Editor of Time on Fawning Obama Coverage: Media Will Regret This

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Editor at large of Time magazine Mark Halperin appeared on Tuesday's edition of "Morning Joe" and admitted "mistakes have been made" in regards to the media's coverage of Barack Obama and that "people will regret it." Analyzing the fawning press that the Democratic presidential candidate has received, he added, "If Obama wins and goes on to become a hugely successful president, I think, still, people will look back and say it just wasn't done the right way."

Joe Scarborough, host of "Morning Joe," prompted the brief discussion when he opened the MSNBC program by declaring, "But I got to say this, the media, the media has been really, really biased this campaign, I think." He then asked Halperin if journalists are "just in love with history?" Halperin candidly responded, "History and the story is just- it's great for us. It's been great for us. He's a great story." He went on to make his "mistakes have been made" quip, prompting Scarborough to burst out laughing.

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Scarborough then proceeded to vaguely describe the type of journalists who have gushed over Obama. Without naming names, or explaining if he was talking about a fellow MSNBC host, the former Republican congressman explained:

JOE SCARBOROUGH: But there's certain white guys...that just barely missed the party in the civil rights movement. They're the late '50s, early to mid '60s. They wish they had been there with Brokaw, holding a, you know, being in Selma and all these other places. But they weren't. So, they seem to be the ones that are completely in the tank because they want to be a part of the history this time. They want- They want to help elect an African American president and they can put that on their, you know, bedpost.

A transcript of the exchange, which occurred at 6:01am on October 28, 2008, follows:

JOE SCARBOROUGH: But I got to say this, the media, the media has been really, really biased this campaign, I think. But it's not been a Republican/Democratic bias. It's 6:01 and I'm jumping right in. But, actually, I'm starting to have this conversation with other members of the media, who say, you know what? We may be- This may end up like 2002, 2003, where we weren't as tough as we should have been. Some hand wringing. But this- Hillary Clinton's campaign also complained that there was a lot of bias shown against her. Is the media just in love with history here, Mark, do you think?

MARK HALPERIN (Editor at large, Time) : History and the story is just- it's great for us. It's been great for us. He's a great story. But I think, I think mistakes have been made and people- and people will regret it. [Joe laughs] You know, we talk- They will-

SCARBOROUGH: They will regret it. Because the media, it always blows up in the media's face.

HALPERIN: Even if he goes- If Obama wins and goes on to become a hugely successful president, I think, still, people will look back and say it just wasn't done the right way.

SCARBOROUGH: You know, in 2000, I actually was complaining that George W. Bush, even though I was for George W. Bush, as a Republican congressman at the time, I said to friends, why is the press giving Bush a free press on all of this stuff, but hammering Al Gore? It is usually- The bias is usually against Republicans, but sometimes it's against, like, an Al Gore in 2000 or a Hillary Clinton in 2008, 'cause Hillary, too, was running against history.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I just don't think it was black and white and there was some insidious bias. I think there was a real vexing issue of an incredible story versus a guy who's been around for a long time and how to cover it, how much to cover it, how many pictures to show. I think it's vexing. I think it's very difficult.

SCARBOROUGH: I will tell, you, Willie, what is not vexing is the fact that there are certain white guys, I'm not going to name any names because we love them all, and they come this show and they give us good ratings. So, we love you all. But there's certain white guys- no, no, no older than Mr. Halperin and us, that just barely missed the party in the civil rights movement. They're the late '50s, early to mid '60s. They wish they had been there with Brokaw, holding a, you know, being in Selma and all these other places. But they weren't. So, they seem to be the ones that are completely in the tank because they want to be a part of the history this time. They want- They want to help elect an African American president and they can put that on their, you know, bedpost.

—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center.


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Oh, please! These people

Oh, please! These people will offer up any, I mean any explanation except the truth: The press is liberal and will support liberal Democrats over anyone else and they will attack the liberal Democrat's opponent in any way they can to help the liberal Democrat get elected and stay in power. The fact that Obama is black just makes their love even deeper. 

McNotObama '08

Chris Norman

An excellent, succinct post that is right on the money!

Scarborough is still a politician at heart: Never ask a straightforward question or give a straightforward answer. This from the "Republican" representative at MSNBC who, to please his MSNBC bosses and keep his lucrative job, ran a segment on his show regarding President Bush headlined "Is Bush an Idiot?", and then followed up with an article of the same name at the leftist Huffington Post. After that, both the left and Olbermann accepted him as one of their own; moreover, he kept his job!

Michael Malone has written an excellent article on slanted election coverage titled: Media's Presidential Bias and Decline.  

--------------------------------------------------------------

The most important change we can make is to vote out the Democrats and RINOs in Congress!

The MSM, (Including TIME)

The MSM, (Including TIME) will suffer from this in that they will be hard pressed to find anyone who believes them and will be willing to sit for interviews after watching how John McCain - Senator of the great state of Meet the Press - was treated.

As usual, nature abhors a vacuum and other sources will rise up to make good on the gap in information. The press as currently constituted will dwindle on the vine and disappear in due course.

From your lips to Gods

From your lips to Gods ears.

Obama Is A Racist

 

Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/  

 

These people are already trying to cover for themselves.

As time progresses, the defense will be the following:

1- We did look at our coverage and determined that it was biased.

2- Mainstream media did "attack" Obama/Biden, or at least ask "tough" questions.

3- We did look into (fill in the blank) topic and found it to be groundless. And so on...

The problem is that it's too little too late. Years from now, they will say that they made this effort before the election, which will be technically true. But the reality is that they bastardized the fidelity of reporting process for months leading up to the election.

"they will say that they made this effort before the election"

Six days before the election!  Only six!  How do they make up for two years of Obama subterfuge in six days?

The MSM will say, "Okay,

The MSM will say, "Okay, some sources were SLIGHTLY biased, but now we are taking Obama to task for his transgressions that we ignored prior to the election."

A lot of media people

are starting to look at how they are being called out for blatant bias and trying to backpedal to CYA.  Maybe they figure at this point it can't hurt because they are positive Obama will win and even if Republicans lose the election they still are part of the audience.

too little, too late

but at least he's saying the words...more than 99.9% of the rest of his cronies...the media treatment of the candidates has been entirely slanted and biased.  The story selection, the panels of all liberals and a RINO, the silence on some stories, the trumpeting of others...downright horrible coverage and the they should all be ashamed to call themselves journalists.  they have done tremendous harm to a once dignified profession. 

hey wait, only four more months until Silky Pony Jr's birthday!!

 

You're a big part of it, Time

Does the Editor At Large have ANYTHING AT ALL to say about the content of  Time? Explain this to me, Halperin:

Just got the Nov. 3 issue of Time, and did a little survey of my own.

Total number of Obama images: 11

This includes a 2-page wide shot of Obama addressing a Woodstock-sized crowd with the arms outstretched in adoration) with the caption "Crowd-pleaser: Obama greets an estimated 100,000 supporters at an Oct. 18 rally..."

Total number of McCain images: 2, but wait...

One of these images is a tiny cartoon of McCain making a stupid face, surrounded by, surprise, Obama and Biden. The other is a 1/2" x 1/2" floating head of a grimacing McCain. THAT'S IT.

The only image of Palin is on the Letters page, with this caption (an excerpt from a reader's letter): "Palin and Fey have more in common than just looks. They are both better entertainers than politicians."

Pretty fair coverage considering it's just a week before the election, huh? 

Halperin tries to issue CYA but fails

Everyone knows the MSM journalists have been supporting Obama this election.  Just ask Bill & Hillary Clinton. 

Nice try Halperin, but you and your lousy magazine will be remembered for being what you are: Obama apologists masquerading as journalists who failed to do their jobs. 

Thanks for the info SickofLibs. I can honestly say I have not opened a Time or Newsweek in about 8 years.  Looks like I'm not missing anything.

Agree

Many in the MSM are going to be shocked when Barry turns on them. But more than this, some of them (certainly not all of them) will regret having destroyed one of the most basic of American freedoms, freedom of the press. It has kept America safe. The press suspended this freedom for this election. And they are not going to get it back in a Obama administration. If they cross him, they will be very sorry. There will be many "Joe the Plumbers" in the newsrooms. Any of them who dare to question anything will be personally destroyed.That's when they'll truly "regret" what they've done. Mark my words.

P.S.  I'm going to write to Joe S. to tell him how insultiong he is. "They want to be part of history"--- what a bunch of B.S.! ( BTW, John McCain's life is the "great story", Barry's is a marketing ploy that worked. What's great about that?)

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

Whe McCain wins

Obama will turn on them during his concession speech (I hope he has a very large crowd). He'll say something like, "You guys didn't do enough, I will have my revenge"

 Don't be a defeatist, McCain and Sarah aren't done yet

http://www.voicesint...

Bias? Just great for media

"....the story is just- it's great for us. It's been great for us...."

Uh huh.  Falling circulation.  Falling advertising.  Falling revenues.  Falling stock value.  Mass layoffs.  Zero credibility.

Yeah, life in the Obama tank just couldn't be better Mark.

acumen

Falling television audience...

Good pick up ac. 

McNotObama '08

Acumen

Right on. And, as usual it is the "little guy", the hard-working American, who'll get it in the neck. Guys like Scarborough and Halperin won't suffer. Sad.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

Scarboro just laughed?

I would have thought he would have had a stroke! 

I would understand mistakes, none of us are perfect, but these were deliberate decisions by members of the media to support a specific candidate.

These people either by acts of omission or acts of comission betrayed their journalistic ethics and the trust of the people.

They disgust me.   

Iam Tinman

Quite perceptive of you. "Mistakes were made"-- What mistakes? They set out to get this jerk Obama elected and, God forbid, may have succeeded. If Barry wins, the blame is squarely on the MSM. And when they go down, as the song goes, "I'll be applauding in a front row seat". Yes, they are absolutely disgusting.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

The Mistake

The mistake the MSM made this time around was they weren't as slick as they used to be and have gone overboard in their campaigning for Democrats.  So overboard in fact that they even have to admit it themselves.

This time around it's more then just Democrat vs. Republican:  It's social revolution and political upheaval time, so they can't help but go overboard.

I've heard that in the past the MSM was worth 15pts in the Presidential Election.  This time around it has to be at least 25 pts.

Sorry to admit this . . . but . . .

I WAS a journalist for about 15 years and NEVER did I write a slanted story. The one time an editor questioned me was about an apartment complex for college students built on a piece of land that had once been lovely woodland behind some blue-collar homes. They took a melon scooper and scooped the hill down into a pancake above those homes wherein their backyards were a flooded mess during contruction. I told the editor to take a drive down the road and look for herself. She did and she agreed with me. We gave both sides their print time and ran the piece. I was on the side of the little guys who owned those homes but the piece was fair.

The MSM have been insulting as they raised the "O" to cult status. Unless he's the anti-Christ and has terrorized them, they have no excuse.

JillCW

So right. Scarborough, Halperin, et.al. are trying to defend the indefensible. There is absolutely no excuse for what the media have done. On so many levels, they have done a disservice to our country, one which may ultimately bring us down. I'll never forgive them for it, especially if what I think is going to happen, happens. Sad.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

What a moron!

Halperin says that, if Obama wins and he does really well, people will say this wasn't done right?  Well, what if Obama wins, he starts acting like the socialist he is and people start saying, "Where did that come from?  We had no idea he was like this." and that's because this lazy, syncophant media did absolutely nothing to vet this guy, what happens then?  I know who I'm blaming.   

Democrats: Stuck on Stupid since 2000.

Give Me a Break!!

I love how members of the Drive By Media talk about the "media" as if it is "over there". They never say, "wow, we have been really biased". It's always, "The media has seemed to favor Obama this time around". 

 These people should be ignored. Let there numbers plummet until the likes of Cambelle Brown, Cafferty, Olderman and Matthews are fired. Better yet, let the entire medium die a quick death

http://www.voicesint...

 Notice there were no

 Notice there were no apologies to the American People? 

They're only admitting Media Bias---because their ratings are dropping, by huge numbers. 

Too late! 

Thanks to the GREAT CREW at

Thanks to the GREAT CREW at NewsBusters for 'Exposing & Combating Liberal Media Bias'....and to ALL the WONDERFUL and INSIGHTFUL posters on here!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey Joe!  Get a clue,

Hey Joe!  Get a clue, you're part of the media that has been trying to push Obama across the finish line, in fact, MSNBC is the worst offender of bias this election cycle.  Stop acting like you had no part in it.

Even Buchanan has been somewhat of an Obama cheerleader.

Joe Scarborough...

Scarborough has been as in the tank for the Dems as any reporter I have watched with the possible exception of Olberdork and Mathews.  What makes him particulary bad is that he seems to frequently go out of his way to bad mouth the GOP and McCain - as a Republican.

I know many on this site do not watch MSNBC, but trust me when I tell you, he is pathetic.  Often worse than Mika.

A total sell-out.

 

MSM = PR firm for the Democrat Party

Scarborough

I remember the first time I watched Scarborough many a year ago when he was just starting out on his evening show at MSNBC.  I remembered thinking..."Wow!  I can't believe they have a conservative on MSNBC."

Either he changed or he had me fooled or whatever, but now of course he does his gig as a "Republican" to balance out the lefties on MSNBC.  I really think he is the classic example of, (as Rush L. explains it), how a non-committed Republican starts to soak up and seek the praise of the liberal media, (in this case Scarborough's peers), and then goes over to their side because he seeks their aproval above-and-beyond any conservative values he or she once held.

"how a non-committed

"how a non-committed Republican starts to soak up and seek the praise of the liberal media, (in this case Scarborough's peers), and then goes over to their side because he seeks their aproval above-and-beyond any conservative values he or she once held."

When'd you stop talking about Scarborough and start talking about McCain?

Without recognizing the ordinances of Heaven, it is impossible to be a superior man. - Confucious

Like lemmings..........

Now that they've swayed so many witless voters Obama's way for months on end, with only 6 days until the election they finally admit the obvious.

Notice how this seems to be the media meme of the day?

Can you say C-Y-A? 

600 Layoffs at Time, Inc.

From the NY Times, by Tim Arango, "Time Inc., the world’s largest magazine publisher, plans to cut 6 percent of its work force — more than 600 positions — and will revamp the organization in a way that could radically alter the culture at the company."

Thanks NewsBuster

Is Mo O'Dowd or the Nobel laureate Paul Krugman on the list?  can't compete with the new media I guess.  Thank you NB!  Well as for Time magazine, editor Mark Halperin has this hypocrisy about him...criticize Mccain and Palin at every opportunity, yet trying to play even handedness by pretending to criticize the lame street media..Mr. Halperin, YOU ARE THE MSM, you pathetic moron!

What if

an Obama presidency turns out to be a disaster? It is remarkable that so few of the Obamaphiles even consider this a possibility. But if he is as disaster, what will the public's reaction be to the mainstream press?

An "Incredible Story" Doesn't Justify A Lack Of Objectivity

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I just don't think it was black and white and there was some insidious bias. I think there was a real vexing issue of an incredible story versus a guy who's been around for a long time and how to cover it, how much to cover it, how many pictures to show. I think it's vexing. I think it's very difficult.

Oh, Mika, Mika, Mika! There is so much time to fill in an election cycle that inevitably some of that will involve covering a unique aspect of a candidate's resume. In the Dem primary it wasn't so much about resume as it was about race and gender.

Mika can try to justify the clear fawning the press has had in regards to Obama vs. his opponents (Hillary included) but that does not excuse a lack of vetting expected from those that claim the mantle of journalistic objectivity while proving in every way possible the very opposite disposition.

Mark Halperin, David Axelrod's Talking Point

Mark Halperin, needs like Prince to change his name to, "Axelrod's ventriloquist dummy formerly known as Mark Halperin".

 

Want to know Obama's talking points tomorrow? Call Mark Halperin today.

How do you know Barack Obama is lying? Mark Halperin's lips are moving.

David Letterman, Keith Oblermann and Mark Halperin are in bed with Obama and.........
No that's no joke that is reality.

Who does the KGB check to improve lying? Mark Halperin

Mark Halperin had to look up TRUTH in the dictionary as he had never heard of it before.

Why does a doctor ask Mark Halperin about Obama's prostate? Halperin has been up Obama's butt so much he is the expert.

What is Mark Halperin's one regret in life? He had to wait 40 years to torture John McCain.

 

 

 

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