Sunday, June 30, 2024

I Noticed Something About The Debate Coverage It Was Biased.

Did you notice it also?

All over the front pages… Biden Blows It!

Did you see any headline saying something like… Trump lied from the beginning to end of the debate! The only time I read about his lies it was buried down in the article.
Opinion | Media reaction to the newsworthy first presidential debate
Joe Biden had a bad night. That was the story from Thursday’s debate — not anything Trump said, whether it was true or not.
Poynter*
By: Tom Jones    
June 28, 2024


If you didn’t watch Thursday night’s debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, and you only read a transcript, you might have a different view than those who watched and listened to the debate.

Based on substance, and substance alone, Democrats thought Biden had a decent night, pointing out the accomplishments of his presidency and his vision for the next four years while slamming Trump for repeating lies and avoiding tough questions.

But if you watched and listened to the debate, well, that was another story.

Here’s how bad it went for Biden: Even the Democratic analysts on CNN and MSNBC needed some spicy mustard because of the way they were twisting themselves into pretzels trying to defend how Biden looked and sounded.

Ultimately, however, it was a tough spin, and even they knew it. To their credit, they called it like they saw it, and what they saw was not good.
Yeah, it was hard to say anything about the debates about President Biden awful night, but if Biden showed his age, Trump showed his character.

Just look at these headline...
New York Times

Guardian

Bloomberg

Fox News
On the evening news all they had were video clips of President Biden, nothing on Trump lies other than a voiceover of a clip of Trump.

But the media seems to have focused on Biden age and glossed over Trump lies. Where are the headlines calling for Trump step down for lying?
Opinion  What the debate told us: Biden’s facts are no match for Trump’s lies
Trump can shamelessly lie when debate moderators don’t fact-check in real time.
The Washington Post
By Jennifer Rubin
June 28, 202



What caught my eye
The problem for President Biden during his debate with felon and former president Donald Trump: He looked and sounded his age. He may have had his facts in a row, but in this format, it hardly matters. Unfortunately, allowing Trump to blather lies nonstop without fact-checking plays right into a compulsive liar’s hands.

Biden recited his economic accomplishments, reiterated figures on the debt, pounced on Trump for getting Roe v. Wade overturned (and made the case Trump would sign a nationwide ban on abortion), repeated the details of his border plan and called out Trump for “lies” on veterans and immigration. Biden showed real anger when he repeated Gen. John Kelly’s revelation that Trump called dead military “suckers” and “losers.”

[…]

Trump, on the other hand, unsurprisingly lied and lied some more. He claimed Biden had only given jobs to illegal immigrants; claimed the world now did not respect the United States; claimed illegal immigrants were on Social Security and Medicare; pretended that other countries pay tariffs; claimed babies are killed after birth; insisted “everyone” wanted abortion brought back to the states; claimed Biden “opened” the borders; and insisted we have “no borders.” On immigration, Trump dreamed up illegal immigrants in luxury hotels. He denied saying that military personnel who died are “suckers” and “losers.” He bizarrely insisted NATO went broke — over and over again. (He still doesn’t understand that our European allies support NATO through their own defense budgets, not by “paying up.”) Most appalling, he claimed Biden encouraged Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He even claimed credit for Biden’s effort to lower insulin drug prices.

[…]

Trump can shamelessly lie when moderators don’t fact-check in real time. The format simply does not work with an inveterate liar. But at points, Trump showed his true colors and his utter inability to answer straight policy questions (e.g., he could never answer a question on child care or on opioids). One is left somewhat despondent that millions of Americans will nevertheless vote for him.
The Hill,
June 29, 2024


Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) said the media “quickly” turned on President Biden after his debate performance.

Huckabee joined NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert” Friday, where he said it’s hard to say how long Biden’s performance will dominate the news cycle.
But he saw it from a different angle…

“I think the media has to accept some responsibility for the big lie that they have been telling for months now, and that is that Joe is top of his game, sharpest he’s ever been, just absolutely amazing,” Huckabee said.

[…]

Biden’s shaky debate performance caused panic among Democrats and prompted several news organizations to call for Biden to step aside Friday, letting someone else take on former President Trump.
It is the media that is causing the panic, by showing only one side. The whole next evening news show was about President Biden, talk about reinforcing the negative.
 
I asked my favorite AI…

Perplexity AI: “Was the Post-debate analysis biased in not pointing out Trump lies as much as Biden, it seems that the media focused on Biden but hardly covered Trump lies?
 
Answer:
Based on the search results, there is evidence to suggest that post-debate analysis did show some bias in its coverage, focusing more on Biden's performance while not giving equal attention to Trump's numerous false statements. Here are the key points:

    Quantity of false claims: Post-debate fact-checking revealed that Trump made significantly more false claims than Biden. CNN's fact-checker Daniel Dale reported that Trump made over 30 false claims, while Biden made around nine misleading statements
  •  Despite this disparity, the media coverage seemed to focus more on Biden's overall performance rather than highlighting the extent of Trump's falsehoods.
  •  Shift in focus to Biden's performance: Much of the post-debate coverage centered on Biden's perceived weaknesses and subdued performance, rather than extensively covering Trump's numerous false claims
  •  This shift in narrative could be seen as a form of media bias, as it downplayed the significance of Trump's misinformation.
[…]

While post-debate analysis did include fact-checking of both candidates' statements, the overall narrative appears to have been skewed towards critiquing Biden's performance rather than giving equal weight to the higher number of false claims made by Trump. This imbalance in coverage could be interpreted as a form of media bias, potentially influencing public perception of the debate outcomes.
So even an AI saw bias in the coverage.

One last word... Did President Biden get any of his fact and figures wrong? No he didn't, it was his presentation that was off, his memory is fine. It is the media with it harping Biden's performance and not taking Trump to task for his lies. 

*****
* About the Poynter Instituter from their website…
The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit that strengthens democracy by improving the relevance, ethical practice and value of journalism. Through teaching, publishing, convening, fact-checking and media literacy, Poynter creates a crossroads where communities come together to use journalism to confront society’s complex problems.

Poynter has long represented the gold standard for the professional development of journalists, For the last 50 years, Poynter has worked to bolster local news infrastructure and sustainability. In the last year, we’ve trained thousands of local journalists and their newsrooms in craft, digital audience and revenue growth, innovation, diversity, equity and inclusion, and effective management. Our work with local newsrooms has led to millions of dollars in new revenue, millions in new digital audience, and local newsroom leadership that is more equipped to recruit and retain diverse staff, lead from an ethical framework, and create newsrooms that will thrive and continue to grow for years to come.

1 comment:

  1. Richard Nelson6/30/24, 7:05 PM

    Just another step on the road to the final solution by these fascists. The media is sure in their pocket on this one.

    ReplyDelete