behind the Democrats.
alamo... Yep...simple as
June 8, 2008 - 16:21 ET by bigtimeralamo...
Yep...simple as that.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
McCain's campaign finance reform resulted in more media power
June 8, 2008 - 18:10 ET by Daniel BakerMcCain and the democrats benefited as always. Only RINO's are allowed on the networks.
PBS and NPR need fairness act
Obama's Real Religion
Yep, the "maverick" label
June 8, 2008 - 20:22 ET by GregEYep, the "maverick" label is going to go away soon. If he wins the presidency, "maverick" will become "stubborn" and "difficult to work with."
And you hit it on the head when you said "equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of campaign coverage." Just as Obama will now get tons and tons of free positive coverage by the media. Based on this, and I say it all the time, America as a whole rejects liberalism. If the news media was objective and unbiased, all those things they say and do to promote the liberal candidates wouldn't happen, and millions of American sheeple wouldn't have it to buy into blindly (and repeat verbatim when you get into a discussion with them). The presidency would never go liberal, and in both houses if Congress the liberals would be lucky to conjure up 30% of the seats.
Dumb Republicans
June 9, 2008 - 14:03 ET by mbs6Unfortunately, McCain was the pick of the MSM and the dumb Republicans went along with it. After several years of fading power I think the story of this election is the resurgence of MSM power. So far the election has gone completely according to the MSM playbook. If the Republicans put up a better candidate, Obama would lose because he is so flawed. Unfortunatley McCain is flawed enough that Obama will probably win.
Media lapdog McCain will lose in one of two ways:
1) He will go along with the desires of the MSM and not point out the myriad negatives of Obama. The MSM will play relatively nice with McCain as long as he complies and this will lead McCain to a loss. If he double-crosses the MSM and starts pointing out Obama's flaws, he will lose in way #2:
2) The MSM will bludgeon McCain to death with all of his many negatives: age, history of cancer, Keating 5, immigration, taxation, global warming, and philandering to name a few.
Just laziness
June 8, 2008 - 16:28 ET by AndersonThe MSM is basically lazy. They essentially like storylines that are easy to cover. It is easy, for example, to repeat ad nauseam that McCain is a “straight talker” and a “maverick.” It is harder to write about how McCain was originally opposed to the Bush tax cuts because they were targeted at the wealthiest among us, but now he is in favor of preserving the tax cuts. McCain said he is against torture, but in pandering to the base, in February he voted against the senate bill banning torture. These flip-flops and panderings don’t ride well on the Straight Talk Express. They are difficult to explain in sound bite language, so they don’t get covered. This laziness gives the appearance that the media is biased and in the tank for McCain, but it really is just easier to tow the line for the candidate than to dig deep and question.
Anderson, do you want to
June 8, 2008 - 16:44 ET by NewsbusterbrownAnderson, do you want to bet that the MSM, now that they don't need McCain anymore to beat up on Republicans for them, will find it very easy to cover those storylines that you mentioned? When they do, what will be your excuse for them be then?
“There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)
No excuses, NBB
June 8, 2008 - 17:51 ET by AndersonNBB, I am not attempting to make excuses for the MSM. They will of course try to tag McCain with countless goof-ups, like his statements on staying in Iraq for 100 years, his not being good on economic issues, being in bed with lobbyists who he helped by sending our airplane tanker fleet construction overseas, his wife’s failure to release meaningful tax returns (does she hold lots of Airbus stock, or just a little?) and the list goes on and on. They will turn on him quicker than a polecat in a fire. I won’t be surprised if we start hearing about his illegitimate black baby again, or his affair with the woman who looks very much like his wife (as if that is some comfort to her). Then McCain will lose his temper on the press plane once more and that will be spread all over the front pages like lard on a hot, sunny day. Mark my words, the press will take cheap shot after cheap shot to get their guy, B. Hussein O. elected.
Okay, I think we're on the
June 8, 2008 - 19:02 ET by NewsbusterbrownOkay, I think we're on the same page then.
“There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)
McCain said he is against
June 8, 2008 - 16:54 ET by SMGalbraithDeleted.
Panderer In Chief
June 8, 2008 - 17:18 ET by AndersonMcCain voted against a bill that did nothing more than apply the Army Field Manual regulations banning the use of torture and specifically waterboarding from CIA interrogation techniques. The bill didn't go "far beyond" anything. http://thecrossedpond.com/?p=2656
The bill was entirely in step with McCain’s stated principles regarding torture. While the use of torture against our enemies may be a good thing, he was pandering to the base nonetheless.
My first thought
June 8, 2008 - 16:48 ET by DEVILDOCMOMis that the reporters do not "try" to help their candidate, the actually DO help their candidate. As cited here frequently the failed media is in the bag for bho and any denial is ridiculous.
If the candidate and
June 8, 2008 - 17:10 ET by Chris NormanIf the candidate and proposition (measure) summaries and descriptions on voter guides were as biased, skewed, and distorted as campaign coverage in the media, some election officials (who writes these summaries/descriptions anyway?) would be up on charges - at least in states where the Democrats don't own the election apparatus. I maintain that, that by being the main source of information about candidates and propositions for most voters and by being so biased towards Democrats, the media is engaging in attempted election fraud.
Maverick's duty???
June 8, 2008 - 17:23 ET by VT Con ManSo, is it the "Maverick's" duty now to tag them with the charge? Afterall, he is the same "Maverick" who set up the whole campaign "reform" laws isn't he?
VT... Yep, with the
June 8, 2008 - 18:02 ET by bigtimerVT...
Yep, with the guidance/idea/backing from this man.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
Hey BigTimer,
June 8, 2008 - 20:21 ET by VT Con ManYeah, I have seen McRINO for what he is for a long long time.
A little weasel.
We are screwed.
From a conservative candidate standpoint that is.
fraud from a free press?
June 9, 2008 - 12:46 ET by JohnM"by being the main source of information about candidates and propositions for most voters and by being so biased towards Democrats, the media is engaging in attempted election fraud."
If you're going to charge the media with election fraud (and I like the idea!), then let's go one step further and follow how much of whose money goes to fund so many of them. Then we could also see just how "free" our press really is.
What's that quote about serving two masters? I'd wager that they can't report the facts or the truth, or produce unbiased reports, because of the fealty they owe to the deepest left-wing pocketbooks.
Isn't that also fraud?
Poll is out of phase with reality
June 8, 2008 - 18:17 ET by BarrackC'mon... If that poll was an adequate reflection of reality, we'd be able to tell who Olbermann and Matthews are voting for.
I've been trying to get a bead on it for months and just can't tell.
www.benbarrack.com
Barrack... ROFLMAO! That
June 8, 2008 - 18:23 ET by bigtimerBarrack...
ROFLMAO!
That is hilarious....thanks.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
Since 98% of reporters are
June 8, 2008 - 20:46 ET by ConservativeRexSince 98% of reporters are liberal I am surprised that they didn't receive a 100% finding.
Yep!
June 9, 2008 - 11:31 ET by MeanderingI agree Noel, the results are not shocking, but the fact that these results are being published are. I haven't heard them on the nightly news and my bet is that we won't. Has anyone else heard theses stats on the msm?