Last night on CNN I watched "Obama Revealed" and "McCain Revealed." The two documentaries were supposed to "reveal who the candidates are in terms of their history and character. As a scholar who analyzes ideology in media content, I immediately was aware of the very different approaches to narrative, language, visuals, music, choice of speakers, editing and overall tone afforded Obama versus McCain. McCain was depicted with respect, even when "touching" (ever so gently) on his incompetence as a soldier (which was translated into being a rebel, a maverick, and/or a martyr), his continuous cheating on his wife (translated into `maverick lady's man'), his Keating 5 scandal (inadequately explained and effectively neutralized) and his impulsive temper tantrums and flip-floping (more endearing maverick stuff). Overall he was portrayed as a war hero and seasoned, yet human, independent.
Obama, on the other hand, was constructed as a troubled black youth from a broken inter-racial family who became, alternately, a childishly naive idealist and/or a cynical political egotist. When charges are raised about him knocking a political rival out of the race (demonstrating his "cut-throat nature", an characterization emphasized at least twice), or being involved with a shady slum-lord, etc. these characterizations were not immediately challenged by allies or by Obama himself (as occurred consistently in the McCain piece); they were basically allowed to stand and were typically given emphasis through the choice of speakers, the sound bites selected, the editing, and the lead-ins and -outs to the commercials. The Mc Cain piece emphasized the positive and the Obama piece emphasized the negative--- McCain is interviewed in a presidential looking office with natural light, whereas Obama looks like he is in some cramped studio box with un-natural lighting. McCain's piece looks like a PBS documentary while Obama's piece looks and feels like an E True Hollywood Story (just not as sympathetic)-- and NONE of this is an accident. Every aspect of both productions involved choices that the producers made at every step: how will we construct the overall emphasis/storyline, what will we include and what will we exclude, what will be emphasized and what will be marginalized, how are we going to language this...?
Obama is falling in the polls exactly because of this kind of media bias. "Obama Revealed" characterized Obama in the exact same bogus and negative way that the Clinton/McCain camps have from the beginning. The media get away with this against liberals and democrats because, unlike conservatives, we don't literally CALL THEM on their bias and let them know there will be CONSEQUENCES (to their reputations, in their ratings, to their sponsors, to their careers). EMAIL, FAX, and/or CALL CNN TODAY ((404) 827-2600) TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THEIR BIAS/DISRESPECT AGAINST OBAMA, AND THE FREE PASS THEY ARE GIVING MCCAIN.
Comments are closed for this post.
