News Flash: World Unfair, Unbalanced
If I Ran the Zoo — Deborah Howell is back at the counting game in her Washington Post Ombudsman column this morning, carefully measuring every "positive" or "negative" Obama story the Post ran during the campaign to see if it was balanced by a similarly slanted story about McCain. I don't know whether she actually buys this foolishness or whether it's part of her job to pacify rubes who might buy the paper, but that's really beside the important and disappointing fact that this facile view of news and of the world exists within the upper echelons of American journalism. ...

Now That the Election is Over... Media Admits Bias For Obama
Gateway Pundit — This comes as no surprise... First there was Chris Matthews who vowed to continue his nonstop bias for Obama for the next 4 years at least: Today The Washington Post admitted they were biased in their election coverage: The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My ...

Washington Post Admits Bias Towards Obama
NewsBusters.org - Exposing Liberal Media Bias — ... Although Deborah Howell's piece "An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage" will appear in Sunday's print edition, it was published at the Post's website Saturday, and revealed quite frankly what most media observers have known for months (emphasis added, photo courtesy Newsday): ...

WaPo admits pro-Obama bias
Sister Toldjah — ... this morning on WaPo ombudsman Deborah Howell’s analysis of election coverage from her paper over the last year. Make sure to read Ed’s full post to get a good idea of just how lopsided the coverage was in favor of Obama - not only that, but Ms. Howell admitted the WaPo flat out fell down on the job as it related to digging into Joe Biden’s past like they did Gov. Sarah Palin’s. ...

Washington Post Ombudsman: Election Coverage Was Superficial, And Biased For Obama
Say Anything — Nice of them to tell us this after the election. The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts. I don’t know about the rest of you, but this seems like an admission of ageism: Post reporters, photographers and editors — like most of the national news media — found ...

Post: We weren’t Really All That Biased, Actually
Daily Pundit — Deborah Howell - An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage - washingtonpost.com The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts. On the other hand, it really wasn’t much of a tilt, and on the whole, we did a great job. Thanks, ombudsman. Wonderful analysis.

WashPost Ombudsman: O-B-A-M-A
The Page by Mark Halperin — ... Paper's watchdog finds major tilt towards Obama-Biden and against McCain-Palin in coverage. Somewhere, Steve Schmidt is shocked, shocked.       ...

Washington Post Admits Bias for Obama
Patterico's Pontifications — [Guest post by DRJ] Deborah Howell, the Ombudsman of the Washington Post, admits the Post’s coverage was biased for Obama: “The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts.” Like most of the media, the Washington Post is addicted to Obama and Democrats and it needs a ...

Obama goggles
protein wisdom — The WaPo admits to “An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage” — but even in so doing misses the importance of their own admission. Notes David Harsanyi: Now, I believe the mass media was solidly in the tank for Obama, but I also believe it’s difficult to judge bias by sorting out stories — a negative one here for McCain a positive one for Obama. One candidate may warrant more negative attention. Another reason coverage may tilt is personality. No one cares about Joe Biden and everyone wanted to know the sordid (often maliciously untrue) detail of Sarah Palin’s life. There ...

Washington Post Ombudsman: Oops, our bad
Babalú Blog: an island on the net without a bearded dictator — Washington Post Ombudsman: Oops, our bad Deborah Howell, the Washington Post's ombudsman will admit in Sunday's Washington Post that her newspaper's coverage of the presidential campaign was tilted towards Obama. The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts. * * * ... Obama deserved tougher scrutiny than he got, especially of his undergraduate years, ...

The Washington Post 's Election Coverage:
The Volokh Conspiracy — Deborah Howell, the Washington Post 's ombudsman, assesses the paper's campaign coverage : The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts. According to Howell, the Post 's coverage was too poll-drive and "horse-race" news stories outnumbered issues-oriented stories over the past year by two-to-one. The balance of positive and negative coverage of the ...

An Obama Tilt In Campaign Coverage … No Shit!
Pat Dollard | Young Americans — ... been fair and balanced. That they may have fucked up and completely mislead and lied to the country. It’s done. It’s over. The MSM is finished. They have shown themselves for the political bitches they are to the socialist movement and the democrat party. There is NO saving face now by throwing themselves on their stupid little studio prop rubber knives. This is a trust and credibility that can never be recovered. By Deborah Howell - (WaPo) The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently ...

Quote for the Weekend/Open Thread
Tammy Bruce — ... from LGF). And some linkage for today: Court: Quit saying 'illegal aliens' Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor stirred up a hornet's nest by endorsing a demand from the Hispanic Bar Association to censor words and phrases such as "illegal aliens" and "illegal immigrants " and substitute "foreign nationals" in court documents. WaPo admits the obvious. Yet an "oops" after the fact is not enough... An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage The Post provided a lot of good campaign ...

Ho Hum
Power Line — ... As Paul has documented throughout the election season, the Washington Post has consistently been a cheerleader for Barack Obama. Today the paper's ombudsman, Deborah Howell, admitted as much: ...

In The Tank
PoliGazette — During this election season, conservatives have been very critical of the media, claiming that it was “in the tank” for Obama. Additionally, those of all ideological stripes have been frustrated by the lack of substance in media coverage — attention lavished on the horse race but actual policy ideas largely ignored. A report from the Washington Post’s ombudsman shows that both complaints had merit. Complaints about media bias against conservatives have been around for a long time, but rarely has the evidence been so clear cut or ...

Washington Post: We Were Biased
PoliGazette — ... The Washington Post’s Deborah Howell admitted in a column published Saturday that the coverage of the campaign by the Post was biased. ...

Post Tilt
Jules Crittenden — ... Ombudman acknowledges one, Obamaward . Oddly, the WPost ombudsman thought The Fact Checker “deserves praise for parsing campaign rhetoric for the overblown or just flat wrong.” I thought The Fact Checker was short  ...

Links for 2008-11-08 [del.icio.us]
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — ... on the 63,065 mail-in ballots that have yet to be counted. Ventura County released no additional results Friday. Strickland is also likely to benefit after an unknown number of late ballots are counted in the small Los Angeles County section of the district. Among votes already counted, Strickland leads in Los Angeles County by 14.5 percentage points. +++++++ Flap would rther be Strickland than Jackson at this point. Almost all of Santa Barbara County has been counted An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage - washingtonpost.com The Post provided a lot of good ...

Mark Joseph: Did You Hear The One About Barack Obama And.....
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... (as if they had not both had the opportunity to look into them on our behalf during the campaign) simply stunning. Then there's this from the Washington Post, conceding that Post readers were ill-served by the paper's campaign coverage. ...

Question Of The Day
RedState: Conservative News and Community — So, how many other news organizations find themselves in the position that the Washington Post is in? Probably quite a few: The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts. My assistant, Jean Hwang, and I have been examining Post coverage since Nov. 11 last year on issues, voters, fundraising, the ...

links for 2008-11-09
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog —

Question Of The Day
A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days — So, how many other news organizations find themselves in the position that the Washington Post is in? Probably quite a few: The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts. My assistant, Jean Hwang, and I have been examining Post coverage since Nov. 11 last year on issues, voters, fundraising, the candidates' backgrounds and horse-race stories on ...

Now They Tell Us
Brain-Terminal.com — Now that the hangovers from their post-election celebrations have begun to dissipate, members of the media can finally be honest about their coverage. According to Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell, her paper favored Obama: The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts. [...] But ...

WashPost’s Ombudsperson Howell: “Yep, WashPost luvs Barry!”
Rathergate.com — Ombudsperson Deb Howell of the Washington Post admits that her paper was in the tank for President-elect Obama: Obama deserved tougher scrutiny than he got, especially of his undergraduate years, his start in Chicago and his relationship with Antoin “Tony” Rezko, who was convicted this year of influence-peddling in Chicago. The Post did nothing on Obama’s acknowledged drug use as a teenager. [ . . . ] One gaping hole in coverage involved Joe Biden, Obama’s running mate. When Gov. Sarah Palin was nominated for vice president, reporters were booking the next flight to Alaska. ...

REALLY?! The MSM Pulled for Obama?!
blonde sagacity — ... In a "shocking" move the ombudsman for the Washington Post has penned an article conceeding that the paper had an "Obama Tilt in the Coverage" Yeah, no shit Sherlock. "...But Obama deserved tougher scrutiny than he got, especially of his undergraduate years, his start in Chicago and his relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who was convicted this year of influence-peddling in Chicago. The Post did nothing on Obama's acknowledged drug use as a teenager. One gaping hole in coverage involved Joe Biden, Obama's running mate. When Gov. Sarah Palin was nominated for vice ...

Not Waiting For The Asteroid
small dead animals — Not Waiting For The Asteroid [image] Suicide note at the Washington Post. Posted by Kate at November 10, 2008 9:24 AM

BMI’s Gainor: Fairness Doctrine? More Like Censorship Doctrine
NewsBusters.org - Exposing Liberal Media Bias — ... Gainor also discussed reports showing a clear media slant in favor of Obama during the presidential campaign. He said studies such as one from Washington Post Obudsman Deborah Howell were evidence of a “ridiculous” and “corrupt” media approach to covering politics. ...

Carol Platt Liebau: Redefining What Media "Counts"
Townhall.com Blog's TownHall Blog — ... He's got company -- the Washington Post's ombudsman has admitted the same thing . It's well for conservatives to keep all this in mind, and simply concede that there will never be a "level playing field" when it comes to the MSM. It's amazing that the left has somehow managed to maintain the illusion that the rest of the media is objective, while Fox somehow tilts right. But the lesson is instructive. Next time, how 'bout a little less willingness to turn someone like Sarah Palin over to Katie Couric -- and make her available to Michelle Malkin or Laura Ingraham instead? ...

No Sh**, Sherlock
sassafrassin.com — Washington Post: An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage Summary: “Hey, we cashed so many bad credibility checks during the campaign, and we’re way overdrawn at the Believability Bank, but maybe you suckers out there will buy it once more, at least until we get Our Man to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. Now we’ll get back to fellating The Dear Leader.” How’s this for a Cocodile-tear-filled mea culpa: Bill Hamilton, assistant managing editor for politics, said, “There are a lot of things I wish ...

Reality has a well-known liberal bias
Political Animal — REALITY HAS A WELL-KNOWN LIBERAL BIAS.... I'm a little behind on this one, but Deborah Howell, the Washington Post's ombudsman, had an item the other day scrutinizing the paper's coverage of the presidential campaign. She concluded that the Post had an "Obama tilt" over the course of the year The op-ed page ran far more laudatory opinion pieces on Obama, 32, than on Sen. John McCain, 13. There were far more negative pieces about McCain, 58, than there were about Obama, 32, and Obama got the editorial board's endorsement. The Post has several conservative columnists, but ...

Washington Post Columnists Ignore the Facts About Palin, Reagan
NewsBusters.org - Exposing Liberal Media Bias — ... Less than a week after Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell said the newspaper had an "Obama tilt," we were reminded again today of the paper's institutional bias against conservatives. Two columnists, Howard Kurtz and Joe Davidson, are guilty. ...

With Election Over, Smoke Begins to Clear
Moonbattery — ... of his protégé Barack Obama was launched in Ayers's living room. The two have been working closely together for years, even sharing an office. Yet supposedly it was smearing Obama to suggest they are any more than neighbors. Now the smoke is clearing; the Chicago Tribune is willing to publish Ayers's admission that he and the Obamas are "family friends." Over at the Washington Post, the ombudsman can now admit that the paper has been in the tank for Obama: The Post provided a lot of good ...

Howell's fairness doctrine
Michael Calderone's Blog — Following up on last week's column, Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell gives some more red meat to the right-wing talk radio contingent by writing that because there's a "perception" of liberal bias in media, a non-partisan newspaper should consider instituting a political litmus test when hiring reporters. Are there ways to tackle this? More conservatives in newsrooms and rigorous editing would be two. The first is not easy: Editors hire not on the basis of beliefs but on talent in reporting, photography and editing, and hiring is at a standstill ...

Affirmative action for conservatives
Political Animal — AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR CONSERVATIVES.... Last week, Deborah Howell, the Washington Post's ombudsman, had an item scrutinizing the paper's coverage of the presidential campaign. She concluded that the Post had an "Obama tilt" over the course of the year, but her criticisms ...