Permanent link to MTA daily media news

The most powerful campaign media bias isn’t for a person
It’s for a decade — the 1960s, says William Powers. “If the race turns out to be Obama versus McCain, the obsession will only grow. Where Obama represents the RFK/MLK side of ’60s culture, McCain, the former Vietnam POW, will become the embodiment of the anti-communist, warrior strain.”
Unless that person’s name is Hillary Clinton.  Then there’s media bias just for her.

Clinton undermining election process, Obama camp claims
AUSTIN — Barack Obama’s presidential campaign said Friday that Hillary Clinton, fearing defeat in a state she badly needs to win, is trying to undermine confidence in Texas’ delegate-selection process by raising the specter of a chaotic election night. Clinton aides shot back that Obama was “fanning the distortion” of their legitimate concerns about the state’s two-step voting process, which entails both a primary election and a little understood caucus.
See, it doesn’t matter that the Clinton campaign said they never mentioned suing.  What most people will end up believing is that Clinton is bad, bad, bad—if they don’t already think that.

Texas Republicans cross over to vote for Obama
A poll released this week by SurveyUSA of Verona, N.J., indicated that registered Republicans would make up 9 percent of Democratic primary voters next week. Michael Baselice, head of Baselice and Associates, a Texas polling firm, said that was in line with what his company was finding. A bloc that large could make a significant difference for Obama, who holds a large lead over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York among Texas Republicans, especially in a close race. Polls this week were showing a dead heat in Texas as Obama began pulling even with Clinton.

A Number You Probably Haven’t Seen (Christopher Beam at Trailhead, Slate)
Obama, despite being ahead among pledged delegates, has fewer total votes among people who identify themselves as Democrats. (He has 7,392,809 votes; Clinton has 8,229,063.) That gives Clinton as lead with 52 percent of Democrats. Lanier also breaks the numbers down by race and points out that Obama has won white Democrats in only two states: New Mexico and Illinois… It helps you understand why the party gives so much power to its 796 superdelegates. If they didn’t, independents and Republicans could essentially hijack their election.
And hijacking is exactly what they are doing.  Democrats who support Obama are helping to move the Democratic leadership EVEN FURTHER TO THE RIGHT.  That’s not where I want them to go.  How about you?

Clinton or Obama safer? Ads go after ’scare’ votes
SAN ANTONIO — Sen. Hillary Clinton sparked a war of words with rival Sen. Barack Obama by launching a striking new TV spot here that says voters’ children would be safer with her answering the “red phone” that could ring at 3 a.m. in the White House with news of a national security threat.

Bonus Quote of the Day (Political Wire)
“I would encourage you on March 5 to call Sen. Clinton at 3 a.m. and ask that question.” — Obama adviser Richard Danzig, after a reporter asked whether Clinton should drop out of the presidential race after Ohio and Texas vote on March 4.
Is this what we’re calling unity now, or is unity no longer on the agenda?

Poll: Majority Of Americans Support Mandates Requiring The Purchase Of Health Coverage
A new poll from NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health, however, finds that most Americans reject conservatives’ approach to health care. In fact, the majority of the public supports mandates requiring Americans to purchase health insurance.
Hillary haters hated Hillary more when it came out that her health care plan would require a mandate, to keep the cost low for all of us.  Turns out, the American people are with Hillary, not the haters.

Obama Present on Continued Use of Blackwater (by Alegre, posting at No Quarter)
An article in the current issue of The Nation discusses comments from a senior foreign policy advisor to Sen. Obama, in which they make clear BO’s refusal to rule out continued use of private security forces such as Blackwater… Obama’s broader Iraq withdrawal plan provides for some US troops to remain in Iraq - how many his advisors won’t say.  But it’s clear that Obama’s “Follow-on force” will include a robust security force to protect US personnel in Iraq…  Contrast this with something Hillary’s Senate office put out earlier today… “Senator Clinton Cosponsors Legislation to Ban Use of Private Security Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
In an update to the story in The Nation, the author says he received this information from the Clinton campaign, but questions its timing.  The woman CAN. NOT. catch a break.

Meet Tim Russert (by Jamison Foser, Media Matters)
Russert’s performance as a moderator of this week’s debate has drawn widespread criticism. Most appalling was his bizarre fixation on Louis Farrakhan. Russert asked Barack Obama about Louis Farrakhan’s praise for the Illinois senator. Obama, who had previously denounced Farrakhan, did so again. Then Russert asked about Farrakhan again. So Obama reiterated his denunciation. Then Russert, (who, I can only assume, was not bothering to listen to Obama’s responses) asked about Farrakhan again. So Obama again reiterated his denunciation. Russert, plowing ahead, asked yet another question about Farrakhan, prompting Obama to answer yet again. Josh Marshall summed up Russert’s behavior nicely: “It was a nationwide, televised, MSM version of one of those noxious Obama smear emails.”
The difference between me and some other so-called progressive commentators is that I don’t want this kind of coverage for ANY Democratic candidate.

Where Oh Where Are the McCain Haters? (by Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake)
I have noticed that the passion that fueled the virulent hatred against Hillary Clinton in comments across the blogosphere just does not transfer to John McCain… Case in point. I put up a post about Hillary Clinton accepting a Fox debate over at the Huffington Post. It got 265 irate comments. I put up one about McCain breaking campaign finance law while accusing Obama of doing so, and got — 10… I genuinely thought that the impulse to vilify Clinton and defend Obama was just because people really, really liked him. I have to say, now I’m not so certain.

John McCain’s Charitable Contributions (by Ken Silverstein at Washington Babylon, Harper’s Magazine)
John McCain … is essentially the sole donor to the John and Cindy McCain Foundation, and his wife is its chairman and president. Between 2001 and 2006, McCain contributed roughly $950,000 to the foundation. That accounted for all of its listed income other than for $100 that came from an anonymous donor. During that same period, the McCain foundation made contributions of roughly $1.6 million. More than $500,000 went to his kids’ private schools, most of which was donated when his children were attending those institutions. So McCain apparently received major tax deductions for supporting elite schools attended by his children.

Legislation Introduced to Remove McCain’s Panama Problem in Seeking Presidency (by Jonathan Turley)
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) has introduced legislation that would declare that any child born abroad to citizens serving in the United States military to be natural born citizens for the purposes of the constitution. It is a admirable bipartisan effort to resolve any questions about McCain’s eligibility under Article II. However, it is not the first time such legislation has been introduced and it is not clear if it would be sufficient.
This kind of challenge is silly.  There’s also an email floating around that claims Hillary Clinton can’t be president because the Nineteenth Amendment only gives women the right to vote, not the right to be president.

The Abrams Report: Bush League Justice, But No Justice For Siegelman (by Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars)
With any luck, the attention that Dan Abrams has committed to bring to the Don Siegelman case will manifest itself into pressure on the Alabama State Attorney General to move towards examining this miscarriage of justice. On last night’s show, Abrams spoke with former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, who was interviewed for the 60 Minutes piece and is one of the 52 current and former Attorneys General who have signed a letter raising concerns of politicization in this case. Woods again pointed out some of the red flags that have that bipartisan group calling for a special investigation.
Click through to watch the video.

Media Matters for America headlines

“Offended” Buchanan stands up for “white males,” claiming only “white males” died at Gettysburg, Normandy

O’Reilly: No escaping “the similarities between what Hitler … did back then and the hate-filled blogs, what they’re doing”

CBS’ Reynolds left out key info undermining his assertions about Obama’s response to Farrakhan, his church, and his patriotism

Savage: “[W]hy are there no queries being provoked about Saddam Hussein — I mean, Barack Hussein Obama?”

NY Times’ Nagourney uncritically repeated Farrakhan, “most liberal” attacks on Obama

Politico quoted McCain mocking Obama, neglected Obama’s direct rebuttal

Limbaugh falsely claimed Obama’s statement on Al Qaeda in Iraq is “manifestly not true”

Garrett claimed Obama “denounced … but would not reject” “Farrakhan’s previous anti-Semitic remarks” but didn’t report that Obama called them “unacceptable and reprehensible”

NY Times and AP jumped on story of Catholic League’s Donohue’s criticism of Edwards, but mum on his criticism of McCain

NY Times uncritically reported that Bush said he was “focused elsewhere, like on gasoline prices” after he admitted he “hadn’t heard” that gas could rise to $4 per gallon

CNN’s John King ignored McCain’s “pander” on immigration

MSNBC’s Witt asked Huckabee about Hagee’s endorsement of McCain, but did not report Hagee’s controversial comments

Hannity repeatedly distorts passage in Michelle Obama’s senior thesis to suggest alumni views on race are her own

On Fox, “confused” Hill falsely claimed “the law that lets” U.S. officials “listen in to phone calls from overseas by known terrorists expired two weeks ago”

Radio host McCullough reacted to Obama LGBT statement with blog headline “Obama: Hey Homos, I’m Your Dude!”

MSNBC military analyst Jacobs misquoted Obama, asserted: “Obama doesn’t know what he’s talking about”

AP, Cafferty noted Clinton has yet to release tax returns, but did not mention McCain’s failure to do so

Why British media agreed to a news blackout on Prince Harry
“In the lengthy discussions about the wisdom and ethics of doing this deal many editors voiced their concerns” about keeping Prince Harry’s war duties secret, writes Society of Editors executive director Bob Satchwell. “…The consensus was that as army chiefs had decided the prince would go to war it would be wrong to put him and his soldier colleagues at extra risk by publicising his deployment in advance.”

Job Cuts At Papers Shrink Coverage
Revenue and staff declines leave some news unreported.

More Americans turning to Web for news
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news, according to a new survey. While most people think journalism is important to the quality of life, 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities, a We Media/Zogby Interactive online poll showed.

Civil Rights Groups: FCC Should Allow Network Management
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission should allow broadband providers to manage their networks and slow “bandwidth hogs,” despite concerns that such practices arbitrarily target some customers, said a coalition of seven civil rights groups. Net neutrality rules for broadband providers would protect bandwidth hogs at the expense of other customers and civic organizations, said the coalition, which includes the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association, League of Rural Voters and National Council of Women’s Organizations.

NBC Universal, MPAA Weigh In on Network Management
Content producers were weighing in at the Federal Communications Commission Thursday and Friday in the agency’s ongoing inquiry into network-management practices. They want to make sure the FCC does not tie networks’ hands when it comes to managing the bandwidth-heavy traffic that includes their increasing online-video efforts.

Judge Backtracks: WikiLeaks Resumes U.S. Operations
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Friday allowed whistle-blower site WikiLeaks to resume operation in the United States, a week after ordering its U.S.  hosting company and domain registrar to shut down and lock the renegade’s site from the internet. The judge conceded the futility of attempts to censor information, in this instance private banking records, after it has been posted to the internet.

U.S. court denies Conrad Black bond during appeal
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A federal appeals court denied on Thursday Conrad Black’s request to remain free on bond during the appeal of his convictions for fraud and obstructing justice, though the judges indicated his appeal had at least a chance.

IAC: 100 Layoffs Coming At Ask.com; Search Deal With Google Possible (Paid Content)
A source has confirmed to us a coming shakeup at IAC-owned Ask.com that includes about 100 layoffs in the April time frame. SAI reported this morning that the site may pull the plug on its own search efforts, and instead power itself with Google search, a la AOL. We’ve learned that as part of the ad deal between IAC and Google, which the parties re-upped in November, there’s a clause allowing Google to engage more deeply with Ask’s algorithmic search. A decision to go with Google completely for search hasn’t been decided on definitively, but something along these lines may occur.