Why Is ABC News So Obviously Biased against Obama?

[Frank Booth]

Playing up this "Cindy McCain is more patriotic than Michelle Obama" story is just the latest proof of ABC's bias.

Yesterday, ABC was pushing the story that Obama's 6 point lead over McCain shows that Obama faces challenges in his quest for the presidency, while McCain is well-positioned to win. Huh??

Early this year, Disney-owned ESPN.com refused to air a major scoop by one if its writers -- a one-on-one interview with Obama regarding his love for sports -- because it supposedly cast Obama in too positive of a light.

These are just a few of the many examples of ABC's obvious antipathy toward Obama. And we all know about the farce "debate" hosted by Gibson and Stephanopoulos back in April. Even the most virulent Hillary supporters have now admitted that this "debate" was nothing more than a 1 1/2 hour, nationally televised smear campaign against Barack Obama.

My question is: Does anyone have any idea what happened to ABC??? Granted, it's never exactly been a beacon of independent voice. But back when Peter Jennings was around I always thought that ABC News, along with CBS News, was the most objective of the MSM. Does Jennings' death explain the obvious anti-Obama bias? Obama wasn't even a likely contender for the presidency when Jennings died, so that explanation seems unlikely.

Has Disney had a change in ownership or leadership over the past few years? Has Barack Obama previously spoken out against Disney or ABC and now it's payback time? Was a Karl Rove crony hired as the news director for ABC?

I'd really like to know the reason, because I think that ABC's anti-Obama agenda is even more troubling than that of Fox News. At least most everyone knows that Fox is part and parcel of the right-wing disinformation machine. But, disturbingly, most people still see ABC News as a reliable, slant-free news source. ABC seems dead set on trying to prevent Obama from winning the presidency, and I'm interested in finding out why.

[Danger Mouse]

1. I dunno, Disney is a pretty evil company tho.

[Frank Booth]

4. Is it really any worse than most other big companies though?

It appears that most Disney political contributions go to Democrats, as opposed to corps like Home Depot and Wal-Mart, where nearly all goes to Republicans. Disney's based in Los Angeles (well, actually Burbank) which is generally a pretty liberal place (unless being liberal gets in the way of more dollars). And some people say that Disney Land is the happiest place on earth, so it can't be all bad, right?

I suspect that, for whatever reason, those calling the shots for Disney absolutely do not want Obama to win. Why? I have no idea.

[Enthusiast]

11. For those willing to look, ABC always wears the

Fascist banner. It matters little if it is Obama or some other issue. ABC always comes down on the wrong side.

[Doctor_J]

29. No, all the networks, TV and radio, newspapers, and weekly "news" mags are against Obama

just like they were against Kerry, Gore, Clinton, and Dukakis. Are you just noticing this?

[kenny blankenship]

28. There ain't no democracy in a Magic Kingdom

No need to think. No need to vote. Just listen to the animatronic Presidents tell you what to do and stay inside the roped areas. You don't want us to get Goofy on your asses.

[Jim Sagle]

2. ABC is "in yo face" Republican - more lowdown than FOX, even.

[TeamJordan23]

3. ESPN Execs (also owned by Disney) stopped an ESPN interview with Obama in April. nm

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/espn-drops-obama-interview/

I think Disney has something against Obama.

[Frank Booth]

5. Yep. Supposedly that was the reason Bill Simmons stopped writing for espn.com for a while.

Though it looks like he's back now.

[PFunk]

6. I hate to say this but most of the MSM is.

Get use to it.

[Median Democrat]

7. Basic Economics -The President Appoints FCC Commissioners

News Corp/Fox and Disney/ABC are primarily media companies. They are directly impacted by an FCC that is hostile to media consolidation. The big issue is the dispute between the Bush FCC appointees and the Democratic controlled congress regarding the FCC's relaxation of the rules on media ownership. Here's a handy chart describing the nature of Disney's media holdings:

http://adage.com/images/random/media100tree_04.pdf

If Obama is elected President, then he gets to appoint commissioners to the FCC. Disney and News Corp are not going to allow that, because it could cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. This article from The Nation does a great job of describing the impact the election could have on Disney and News Corp:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080616/mcchesney

This is why its no accident that Fox is so biased, and why Disney/ABC has in the past 4 years:

1. Broadcast the anti-Kerry documentary/smear "Stolen Honor" shortly before the 2004 election.

2. Broadcast the anti-Clinton smear "Path to 9/11" blaming the Clinton administration for 9/11 shortly before the 2006 election.

3. Came very close to hiring Rush Limbaugh to broadcast Monday Night Football in 2003.

Big Media is simply not going to allow a Democrat to be President, which is why Democrats will need to work twice as hard and contribute twice as much to overcome the natural advantages enjoyed by John McCain.

[nxylas]

16. Wasn't Stolen Honor pulled at the last minute?

From what I remember, it was going to be broadcast by the Sinclair Broadcasting Network, which owns lots of stations, some of which are ABC affiliates and some of which are affiliated to other networks. Or am I thinking of something else?

[Median Democrat]

33. They Ended Up With Excerpts, And A Minor Circus . . .

With the ABC affiliates offering, and the Kerry campaign declining, to participate in a rebuttal to the excerpts. Also, ABC/Sinclair refused an offer by Michael Moore to broadcast Faranheit 9/11 as a rebuttal to Stolen Honor.

[TheDonkey]

8. ABC is definetly anti-Obama. I would encourage people not to watch their biased newcasts

[anniebelle]

10. I would further encourage people to turn off their tv.

I was a tv news junkie for years (when we actually had journalists and news rooms), but starting 2001, I began relying only on internet sources for news - Democracy Now, PBS, Dr. Juan Cole at Informed Comment is one of the best (and most reliable) sources of news on the middle east. I'm just appalled at the networks over these last 7 1/2 years, actually the last 12 or whenever Fux appeared on the scene. Just look at the real news people that have lost their voices since this Nazi regime took over our airwaves - Dan Rather, Phil Donahue, Aaron Brown, etc. etc. I was glad to see Lara Logan of CBS speaking her mind on Jon Stewart this week about how just fucked we are with our sources for news. No, I don't let that garbage into my home. We watch sports, nature and anything PBS, but no tv "news". And of course, Comedy Central.

Edit to add Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central.

[Doctor_J]

32. Use the internet

Any news provided & Censored by Big Media is ultra-right-wing in nature. By going to the DU Latest & Editorials pages, you can get real news.

[Median Democrat]

34. Its Not Just Obama, Its All Democrats

Even the Clintons. Remember "Path to 9/11," which blamed the Clinton Administration for 9/11 shortly before the 2006 elections?

The only reason why ABC seemed pro-Clinton during the debate was that Obama was ahead, and ABC was trying to prolong the election. If the roles were reversed, ABC would have been going after Hillary with gusto.

[Kablooie]

9. It's really wierd.

I work next to ABC headquarters so I assume the Republican assholes that are responsible for ABC's anti Democratic postures are here.

I don't think Disney's president is responsible, but who knows?

[Smarmie Doofus]

12. Took a hard right turn somewhere back around 2000.

Whenever it was that Koppell, Jennings and Walters were replaced by glorified dog-food salesmen. So your perceptions are correct, imo. And yes, it goes beyond and predates anti- Obama-bias.

I do remember distinctly observing the almost weirdly-skewed Stephanopoulis coverage of the 04 Veep debates and being convinced that what I had suspected.... a seismic shift from at least a pretense of neutrality to open advocacy for the RW agenda... was much more than suspicion.

[IsItJustMe]

13. ABC is outright biases against the Dems. Any fool can see it. Sad, but most of the media is. I

believe it has to do with the regulations and the different positions that the Republicans take versus the Democrats on media monopoly control.

[slinkerwink]

14. ABC did that fake 9/11 story that made Bush look like a hero

[SoxFan]

15. If there's an Oscar for Best Sig Line, you win!

[seasat]

17. It's simple, Obama opposes media consolidation

He clearly states in his issues outlines and in his speeches that he believes there needs to be more diversity in media. He also supports net neutrality. ABC and others want greater consolidation to give them more market control.

I was surprised to see Obama take this position in the primary. It's a dangerous position given the large corporate control of network news. He must have known that he would face attacks like those from ABC who are interested in keeping their power. You can tell Obama really believes in breaking up oligopoly in media control, otherwise he wouldn't have taken the risk that some of the outlets would turn against him because of it. A courageous position like that stands in stark contrast to John McCain's waffling on every issue.

[sourmilk]

18. Ask yourself another question:

Is John McCain a real person or is he a cartoon character?




Who can tell for sure? Disney - that's WHO!!!

[npincus]

19. ABC's Jake Tapper has stuck the shiv into Obama at every opportunity

[kevinmc]

20. They acted the same way with Kerry. Only Ted Kopple......

took on the BS Swift Boat charges .... everyone else on ABC just reported them as fact.

[Arkansas Granny]

21. They are hoping to boost the number of viewers by manufacturing a controversy.

The bigger the audience, the more they can charge for advertising, therefore more money for them, IMO.

[wvbygod]

22. At least we have msnbc in our corner to balance it

It's like the two have chosen sides and are in a media challenge to see who can get their
man in the white house.

[wowimthere]

24. MSNBC is not on the Democrats side. Only KO keeps them honest

They are pretending to be fair but all of them except KO act irresponsibly at some point. Don't jump on the the MSNBC bandwagon because they will disappoint you at some point.

[Doctor_J]

31. Yeah, Scarborough, Carlson, Buchanan, O'Donnell, Matthews are "in our corner"

:crazy:

[wowimthere]

23. Beacuse they're stupid enough to think most people look at this as a game and

they are in the toilet for McCain. They helped to fund Bush's war. They are like the Republicans in that they have the same agenda. Military Industrial Complex. Look at the 9/11 Hit piece on Bill Clinton... that is until Bill proved to be like one of them.

[old mark]

25. As is CNN.

ALL their programming seems to be about what Democrats are doing wrong, how Democrats are divided, hating each other, will not get together ti win, how McCain is close to Obama in their latest poll.
And they all manage to appear "concerned" about this.
Yesterday they even featured a segment with that crazy Republican minister guy who ran against McC, stating that "Demonizing" Obama made the Republicans look bad.
I always thought they looked bad naturally.

mark

[Barack_America]

26. $

And that goes for the lot of them.

[senseandsensibility]

27. Don't forget that smearfest, I mean "debate" that they

sponsored. Since I never watch ABC news, that's been my only experience with them and it was more than enough. The questions at that inquisition disguised as a "debate" attacked only Obama, not Clinton. After that, it should have been obvious what they were and that they would continue.:puke:

[Overseas]

30. ABC has been conservative for a long time now.

Not sure why the OP is surprised by that.