Thursday, September 18, 2008

Media & Elections

On the Israeli side we have:-

Some blamed the media not only for mistakes, but even for purposely distorting the pre-election trends in order to bring victory to Livni. "The media publicized purposeful lies," writes Yoav Yitzchak of the Hebrew-language NFC news site, "and failed their obligation to work on behalf of the purity of the democratic process. [I refer] specifically to Yediot Acharonot, Maariv, Haaretz, and Channel Two... For many weeks they have brainwashed the public, specifically the Kadima voters, publicizing again and again that Tzipi Livni is winning by 10-20%. They publicized this over and over, with the purpose of creating public opinion, possibly in the hope that the false polls will in the end bring the result that they want. By doing so, they greatly hurt the chances of the other candidates..."



On the American side we have:-

The flocks of campaign reporters who fly around the country with the presidential candidates have been more sidelined in the 2008 campaign than any in generations, sealed off from any meaningful access to either Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) or Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)...

Not only do the reporters have little interaction with the candidates, but increasingly they are having little impact on the broad campaign narratives and daily story lines that supply most voters with their impressions of the candidates.



Who do you believe as to the ethical, professional behavior of journalists in practice?

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