Media Bias: Flip-flopper in Chief
By David Brock and Jamison Foser, AlterNet.org
George
Bush's image as a strong and decisive leader is a creation of
journalists too lazy to notice that the [pseudo-]pResident has a long
history of changing his positions to suit his political needs.
…As
Columbia Journalism Review, Media Matters for America, and countless
others have noted, the media has applied an alarming double standard in
covering Bush’s and Kerry’s changes in position – a double standard
that has been particularly noteworthy in recent weeks.
An Aug. 30 Washington Post article demonstrated the sometimes subtle
ways in which media coverage of the candidates’ position-switches tends
to favor Bush:
“Republicans draw a sharp contrast between what
they portray as Bush's directness and what they call rival John F.
Kerry's tendency to worry issues to death. … He [Bush] has also not
hesitated to switch positions when necessary, such as when he
first opposed, then backed, the creation of a Homeland Security
Department.”
The Post used Bush’s own words to describe his opponent’s character
trait: Kerry tends to “worry issues to death.” Meanwhile, the newspaper
presented Bush’s decision-making far more charitably: “Unlike the
indecisive Kerry, Bush changes positions only “when necessary.” The
Post didn’t explain why Bush’s change in position about the creation of
a Homeland Security Department was anything other than a classic
“flip-flop”; nor did the article include an explanation of why Bush’s
flip was “necessary” – though we can assume that political
considerations played a sizable role.
Blog For Iowa 