The Center for Media and Public Affairs conducted a study confirming what everyone already knew -- the mainstream media gave John Kerry the kid-glove treatment this year, while being unusually harsh to George Bush. What most of us didn't realize is that the amount of positive press given to Kerry set a new record for media brown-nosing, the Washington Times reports:

"It's not just that John Kerry has gotten better press than President Bush before this election, he's gotten better press than anyone else since 1980. That's significant," said Bob Lichter, director of the D.C.-based nonpartisan research group.

"Kerry also got better press than anyone else in the days before the primaries as well," Mr. Lichter added.

In October alone, Mr. Kerry had a "record-breaking 77 percent positive press evaluations," compared with 34 percent positive for Mr. Bush, the study states.

The overall treatment of Kerry broke the record of a man whose shoes he appears to fill -- Walter Mondale in 1984. Not coincidentally, the man Mondale opposed received the worst treatment by the media since they began recording the data: Ronald Reagan received only 9% favorable press coverage in the year of his landslide victory against Mondale, an appalling number that reveals the complete lack of context and intellect of the mainstream media. The man who broke the back of the Soviet Union and won the Cold War could not rate any better than 9% favorable treatment from the American media?

The CMPA notes that in 2000, treatment of both candidates by the media was roughly equal. Unfortunately, that's only the second time it ever occurred, the first being Carter vs Reagan in 1980. Considering the attempt by NBC last night to sanitize John Kerry's interview with Tom Brokaw, I don't think the MSM were aiming for the hat trick on this election cycle. These results should embarrass every decisionmaker at every mainstream news outlet in America.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Mainstream Media's Love Affair With Kerry:

» Round-up from Lead and Gold
Captain's Quarters looks at coverage of the candidates in this and in past campaigns. Many good points but this one deserves mention. In 1984, Ronald Reagan received positive coverage only 9% of the time. The idea that RR was a beloved, bipartisan figu... [Read More]

Tracked on November 1, 2004 7:38 AM

» Update On Not Exactly 'Man Bites Dog' from The Hopeful Cynic
[T]heir editorial influence has been lost. No one really makes their decision based on...editors' endorsement[s]. It's just another stat to be tallied in a political climate that has put the horserace far ahead of substantive policy discussion. [Read More]

Tracked on November 1, 2004 9:49 AM

» Dems running away from Kerry from Commonwealth Conservative
Interesting post at Captain's Quarters, about this AP report that says Dems running for office around the country are putting as much distance between themselves and John Kerry as possible. Read the post here; good analysis. [Read More]

Tracked on November 1, 2004 11:08 AM