The pro-Obama case against MSNBC's pro-Obama political coverage

[One Sweet World]

MSNBC is so in the tank for Obama that it is actually starting to pay diminishing marginal returns -- or, in other words, it's actually starting to hurt him.

The New Republic's Issac Chotier reports:

Dangerously, too, MSNBC's coverage can lead to a perverse sort of cognitive dissonance in viewers like, well, me. Throughout the primary process, I often found myself much more bullish on the Illinois Senator's chances after watching MSNBC than I had any reason to be. After Obama's Iowa victory, for instance, I remember hearing Matthews' description of a giant "wave" of Obamamania sweeping across the nation; surely, the race was over. Likewise, during the month of February, when Obama won eleven straight primaries, I recall watching the network and occasionally convincing myself that Clinton was certain to drop out before Texas and Ohio because her chances had become so diminished. The problem here is that when supposedly "straight" news anchors phrase questions in leading ways, and report one campaign's spin as if it were fact, it distorts what is actually going on in the campaign--even for those of us who make a living obsessing over and writing about politics. And when anchormen themselves shill for Obama, the distinction between his talking points and the truth grows even blurrier still. So, as much as I find MSNBC entertaining, their creation of a parallel, pro-Obama universe is the type of thing I'd expect of Fox. That's when I know it's time to change the channel.

A must-read, for sure.

[meegbear]

1. Do you have a link?

[Windy]

2. The FACTS are pro-obama... its not any biased reporting on behalf of MSNBC. n/t

[Bumblebee]

3. Dogmatism like that is chilling, whether from the right or the left.

YOUR facts are pro-Obama; that does not mean FACTS are pro-Obama, but I am sure this is way too nuanced for you, or the unwatchable MSNBC these days.

[Mojorabbit]

4. The math is pro Obama

I don't think Clinton has been treated all that well though and McCain has so far has been given a free ride. And none of the media have focused on the policies of any of the candidates. It has been coverage of small dustups blown up to giant proportions by the press that do not matter in the large picture.