In the presidential race, daily newspaper endorsements of the Obama-Biden ticket lead McCain-Palin by almost 2½ to 1, according to a tally by Editor & Publisher magazine, notes Grumpy Editor.
The latest score: 222 to 93.
The lopsided editorial endorsements provided the biggest clue as to why certain newspapers during this campaign season are tilting heavily for the Democrats. Rather than being fair and balanced in coverage --- a journalistic practice newspapers once held --- they are not ashamed of bias outside the editorial pages.
The E&P tally noted at least 38 key newspapers that endorsed George Bush in 2004 have switched to Obama this time around.
From Tuesday’s Washington Post, media columnist Howard Kurtz quoted Tobe Berkovitz, associate dean of Boston University's College of Communication who issued this yellow caution sign:
"If the mainstream media are wrong about Obama and the voters pull a Truman, that is going to be the end of whatever shred of credibility they have left."
The “pull a Truman” phrase referred to underdog Harry Truman snatching a presidential upset victory in November, 1948, against favorite Tom Dewey who was the frontrunner up until election day.
The 1948 election results caught the Chicago Tribune by surprise and left editors blushing big time. It’s big, bold headline had Dewey the victor.
A study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, released last week, found that from the end of the conventions through the debates, McCain's media coverage was on the negative side more than three times as much as Obama's.
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