Or, put differently, how press predisposition and bias shapes the tone and commentary of "news" -- and thereby shapes public opinion. How gingerly and with great deference the press handled the slips, foibles, goof-ups, and stupidities of Obama's first 100 days in office. Now if it had been Palin, things would have been radically different. Victor Davis Hanson tells us how she would have been treated and what we would have read:
The first 100 days of the Palin presidency, according to
a consensus of media commentators, have proven a near disaster. Perhaps
it was Palin’s scant two years’ experience in a major government
position that has eroded her gravitas, or maybe it was her flirty
reliance on looks and informal chit-chat. In any case, the press has
had a field day, and it is hard to see how President Palin can ever
recover from the Quayle/potatoe syndrome. Here is a roundup of this
week’s pundit mockery. [Read on]