The most under-reported story of the year is Rendell's bashing of the network news media yesterday for its "embarrassing" coverage of Obama. You can't find much on it. But Rendell called the network bigwigs out -- Brokaw, George St., etc., until such time as Judy Woodruff ordered him to sit down and shut up.
Hannity has it right -- 2008 is the year "journalism died". The bias has always been there, but the overt attempt to elect Obama is far beyond anything I've seen in my lifetime.
Ohio Gov. Bashes Press for pro-Obama Bias
Ted Strickland, Ohio's governor. (Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg News)
By Dan Balz
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is the latest supporter of Hillary Clinton to accuse the media of bias in its coverage of the Democratic nomination battle.
At a dinner with Washington Post reporters and editors, Strickland called the coverage "almost shocking at times" and unfair it the treatment of both candidate Clinton and her husband, the former president.
"Quite frankly, some of the people that I had most previously admired as commentators I have a remarkably different opinion toward right now," Strickland said.
Strickland was the second big-state governor and Clinton supporter to sound off about the press at the convention. On Sunday, at a panel hosted by Harvard's Shorenstein Center, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell called coverage of Barack Obama's campaign "embarrassing"
"He is running for the most important office in the world," Rendell said. "He basically got a free pass." Rendell also described MSNBC derisively as "the official network of the Obama campaign."
Strickland was one of Clinton's strongest supporters and helped her carry the Ohio primary in March. In his critique, he did not single out any commentators by name. But he was sharply critical of the treatment Clinton got at two debates just before the Ohio primary, noting that she was repeatedly asked questions first, giving Obama the benefit of being able to shape his answer in response to hers.
He recalled that Clinton had raised the issue during the Cleveland debate. "Then she was mocked for bringing it up, referred to as whining," he said. "I think it was very legitimate."
Strickland said he was troubled by innuendo in coverage of the campaign and particularly the focus on both Hillary and Bill Clinton. "I mean she was the candidate, for God's sake, he wasn't."
He also said he has heard complaints from Clinton supporters about the failure of the Democratic National Committee "for not being more direct in calling attention" to the problem. |
