Monday 6 October 2008

Palin vs Obama at the SMH

Romeo Mike has started the ball rolling by analysing how the SMH has been covering Obama and McCain/Palin. In my view, they are such one-eyed Obama-fans, I don't know why they haven't resorted to painting horns on every photo of Palin that they publish.

I did a search on the SMH website this morning, and started by searching for "Palin". Here are the results:

  • Americans twitter vice-presidential debate - balanced article
  • US braces for Palin debate with Biden - snide references as to whether Palin is up to it. Totally Obama-biased
  • McCain defends 'maverick' Palin - has a number of digs at McCain and Palin. Totally Obama-biased
  • Sarah Palin makes it big online - goes on to say that she is "not a big hit with voters". The story chronicles a number of web sites that make fun of Palin. There are many that have a similar dig at Obama, but none have been mentioned by the SMH. Totally Obama-biased by ommission.
  • Sandra Bernhard cops Sarah Palin blowback - not sure what to make of this, but the lack of comment from the Obama camp is interesting. You'd think they'd chime in and say comments like Bernhard's are unacceptable, but the silence is deafening.
  • I represent everyday Americans: Palin - this is a classic bit of juxtapositioning in an attempt to wreck here statement: "John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin has portrayed herself as a champion of everyday people, while noting her family's stock portfolio took a $US20,000 ($A25,200) hit last week." They are trying to have a dig at her here for being a stock-owning plutocrat, but of course she was referring to her retirement account - essentially her superannuation. Totally Obama-biased
  • Feisty Palin escapes gaffes, but Biden wins snap polls - not sure what to make of this story yet.
  • Palin has plenty in the bank: records - this story is a total stitch-up job: "Sarah Palin, who regularly tells voters she knows what it is like to struggle to pay the bills, earns nearly $US200,000 ($A259,487) and has substantial savings". What it fails to point out is that her family earns nearly $200,000 - that total amount includes the earnings of her husband. And yes, I think they'd have fun paying the bills, given that they have 5 kids and live in Alaska, which is an expensive place to live. That's also their gross income - it doesn't take into account the expenses that her husband incurs in running his fishing business. In short, totally Obama-biased. By comparison, I did a search for "obama + aragula", to see what the SMH had to say about Obama's famous arugula gaffe, and there is no mention of it on their website. Interestingly, that search on google returns 418,000 hits.
  • A month after being a sensation, Palin's now a problem - they get their comments for this story from a Professor in Berkeley, possibly the most left wing place in Ameria. Puh-lease. Totally Obama-biased
  • Judge will not block Palin firing probe - no comment
  • Republicans gird for Palin debate - another hatchet job on Palin. Totally Obama-biased
  • Palin true to herself and values - a positive story, but it was written by a Conservative
I then did a search on "obama".

I then did a search on McCain, and most of the stories that came up were the same.

So, we have one positive story, a few balanced stories and an absolute slew of Obama puff pieces. Note that if they run a positive story about Obama, no space is given over to any negatives from the Republican side. But if they run a vaguely positive piece on Palin or McCain, anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 of the story is then devoted to attacks from the Democrats.

Interesting.

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