Media Bias? Not Us? The Mainstream Media Speaks Up

In an interesting bit of timing, the NY Times ran a story today about perceived media sexism toward Hillary Clinton. (A topic covered here yesterday) In a shocking development the mainstream media (NBC, CBS, CNN etc) strongly disagree with that notion.  They seem almost dismissive of the claims.   They are also quick to say that Hillary Clinton’s defeat was caused by her own mistakes and they are not responsible for her loss.  That is true, Hillary has no one to blame but herself, and Barack Obama played by the rules and won the nomination fair and square.  However, that does not absolve them of their actions, nor does it lessen the anger many feel towards them.

There is this passage and quote from MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann:

There was “constant reflection and analysis at MSNBC, and I must say there was constant good faith in trying to make certain Senator Clinton was not treated unfairly.”

Now that they have been called on the carpet they wrap themselves in objective journalism.  Ironically, Olbermann has made a name for himself making fun of Bill O’Reilly and the right wing bias at Fox News.  I don’t know if he realizes that he has become a liberal version of his friend Bill.  I used to enjoy watching him, but his rants have taken on an air of self righteousness and he has lost his ability to be objective. 

There are several problems with the mainstream media defense tactics.

As the old cliché goes – perception is reality.  Many Clinton supporters and women’s groups including NOW (click here to read a column from their President) are angry at the bias, and NBC/MSNBC and CNN have lost credibility with many viewers.  They can defend themselves all they want, but it won’t change the way many women (and men too) feel about the way their candidate was treated while her opponent got the kid gloves treatment.

I wonder if the many of the biggest offenders (who are generally men in their 50’s and 60’s) fully realize the way the media world has changed.  Every one of their comments is stored on the web forever, and can be easily passed around.  And, there is an army of bloggers to offer a counter opinion and analyze their comments.

The bottom line is they can deny it all they want, but we live in a new media world.  My advice would be to really reflect on how they handled the nomination process rather than trying to spin it away.  No one is buying it.

On a separate and personal note – Happy Father’s Day to the #1 reader of the Think Tank blog – my Dad, who is one of the smartest guys I have ever met.  The lessons I have learned from him are too numerous to recount here, and I use them every day.  Happy Father’s Day!!