The Media Picks Its Preferred Story

[babylonsister]

Jeeze. Aren't the primaries over? These 'reporters' are SO lazy-prolly can't handle the magnitude of health care, so they go for the easy shot hoping to stir up controversy, so they can continue with their laziness. I'm glad our President won't be taking the bait.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_09/020017.php


THE MEDIA PICKS ITS PREFERRED STORY.... President Obama is making the rounds tomorrow, hitting every mainstream network's Sunday public affairs show, with the obvious goal of promoting health care reform. If the media coverage this morning is any indication, news outlets have a different story they prefer to emphasize.

New York Times: "Obama Rejects Race as Lead Cause of Criticism"

President Obama said Friday that he did not believe his race was the cause of fierce criticism aimed at his administration in the contentious national debate over health care, but rather that the cause was a sense of suspicion and distrust many Americans have in their government.

LA Times: "In media blitz, Obama says vitriol isn't racism-based"

Fear of "big changes" and of the growing role of government -- not racism -- are behind much of the criticism that the White House faces, President Obama said during a sweeping series of television interviews to air Sunday.

Lead story of Time's "The Page" this morning: "Obama: Health Care Anger Not Motivated by Race"

The president tells NBC News the health care criticism is driven by an intense debate over the proper role of government -- and not by racism.

CNN: "Obama: Race not 'overriding issue' in criticism"

In an interview with CNN's John King airing on "State of the Union with John King" this Sunday, Obama acknowledged that racism plays a role in some of the criticism against him, but added that race is "not the overriding issue."

Keep in mind, race is an issue the White House isn't talking about, and would prefer to avoid. The talk is entirely the result of reporters' questions, and this morning, it's the angle news outlets have decided is the most important element of the debate.

Now, in fairness, I can appreciate the fact that the media wants to lead with something provocative. After months of debate, none of these outlets want to run with "Obama: still no death panels" as a headline.

But it seems as if the media has decided that the intersection of race and health care is too exciting to ignore, and they're going to exploit it for all it's worth.

—Steve Benen

[annabanana]

1. D'ya think they all get together on some conference call and decide

just exactly how to spin everything? I do.

[babylonsister]

2. Absolutely. Every day the rnc or whomever has their daily talking

points, all geared towards bringing the Dems down. So does the media. Remember scarborough on Bill Maher? They are told what to concentrate on. The fix has been in for a long time.

[Clio the Leo]

8. They dont need to on this one. Race-based stories are a given ratings booster.....

..... does the name OJ Simpson ring a bell?

President Carter gave them a wonderful gift this week.

Look how much WE are talking about it? And we are more passionate about health care reform than the average citizen.

[vaberella]

3. I actually like this. It shows that Obama basically owns them.

He's directing the direction of the talk more now. They want this to be the case and Obama is giving it to them so then they can lay off the drama. He mentions anything of this being race related and it will be a nightmare for what he wants done now and the future. Plus I can see Wright being thrown in his face continuously if he does go that route.

[Clio the Leo]

10. Quite the opposite...... its' Beer-gate redux....

.... I'd challenge anyone to be able to remember ONE thing the President mentioned re: health care during his briefing in which that now infamous question about Dr. Gates came up. If the racism thing had not been an issue now, you'd be hearing soundbites from this President today talking about how he wanted the final bill to include a public option.

Instead, the President is having to waste time disucssing the obvious fact that some folks dont like him because he's black. A fact that was, no doubt, firmly established 48 years ago.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

22. CHRIS MATTHEWS HAS BEEN PUSHING RACE SINCE BEFORE ELECTION

[vaberella]

25. Yeah so...?! Tweety would be right that this is racially motivated

Oh is just trying to take it another way and Tweets is a minority in the talk of racism even if the media behind closed doors might like to think otherwise.

Lastly...what's up with the caps. Calm yourself.

[MoJoWorkin]

4. Yep, anything to avoid letting Obama talk about Health Care....

I still think it will be turn out ok. As I said in another post, maybe more people will tune in than would normally, just to hear his comments about race, and will again be blown away by his calm, articulate, reasoned approach. I believe this will reinforce positive opinions of him, and should only help people in trusting his judgment in other areas, like health care.

[Clio the Leo]

11. the very people the President needs to convince won't.....

..... true as it may be, to blame any of this on racism SEEMS like a cop-out on our part. ....... The average American doesn't understand how much our country is plagued with this disease. To them, racism went away with Jim Crow.

[babylonsister]

14. If the average American has been paying attention, they know

that racism has reared its ugly head again. Teabaggers, 9/12, town halls... it's pretty obvious.

[Clio the Leo]

29. The racism that exists on the fringe is not the problem.....

.... the real threat of racism in this country is not the overt "Obama as a monkey" BS we see on fringe of society. The REAL racism is so saturated within our culture we often dont recognize it.

It's not something that would cause some to assert that the President was, no doubt, born in Kenya and that he has been plotting since birth to take over the nation .... it's the racism that allows someone else to doubt that meme MIGHT be true.

The simple fact of the matter is, we dont KNOW one another. We work together, we watch one another on tv, but we simply dont socialize with and care for one another like we care for our "own." We dont go out partying together. We dont worship together. And this division is so deep, we take it for granted. It's the kind of racism that allows something as common place as the music we listen to to be segregated along racial lines and no one give it a second thought.

One of the reasons why Barack Obama was such an attractive candidate to me is that he is like so many of the people I was blessed to grow up with. Cosmopolitan, worldly, proud of his ethnicity but not constrained by it. All the many things that makes him so familiar to me and no doubt most of us here are the very things that make him threatening and darkly mysterious to others.

THIS is the real racism that we are fighting against.

[Clio the Leo]

28. *

[LibDemAlways]

5. This is a win-win for the repukes. It smacks down those who

point out their obvious racism, in this case former Pres. Carter - one of their favorite Democratic punching bags. And at the same time it provides cover for their continuing racist bullshit, since Obama is distancing himself from the charges. They sure do know how to frame the debate to their advantage.

[babylonsister]

6. I don't think so. It's a lazy approach when health care is front and center

and has been for months for so many Americans.

The President will brush off their 'concerns' and keep on trucking.

[LibDemAlways]

7. Obama will definitely continue to brush it off. He has no other choice.

But the racism won't go away, and the media will continue, when given the opportunity, to deny its existence.

It is incredibly lazy "journalism." But I would expect nothing less of the repuke owned whores.

[Clio the Leo]

12. What did the President say in the Sunday interviews about how he hopes the final bill includes a PO?

See my point? We dont know.

Distraction ........... Distraction ........... Distraction.

It's not that the matter doesn't need to be addressed, but what an INCONVENIENT time to discuss the pink elephant in the room.

[Hansel]

27. Wrong. The win win is for Obama.

It will just irritate them because they can't get a rise out of him. That's all. If you really believe the repukes are winning you're not paying close enough attention. Despite all of the hullabaloo in August, the polls on health care reform are virtually unchanged. They are actually improving a little since Obama gave his speech to the joint session of congress.

Obama's comments are disarming. Those who are using racism know they are even as they deny it. They need to get a rise out of him to throw him off of his game but he's not playing their game.

They will now escalate to try to get a rise out of him until they completely implode and openly expose the batsh*t crazy racism they employ. Average Americans will see Obama as above the fray and those using racism as buffoons.

The only way the repukes game is exposed is for the Carters and Pelosis to raise the topic to shine a light on it. They take the hits and it gives Obama a chance to pooh-pooh it. Obama proves he's the president for every American at the same time the topic is raised for discussion in the media and those using it are exposed for what they are doing. Americans will begin to realize what the opposition to health care is really about, the lies will be easier to see and Obama will come off as magnanimous and sympathetic all at the same time. Win win win Obama. Now the public can hear and trust what Obama has to say through all of the noise.

You do not develop your strategy based on what the repukes will say in response. That is the mistake the Dems have made for the past 40 years. You based your strategy on principle and the people will follow.

[Demit]

9. I think this is an issue Obama has to sidestep. He really has no choice. He's got to tamp it down.

If only for one—logical—reason, that nobody can definitively PROVE the hypothesis.

I think the media now has nowhere to go with the narrative. The question is asked (of the president) and answered. What are they going to do, to keep the story alive? Go to the teabaggers for a rebuttal? Ask them do they think the president is wrong and they are indeed racist? Obama has deflated the controversy.

He has that preternatural calm which drives the 'gotcha' media crazy. But thank god he does. There wouldn't be any percentage in his joining the argument.

[Clio the Leo]

13. Yes, yes and yes. NT

[Arkana]

16. And the reason they can't is because no one has been stupid enough

to call him a n***** in public--whether on a teabagger sign, or on a talk show, or on a radio show.

But one of them will crack eventually--especially if Obama is Prez for 8 years instead of just 4.

[Indigent]

15. But isn't racism the preferred story in DU as of late?

I would tend to say absolutely yes. Maureen Dowd and Jimmy Carter have been discussed ad nauseaum here.

[Arkana]

17. Obama only said what he said because he had no alternative.

The media's feeding frenzy would increase tenfold, and the wingers in Congress would use it to play their favorite pastime--being the poor, persecuted victim.

It's all racism. They have people like Rush and Beck and Hannity and all the others to softly rub their nuts and tell them "Shhhh, it's OK...it's not REALLY racism you feel. You just hate black people." But it is racism, pure and simple.

[Indigent]

18. Or maybe Obama agrees with Colin Powell or Glenn Greenwald, who had an alternative n/t

Maybe you're right and Obama is a liar, though. I politely disagree. He said some of the vitriol comes from racists, which is fair enough.

[babylonsister]

21. It's the reality of what's going on but that doesn't mean the

President can't remain above the fray.

[HopeOverFear]

19. It just occurred to me that race is going to be the M$M distraction for all of O's presidency

[grasswire]

20. of course there is "nannying" of the press going on

For many years, it was ABC's *insider* daily newsletter "The Note" that gave direction to coverage each day. I don't know if another entity has taken over that role. Perhaps it is Politico now.

It's disgusting. But it is the way of the trade in Washington.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

23. They must protect themselves from this...

[Hansel]

24. So apparently there were no blunders in any of the interviews.

The topic of the week about Obama doing all of these interviews was "is Obama being over exposed?" Just about every pundit wringing their hands about this were saying that all of these interviews made it more possible for him to get tripped and make a blunder. It's obvious he didn't.

All of these reporters are trying to create news rather than just interview Obama by injecting race into the interviews. Obama has not talked about race and it isn't related to anything he is working on. Even so, they are trying to stir up a reaction in order to make a story.

I love how Obama is disarming the issue though. He's smart.

[burning rain]

26. Most of the media are socially liberal & fiscally conservative.

Healthcare reform is not an issue that well pleases fiscal conservatives, so naturally they get bored with it. Hey, a good racial row is always piquant, especially with a black president, and especially with cracked-out white teabaggers runnin' amok and wantin' "their" country back. It's an ideal issue for the socially liberal, fiscally conservative media: it allows them to cluck--and doesn't cost them or their corporate sponsors anything.