Good E&P Analysis of Media Coverage of bin Laden Tape

[Tesibria]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000694848

Media Response to New Osama Bin Laden Video Could Sway the Election

On the morning after a new video from Osama Bin Laden emerged, ABC's influential "The Note," the political/media online tip sheet, observed: "In the absence of any data to grab onto, it is a near certainty that the vast majority of weekend TV chatterers will assume that the tape is good for the President and bad for Kerry."

One expects the worst from TV new pundits, but one hopes that newspaper reporters and commentators will not lose their heads in a similar manner. For, as The Note noted, the outcome of the election may be determined "partly from how the candidates handle this and partly from how the press does."

Apparently the notion that the arrival of the new tape is good for Bush is based on the belief that he is "strong on terrorism" and the re-appearance of Osama plays into this. One would think, however, that before the media helps re-elect the president by emphasizing the very subjective "strong on terrorism" analysis, they might pause to give equal or even added weight to the demonstrable fact that the tape reminds us that: 1) 9/11 happened on Bush's watch 2) Bush has not yet caught Bin Laden perhaps because he 3) switched his attention to Iraq where 4) we have contributed to the terrorist threat against us in numerous tragic ways, not to mention suffering more U.S. casualties (dead and injured) than we absorbed in 9/11.

As someone who lost a good friend on 9/11, not to mention the daughter of our neighbors directly across the street, I say this with some conviction.

Will the press counter the blatherings in the other media? Or allow the Bin Laden tape to sway the election (and then express regrets that this was allowed to happen in the weeks ahead)?

....more ....

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. How can this help the Shrub?

Bush has made the world very dangerous!

[Tesibria]

2. because the media

is using Bush's talking points and reminding everyone ad nauseum that they feel safer with Bush

that being said -- I agree w/ you -- I just don't GET it.

[nosmokes]

3. a GOPosse member at another site

is pointing to bin ladens use of *democratic talking points* as if we wrote the speech for him or something. i told her all it meant was that OBL was capable of seeing the truth, too, not that democrats were terrorists. i don't think that registered.
OBL dissed bush.
democrats dissed bush.
democrats flew planes into WTC.
somehow, that all makes such perfect sense in her world...