On Friday, "Good Morning America" concluded its week long train trip to election battleground states and ended up devoting 28 minutes to high profile Democrats and just over 14 to Republicans, a disparity of two-to-one. The tour, which was designed to see what average Americans think about the presidential election, featured mostly Democratic guests. Senator Barack Obama appeared on Monday, Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, Joe Biden on Thursday and Michelle Obama and Jill Biden on Friday. The only GOP representation came in the form of a short interview with John McCain on Tuesday and another on Wednesday with the senator and Cindy McCain.
Additionally, while Senator McCain appeared jointly with his wife on Wednesday, Barack Obama alone received two segments on Monday, totaling nearly eight and a half minutes. Michelle Obama was featured, along with Senator Biden's wife, on Friday for another five and a half minutes. (McCain's brief appearance on Tuesday was not originally announced in the ABC schedule, lasted less than three minutes and only dealt with the financial problems on Wall Street.)
The tone of the Democratic interviews also varied from those with the McCains. While Diane Sawyer pressed John and Cindy McCain on abortion on Wednesday, reporter Kate Snow on Thursday simply quizzed Joe Biden on why the Democrats were not further ahead in the polls. (Correspondent Claire Shipman did briefly discuss the issue with Jill Biden and Michelle Obama, but she didn't question the Democrats as to whether their position was too liberal for America.)
Similarly, Sawyer gushed to Hillary Clinton on Tuesday that people had come up to her with a request that she ask a certain question: "And several of them said to me, I'd like to know, have there been hard days since June and how she's [Clinton] dealt with them?" When she challenged the New York senator, it was mostly on issues related to not being tough enough. The host also prompted Clinton to endorse a statement that McCain is too old to be president.
The only tough interview came when news anchor Chris Cuomo grilled Obama on Monday about a new campaign spot that implies McCain is out of touch and too elderly to be commander in chief. He pressed at one point, "But the ad is a negative ad. You paint him as an old man. You say he can't use a computer. He's never sent an e-mail. What does that all mean?"
To read more about Snow's interview with Joe Biden, see a September 18 NewsBusters post.
For additional details about Sawyer's questioning of John McCain about abortion and Roe V. Wade, see a September 17 NewsBusters post.
See a September 16 NewsBusters post for more on Sawyer's attempt to get Hillary Clinton to agree with the contention that McCain is too old.
Finally, for a recap of Chris Cuomo's surprisingly tough interview with Barack Obama, check out a September 15 NewsBusters post.
—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center.
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Media only hurting self
September 19, 2008 - 10:32 ET by MaximusBraveheartWith NewsBusters exposure of the facts, the media is only shooting itself in the foot. Spread the word for people to check out NewsBusters!
And Dems in public who are polled don't see any bias. It all seems just right to them. I wish they could be presented with the facts also but we know the media just won't do that!
MSM counting method:
September 19, 2008 - 10:41 ET by c5thenOne for them, two for us...one for them, three for us.
The MSM is not here to inform the public or to keep government accountable, they are here to get democrats elected. It's not even subtle anymore.
Thankful!
September 19, 2008 - 10:53 ET by dmntd1We actually got MORE time per capita then, right? At least using Congressional mathematics (I wonder when THAT class starts getting taught in fourth grade!).
(R) guests were slated for 1 day out of five, Wednesday, when both Sen McCain and his lovely wife were the feature. The other four days were slated with (D)'s. That means we were slated for 1/5, or 20% of the time allotted for guests, and yet we got 33% of the time.
Poor (D)'s, getting their time cut!
Fascism is a religious conception in which man is seen in his imminent relationship with a superior law and with an objective will that transcends the particular individual - Mussolini
Balanced
September 19, 2008 - 11:01 ET by NorthCoasterWhere is the balanced reporting????
So much for supporting real news instead of propaganda efforts!
and every "man on the street" was a liberal
September 19, 2008 - 11:04 ET by SouthJersey1953All week long, whenever they interviewed 'the common person' it was obvious they were liberal. I didn't hear one conservative viewpoint...hmmm I wonder why?
McCain/PALIN '08
PALIN/Jindal '12
GMA Train Week
September 19, 2008 - 11:32 ET by GoodieMore like a week of "Train to nowhere" for ABC.
GMA
September 19, 2008 - 11:41 ET by KBDayWe call this show 'Good Morning, Comrade' in our house. Glad you tracked this. I saw some of the interviews. Diane Sawyer and her colleagues heart Dems big time. best, Kay
Scott. Let me guess, GMA won't be making stops...
September 19, 2008 - 11:54 ET by Gary HallScott. Let me guess - oh, a wild guess; GMA won't be making stops, as they traverse America, to check out the hard working American workers at an oil or a gas rig, making a good living bringing home the bacon. I'd expect that GMA would have little interest in sharing little peak an industry on the cusp of creating new jobs for workers. (;~> gary
Is that Count Accurate?
September 19, 2008 - 12:02 ET by allanfWithout having seen Diane and Robin's excellent adventure, I imagine the Republican's they interviewed were given a much more difficult time. So perhaps the air time disparity was even greater.
Off Track.........
September 19, 2008 - 12:04 ET by DanoThat train was off the tracks when it left the station.........it had to make a hard left to get back on!
So, the media is splitting
September 19, 2008 - 12:34 ET by Roger the ShrubberSo, the media is splitting it down the middle, 50/50. That's good to hear...
2 to 1 Coverage Has Been Happening this Whole Election
September 19, 2008 - 12:35 ET by deerjerkydave2 to 1 coverage is not new. I think these liberal journalists are so afraid of appearing biased for conservatives that they double their coverage of liberals.
When Foxnews tries to go 1 to 1 in its coverage they certainly appear conservative in comparison to the rest of the media. But as the statistics show in studies, Foxnews does a pretty good job of being fair and balanced.
Amazin!
September 19, 2008 - 13:17 ET by Copperhead RidgeI spent the biggest part of the week traveling Kentucky's western coalfield, which is powerful UMWA country and votes Democrat most of the time, and found plenty of McCain supporters. There are people who are paying for McCain/Palin signs in their front yards.
It's amazing that I can find these people, but the fine folks at Good Morning, Amerika cannot find them. I'm just a regular citizen, educated at a state university, and live in a rural area.
McCain will win Kentucky with 56% of the vote. Barak's European vacation and his stuttering performance at Saddleback drove the nails in his coffin in Kentucky. Of course, the media will spin it that this state and any other state that goes for McCain is racist.
Honestly, though, I have had several people tell me that they will not vote for a black man to be president. So far, every one of them has been a Democrat.
Diane should go back to being weather girl on Channel 11 in Louisville.