Appearing on the June 3 "America's Newsroom" program, Graham discussed Newsweek economics columnist Robert Samuelson's gripe that the media's "Obama infatuation is a great unreported story of our time."
Samuelson "is a reasonable guy" who "has got to know that we've had years of pro-Obama bias, and certainly in the pages of his own magazine, where there are syrupy pictures of Barack and/or Michelle almost weekly," Media Research Center (MRC) Director of Media Analysis Tim Graham told "America's Newsroom" host Bill Hemmer. [audio available here]
Graham added:
I don't think one column is going to change the fact that we have an overwhelming media bias in favor of Obama.
What Samuelson says here is important in that he's suggesting we've a lot of big programs here with a lot of big price tags and it would be nice if we had a news media that tried to hold the policymakers accountable and ask them tough questions about how much this is going to cost. That, I don't think, is what Newsweek and people like Jon Meacham the editor of Newsweek see their role as being.
I think you go back to what Chris Matthews said before the president was inaugurated. They see their job as helping Obama succeed. I don't think that's the same thing as helping the readers understand the world.
