In yet another episode of NPR dropping the ball in its election coverage this year David Folkenflik devotes 4 plus minutes deriding the election coverage by other media outlets. listen Here
The story decries 'is it really the media's job to push the Clinton Campaign out of the race'
And yet where was the outrage when all media outlets including NPR pushed the meme that Clinton was the inevitable Candidate.
The biggest problem with this piece is that the media is finally doing its job and basing it analysis almost entirely on the facts. Now it may or may not be the media job to form and push the narative. But it is almost certainly the case that they see it as their job. Hence the entire profession of editor. Media outlets decide all the time what is news and what isn't. And the WV win last night was not really news. Meainign it would not likely effect the outcome fo the primary.
It is entirely valid for the MSM to ask of the Clinton Campaign what their rational for staying in the race is since the campaign does not have a realistic chance of becoming the nominee. I, like many here, am more confused on why it has taken this long for the meadia to ask relevant questions. Even the Clinton campaign, well their staffers at any rate, have acknowledged that they lost the race in February. So now that the MSM is finally doing their job (as they see it) and basing their 'analisys' (I use this term loosely) on data and THE MATH, NPR(a name I used to be able to trust) bemoans this.
Come on. Can't they smell what Barack is cooking?
Serioulsy. If this is their argument: that the media should let things play out naturally and should not try to influence the narative of the campaign.
Then where in the hell was the outrage over the inevitability meme that we had to endure all last year? Where was the outrage over the meme that it was a two person race back when Edwards was still in the race? In fact it stayed a two person race even after Edwards beat Clinton in Iowa. Where may I ask was the equal converge of all the major canidates on NPR? Did they give gravel the same amount of coverage as either Obama or Clinton?
No they did not. They did not say a word about the absurdity of the inevitability of Clinton mem even though not a single vote had been cast. They did not say, "hey wait a minute nobody has even voted yet, maybe we should let this thing play out naturally"
But hey, its all good because now they are against the influence of the media. Now when there are real issues of viability, of the health of the party as a whole, and of a campaign undoubtedly on its last legs, now the media should stay out.
Sorry. Now is the exact time to ask those hard questions of the Clinton Campaigm, of which she has had to answer very few throughout the campaing. And it is the Media's JOB and DUTY to do it. The Obama campaign isn't in a position to do it. It is not their right. But it is the RESPONSIBILTY of the media to ask these questions. That is supposedly what they get paid to do.
Enough with the bogus meme that the media is in the tank for the Obama campaign. No other campaing had to deal with answering REV Wright five thousand times. No other capaign had to answer, is he too black, too white, too muslin, too christain. No other campaign had everyone trying to tie them down by an endless series of ever more ludicrous guilt by association attacks. This mem is bullsh*t. And that's an insult to animals everywhere.
NPR do your F***cking job. Ask the questions that the american people deserve to have asked for them because they are not in a position to ask them. That is the job of the media, and if it happens that asking those questions creates a narative, well I guess we are all shit out of luck.