Thursday, October 09, 2008

Is the Press Fair to Palin? [Kevin D. Williamson]

Strong majorities of the public say the press has been fair to John McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. But fewer than four-in-ten (38%) say the press has been fair to Sarah Palin. Many more believe the press has been too tough on Palin (38%) than say it has been too easy (21%).

While opinions about Palin coverage are highly partisan, many independents share the view that the press has been too tough on the Alaska governor. Among independents, 41% say the press has been too hard on Palin, 20% say the press has been too easy and 36% say the press has been fair. Republicans overwhelmingly believe the press has been too hard on Palin (63%). Just 7% say the press has been too easy on her. Nearly one-in-five Democrats (18%) agree that coverage of Palin has been too tough.

This brings up a question: Why do conservatives still feel the need to go through the dinosaur media? If you really want to talk ideas and policy, Rush Limbaugh's show is probably the best forum, if you can get on. Rush doesn't have a lot of guests, but when he does he gives them a chance to actually articulate their ideas in a developed way. If you're looking for a place where substantive conservative ideas can get a hearing, there's talk radio, the better blogs, Glenn Beck, NR/NRO, the Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily, &c. It's not so much that these outlets are conservative-friendly, but that they're interested in ideas. The Wall Street Journal is not going to ask a lot of "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" questions, or game-show inquiries about the deputy fisheries minister of Hoogivsastan. Treating the fossil media as though they were still the only — or the main — game in town only serves to prop them up and to diminish conservatives' ability to get a hearing for our ideas.

It would be much more interesting to hear Governor Palin spend an hour with Glenn Reynolds than with Katie Couric. It's not as though the MSM could ignore that interview, it's just that the direction of mediation would be reversed, with media liberals having to go through conservative new media rather than the other way around.

10/09 11:58 AM Share