THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008
American Media Overplaying Obama Storyline
 Off The RecordBy Todd Wessell |
Since early January, political junkies have been gripped by the Democratic and Republican contests to see who will run for president in November.
Millions of Americans are mesmerized by the appeal of Barack Obama, the fiery passion of Hillary Clinton, and the down-to earth approach of John McCain.
There is a problem, however. Not with the candidates whose job it is to make their case to the American people by putting their best foot forward and drawing on their differences. The problem is with the American media.
There can be little doubt that for months, the television networks, cable TV, national magazines and large newspapers, have given Sen. Obama an extraordinary amount of leeway. Time and time again, they have latched onto the tantalizing story of a young, attractive African-American junior senator from the Land of Lincoln who speaks extremely well and inspires many.
They have done so at the expense of Mrs. Clinton who as a credible candidate could become the first woman president. Both have endearing qualities and appeal to a wide spectrum of Americans thirsty for change and hungry for improvement and good leadership. The large media of this country has overreached in its embrace of the Cinderella story of Obama. It's gone after the immediate story rather than fulfilling the number 1 reason why it exists: that of thoroughly reporting on all aspects of every presidential candidate-warts and all. There's been a highly noticeable lack of healthy skepticism on the part of the large media, especially when it comes to Sen. Obama. Such skepticism is not only needed, but an absolute requirement of the media in order to assist citizens in their need for the truth and their search for the best possible candidate.
Without it, the system slithers into a dysfunctional state and becomes reliant on image and a perspective based on shallowness rather than substance and well-grounded fact.
Unfortunately for the mainstream media, it has taken the forces of the Internet to bring the situation close to being on track. The recent revelations of incendiary comments made by Obama's church minister saw the light of day primarily due to postings on the Internet, not grand reporting from newspapers or TV. Obama, once the revelations became public, has been swift to denounce his minister's comments. Now we can see more clearly how he reacts to a potentially dangerous political situation. Taken a step further, it gives us clues as to how he will handle himself as president should he be elected.
Meanwhile, Park Ridge native Hillary Clinton plows ahead having first held what appeared to be an insurmountable lead for the nomination, replaced by the rock star status of Obama, fueled by the Fourth Estate's confusion about its role and forgetting why it has been granted priceless constitutional protection.
It's commonly agreed by most Americans-and the media itself-that it failed in its responsibility to report fairly, aggressively and with a strong dose of skepticism on the reasons why we had to go to war in Iraq five years ago. What lessons have been learned since then? It seems like very little.