Politico Attacked by Liberals for Noting Pro-Obama Bias in WashPost, NY Times
The gang at Politico is under fire from liberal friends for a piece by Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei alleging major newspapers have a pro-Obama, anti-Romney bias. For example, Devin Gordon, a former Newsweek writer who's now a "senior editor" at GQ, lamented "The house position of Politico, as evidenced by this piece, is that they are fair and their chief competition is not. It's a thinly disguised, fundamentally craven argument for Politico's superiority in the world of political coverage."
Unsurprisingly, the newspapers claimed they were fair and balanced in the Dylan Byers followup:
Times political reporter Richard Stevenson defended his paper's reporting on the presidential campaign.
"Since the very first stirrings of the 2008 campaign, the Times has exhaustively and aggressively covered nearly every aspect of Barack Obama's story," Stevenson said. "To suggest that we've pulled our punches or tilted coverage in his favor or against his opponents just is not supported by the facts."
The Washington Post also stood by its reporting in a statement to the Huffington Post's Michael Calderone.
"The depth, quality and fairness of our coverage is visible every day to every one of our readers," a Post spokeswoman said. "Assertions of bias just don't square with the reality of our journalism."
Allen and VandeHei noted how The Washington Post published a huge front-page story on allegations that Mitt Romney cut a kid's hair when he was in high school. But Barack Obama's major pot-smoking in high-school didn't make the front page, but landed on page A-6:
Maraniss’s reporting included colorful details of Obama’s pot-smoking prowess: “As a member of the Choom Gang, Barry Obama was known for starting a few pot-smoking trends. The first was called ‘TA,’ short for ‘total absorption.’ To place this in the physical and political context of another young man who would grow up to be president, TA was the antithesis of Bill Clinton’s claim that as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford he smoked dope but never inhaled,” Maraniss writes in his book.
Even today, the top of the Post's front page sells a large article that spills all over the back page alleging Romney shed a reformist approach to nominating judges as governor of Massachusetts.
Former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer made the case about bias in the Politico piece.
“The press never ran probing, sneering stories about candidate Obama, and yet The Washington Post and New York Times are on overtime covering who-cares stories about Mitt Romney.
“[R]eporters asked him follow-up questions about the [bullying] story. But can anyone imagine a reporter at a presidential news conference asking President Obama about what he did in high school? … The love affair of 2008 may no longer be a love affair, but it’s a like-a-lot affair. There’s no equivalency for the right.”
Gov. Haley Barbour added, “The New York Times has given Obama the longest wet kiss in political history, and they have done him a favor again," he said about the Ann-and-horses story.
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Comments
The proof is Obama
Submitted by CJohnson on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 6:23pm.
We elected a puddin' head for president. What more proof of media bias is necessary?
Most journalists were potheads and drunks also
Submitted by frank14 on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 3:05pm.
so they see no story in Obama's Choom Gang. They consider that normal, and abstinence from drugs and alcohol to be weird.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Submitted by Phryj1 on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 6:29pm.
And that applies to rare acts of genuine journalism from otherwise left-leaning outlets as well. Left-wing 'journalists' are nuts.
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
Liberalism is a disease
Submitted by LionKing on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 6:34pm.
It is such a profound disease that inspires emotional reaction to every controversy
and impacts the intellect with delusions.
Even the most feeble-minded people recognize that the mainstream media is biased.
No wet kisses...
Submitted by kch50428 on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 7:48pm.
Gov. Haley Barbour added, “The New York Times has given Obama the longest wet kiss in political history...
Wet kiss my tukhus - the NY Times has been full-kneepad Lewinski on Dear Leader.
"Wet Kiss" and "Haley Barbour" in same sentence??
Submitted by gopcongress on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 1:16am.
Nothing can better demonstrate the pedophiliacally incestuous relationship between the Gray Lady and The Chosen One as Haley Barbour's use of the word "wet kiss" in describing something in the first place.
"The news and truth are not the same thing." -Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
“The depth, quality and
Submitted by Reaver on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 8:01pm.
“The depth, quality and fairness of our coverage is visible every day to every one of our readers," a Post spokeswoman said.
Yes it is and that is why your readership is dwindling.
Ouch.
Submitted by johnsonl on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 10:22am.
Good one!
In spite of all their talk
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 8:29pm.
In spite of all their talk about the Right being rigid and marching in lockstep, it always seems to be the Left demanding unquestioning loyalty and attacking anyone who dares to depart from the approved message.
Any random act of journalism will be swiftly and severely punished.
Rick's Cafe Americain
Submitted by Samaritan01 on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 8:55pm.
Politico discovered pro-Obama bias at the Washington Post and the New York Times?? Isn't that sort of like the film Casablanca when the Chief Inspector discovered, to the surprise of no one, that their was "Gambling at Rick's?"
Prog/Libs want so much...
Submitted by almostacowboy on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 9:00pm.
...to have their own version of Islam where no lib ever criticizes another and taqiyya is way of life.
The spoiled rotten brats of mainstream media.
Submitted by drsamherman on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 9:46pm.
I can think of four year olds with more propriety than any mainstream media outlet.
Did someone hack the Politico site?
Submitted by zachlind on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 10:21pm.
I read the article today and just assumed some conservative hacked the Politico site and was having a little fun. Politico has been running anti-Republican front page pieces for the past month – every day. So what’s the story? Was it a trick article? After all Politico is about as mainstream media as it gets, numerous anti-conservative and anti-Republican stories all the time.
Politico must be looking down the road
Submitted by Texndoc on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 12:07am.
Face it, come November 2012 a lot of news outlets are going to have egg on their faces and pretend they always "vetted" that loser Obama. Politico sees itself as pure politics and wants to get ahead of the curve. What use are they in 2013 if all they did was shill for Barack before he was thrown out.
Grow up, Devin
Submitted by needle on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 8:19am.
Devin Gordon complains that "[t]he house position of Politico … that they are fair and their chief competition is not” is “a thinly disguised, fundamentally craven argument for Politico's superiority in the world of political coverage."
Demonstrating a lack of bias is a “fundamentally craven argument” for being superior to hopelessly useless partisan ‘journalism’?!?
Devin has A LOT of growing up to do before he is ready to play with the big boys; however, considering that his actual age classifies him as an adult means that there is not much hope for him. It seems that he is stuck with arrested development, much the same as Bill Maher, and is a liability to any pseudo-media outfit (e.g., Newsweek, GQ) that is foolish enough to hire him.
He should work a newspaper delivery route for a decade or so. That has often had a maturing effect on many a young lad.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
No one can leave
Submitted by ohio granny on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 11:44am.
Politico don't you know that no one is allowed to leave the Obama reservation. If you dare you must be punished. Now repeat after me OBAMA, OBAMA OBAMA, we love us some Obama.