Who Does the Media "Like" for President?

I know, I know, it is a silly question. After all, the media support for Barack Obama has been nothing short of breathtaking. Seasoned journalists look at Obama and they sigh like teenagers over their favorite Hollywood star. He "looks so Presidential." He is "brilliant and capable." He is the new Messiah. Okay, I might be exaggerating a little, but you get my point.

By Republican standards, McCain has always largely received a fair shake by the media and that may have been due to the liberal friends he spends so much time with. There is Senator Russ Feingold whom McCain worked with to curtail free speech in the name of campaign finance reform. Than there is Senator Ted Kennedy, whom he partnered with in the passing of an immigration bill that did little to insure US security. Furthermore, McCain's candor and often folksy style resonated with journalists. But he has nothing on Obama.

McCain is old, fatherly, and moderate. Obama, on the other hand, is young, charismatic, and liberal. I mean really liberal. So much so the media swoons. The media isn't giving Obama love with words alone or in merely censuring McCain (like the New York Times recently did when he was to write an editorial about the war in Iraq), but also with money. According to Investors Business Daily's William Tate, the media favors Obama at a rate of 100 to 1 in donations. Tate notes that "An analysis of federal records shows that the amount of money journalists contributed so far this election cycle favors Democrats by a 15:1 ratio over Republicans, with $225,563 going to Democrats, only $16,298 to Republicans."

Tate continues, "Two-hundred thirty-five journalists donated to Democrats, just 20 gave to Republicans — a margin greater than 10-to-1. An even greater disparity, 20-to-1, exists between the number of journalists who donated to Barack Obama and John McCain." But the enthusiasm isn't only in the number of journalists who are donating to Democrats in general and Obama in particular, but in the amount of those donations. "The contributions add up to $315,533 to Democrats and $22,656 to Republicans — most of that to Ron Paul, who was supported by many liberals as a stalking horse to John McCain," according to Tate. If one goes further and subtracts the dollars that went to New York favorite (where most of the media survey are from) Rudy Giuliani and liberal's favorite Republican, Ron Paul, GOP contributions add up to a mere $3.150.

$315,533 to $3,150, that is 100 to 1. I suggest keeping those numbers in mind when you watch or read the news. If you sense a bias, it is likely there.

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Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Fox Business and the "Average Joe"

Media Bistro brought it's readers information about an interesting article in the Columbia Journalism Review by Liza Featherstone. The writer's focus was on the impact that the Fox Business Network was having and whether or not it had incorporated "Main Street" as well as "Wall Street."

From the article:

Liza Featherstone writes an in depth feature about Fox Business Network in this month's Columbia Journalism Review. Featherstone writes that, despite the fact that FBN "champions Main Street over Wall Street," the network is missing, "the actual perspective and experience of the average Joe."

Featherstone writes that FBN, "can be fun to watch," and describes examples of the unique way the channel has presented financial news. Still, "If FBN were to be intellectually honest in early 2008, some of that reporting would necessarily be less than upbeat," she writes. "We never even meet FBN's favorite protagonist: the consumer trying to make ends meet. We don't see the neighborhoods in Cleveland that have been devastated by the mortgage mess."

As FBN evolves on TV, its web counterpart has shot to success. Michael Learmonth writes on Silicon Alley Insider about Foxbusiness.com (1.01 million) surpassing CNBC.com (998,000) in unique viewers during January 2008 (CNNMoney.com beat both significantly, with 5.6 million). One caveat — all of Foxnews.com's business news traffic gets redirected to Foxbusiness.com.

The thesis of the article is simple: although Fox Business gives the viewer significantly more content on small and medium size businesses (versus pure Wall Street coverage), it is failing to address the needs of the "average joe." The consumer, home owner, or employee that are affect by businesses of all sizes. Here's the problem with that criticsm -- Fox never promised to reach that audience. It is, after all, a business channel.

What it set out to do is discuss the mega corporations and the average business on the street, and it has certainly made strides in that direction. I think that it has work to do in that front. Historically, small business is "boring", "parochial", or even "local." It doesn't have to be, but that is how it has been treated by the media. In the future, I believe all the networks will focus on small business (which is where the bulk of the job creation is in this country) and I expect Fox Business to be a leader in that drive.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.