It might be a moot point for this last election, but the media played a role in it. Just who it helped was a point of contention for Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan.
Both chairs were asked if the news coverage gave President-elect Barack Obama an added advantage in this election at a luncheon at the National Press Club Nov. 5. Dean said he didn't think it did, which was met with grumbles from the audience. He claimed the media had an impact, but it was offset on both sides and he specifically cited the media "obsession" over Obama's association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
"Well, I wouldn't have thought so," Dean said. "I wouldn't have thought so. You know, I don't think we need to go over the specific obsessions that went on, but there was a fair amount of obsession with guilt by association tactics, so I'm sure Mike will have a different take on this stuff. But when preachers are put on for hours at a time by the cable networks who have no bearing on what the beliefs of Senator were at all at the time - I don't think he got particularly favorable - I'm not complaining about it because all's fair in politics, but I'd say it was pretty even."
Duncan took a different tact. He said if you did an analysis of pro-Obama, pro-McCain, anti-Obama and anti-McCain stories - you would find a troubling trend.
"Just as you questioned about the Republican Party going through a soul-searching and an evaluation, I suggest that the press do the same thing," Duncan said. "And I think the numbers will tell you the answer. I'm not here to criticize the press today, that's not my role. But objectively, look at your numbers and look the motive words and look at air time and network coverage and those kinds of things, and come to your own conclusion on that."
Duncan dodged offering specific examples, but did name a specific offender - The New York Times. He questioned the selection of some of the stories and photographs the newspaper chose to run throughout the election cycle.
"Again, that's not my intended role as national party chairman, is to criticize the press, but I think if you look at the amount of time given on nightly network news to the two candidates, and whether they were positive or negative stories, that you'll come to the conclusion that there was an advantage for Barack Obama," Duncan said. "I think if you take the major newspapers in this country, particularly the New York Times and look at some of the articles or look at some of the pictures that were run in the magazine section of the articles, that you will come to the conclusion that - that there is - there is a leaning toward one candidate in this campaign."
According to the GOP chairman, it's important for the media to evaluate their political leaning as circulation is declining for newspaper and TV news is more and more segmented.
"Now, that's something that as an industry that you've got to look at," Duncan added. "I mean, you've got declining newspaper circulation all over the country. You've got a fragmentation of the national networks now with all the different alternatives that are out there. That's something as an industry that the media has got to look at. I believe in the First Amendment. I believe that you have - that you have rights to say - but we also have the same rights to say what we feel."
Later in the program, Dean revealed the Democratic National Committee had been using a tactic involving the use of credit card data to predict voting behavior with 85 percent accuracy.
