The So-Called "Fair and Balanced" News Source

I think we all have accepted that Fox News is a very conservative news channel.  If anyone sees an opportunity to rag on Democrats or anyone that seems the least bit liberal, they will take it.  Over the weekend I saw a prime example of this on a video of Sean Hannity's talk show.  The segment is called "Media Mash" and its focus is to show examples of the "mainstream media's liberal bias".  This particular segment criticizes several news channels for "attacking" Christine O'Donnell as not being a good candidate to replace Joe Biden in Delaware.


Take a look:





The first clip is from NBC's Today Show, the second is George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, and the third clip is from Morning Joe on MSNBC and these are what Hannity is using as evidence of the "mainstream media" picking up talking points and attacking a political candidate.  However, if you break these three clips down, Hannity's arguement starts to decay.  The main problem with these clips is that they are really just clips of whole stories. For people that don't watch the other channels or missed interviews of O'Donnell, there is no way to realize that she isn't completely being attacked in the way Hannity suggests.  And before you even look them up, the clips themselves speak to the same thing.  The first clip from The Today Show seems to simply be reporting what Democrats have said about Christine O'Donnell and not the media attacking her.  The second clip of George Stephanopoulos is really just a reporter wanting to know what O'Donnell herself thought about what Carl Rove said about her.  I do not see in either of these clips a candidate being attacked....only responsible reporting and answers being sought out.


 **Watch the GMA interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpZ5JZD0Y_Y


I couldn't find the exact clip from Morning Joe that Hannity used, however I did find another clip of Morning Joe where the hosts and contributors are discussing O'Donnell.

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While this clip does present some negative discussion of O'Donnell's character by Joe Scarborough and the other hosts of "Morning Joe", it is not an unfair discussion.  Also, Pat Buchanan also provides a different perspective which makes the overall discussion less one-sided.  


My overall point is that the only one that seems to be mudslinging is Sean Hannity and he uses against people that are merely providing different point of view or seeking responses to legitimate questions.  I fully accept that there are vicious attacks against Christine O'Donnell and that there can be bias in media, but Sean Hannity only bothered to show that ones that prove his own bias.

AZ Governor's Trouble with Public Speaking

Last night, Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona got a little tongue-tied during her opening statement in a debate against her opponent, Democrat Terry Goddard.  If that's not bad enough, Brewer also stumbled when asked about statements she had previously made regarding beheadings in the Arizona desert.  When I first read about this, I expected to hear reporters giving detailed information about how bad a blunder this was or how its not a big deal, depending on the angle the news channel wanted to provide.  But to my surprise, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC seem to all agree that this could have happened to anyone.  Journalists have also been sympathizing with Brewer because they have all lost their train of thought at some point or another.  And you have to admit, regardless of whether you agree with Brewer's policies or not, it is painful to watch.  

 

 So will this hurt Brewer's chances in the election? Most news outlets are saying it won't because it is still early and she plenty of time before November to recover. And so far, the media thinks she is doing this the right way.  She is laughing it off and moving forward.

But my question is this: How does a politician let this happen? The opening statement of a debate should be the easiest part to get through and would be something that is practiced over and over again. There wasn't any pressure for her to give a quick answer and she probably had talking points in front of her, so while I feel bad for her and believe it could have happened to anyone, I can't help but think that she is not just "anyone".  She is a politician whose job involves a great deal of public speaking and if I were a Republican citizen of Arizona, I would not have a great deal of confidence in my candidate.