Obama's "shift" to the Center or the Right and the Media's role - Interesting Analysis from FAIR

[NattPang]

Media Advisory
Obama Moves Right? Pundits Cheer
7/15/08

Recent campaign coverage has scrutinized the ideological positioning of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, with corporate media reporting that he has shifted toward the center on numerous issues in order to improve his chances in the November election.

While some of the "flip-flops" are debatable--with media sometimes treating longtime Obama positions as new stances--what is undeniable is that for years corporate media have advised Democratic candidates to make just this sort of ideological shift.
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While some media commentators were critical of Obama for "flip-flopping," for others in the press it was simply smart politics. NBC Nightly News reporter Kevin Corke (6/29/08) summed up that both candidates "are in general election mode, trying to broaden their appeal to independent voters who'll likely decide the election this fall." CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Yellin (7/2/08) said that Obama could be "expanding his views, trying to reach more people." The Associated Press (7/3/08) put it: "Still, the likeliest path to the White House cuts through the center of the electorate."
snip
Of all the issues, Obama's supposed shift to the right on Iraq was one that the media seemed most enthusiastic about. Discussing Obama's moves to the right generally, CNBC's Harwood said (7/1/08): "Now that the surge is nearly complete, with reduced violence to show for it, will Obama moderate his views on pulling troops out? And when? So far he hasn't."
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When Obama's comments on Iraq provoked a round of media coverage that pondered the question of whether or not he was actually changing his position, many in the media were encouraging a flip-flop.
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(FAIR'S COMMENTARY ON THE PRESS ACTIVITY)
Ignoring the nuances of the candidate's position and cheerleading for him to take a different one is not a recipe for informative political coverage. But then, campaign coverage is rarely about informing the voters; more often it's an exercise in ideological sheepdogging, barking at and sometimes biting those who stray too far to the left.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3573

[Egnever]

1. Thats refreshing

I have been trying to say that here for a while now with little success. Nice to see Fair back it up.

The has been no shift Obama has been pragmatic from the start. The media is making it up to try to paint him as a flip flopper. Obama's speeches the last few days though have taken that argument straight to the media its good to see that meme is starting to die out.

[depakid]

2. Interesting compilation about how the corporate media reinforces the mythology

about "moving to the center."

[NattPang]

3. The media inserts itself into our politics

more than the candidates, IMO.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. KnR for FAIR