The Utter Fail of Media Analysis: NPR in Northeastern Pennsylvania [View All]

In early October 2008, at the height of the election season, I heard a story on NPR that just shocked me. It was presented by reporter David Greene, who sought to find out what the atmosphere was like in northeastern Pennsylvania, and especially in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton corridor. Greene went around and interviewed people in the area and encapsulated his interviews into a news report. The shocking thing about it is that he could presumably not find ONE firm supporter of Barack Obama in the entire region. Greene's report includes four direct citations:

First, a Republican who says he's voting for McCain, because he's a "maverick."
Second, a Democrat who says she's voting for McCain, because he will keep us in the war.
Third, a woman in a bar who thinks Obama is "too good to be true," and says that he "scares" her. She is "considering McCain."
Fourth, a woman who is pro-life, which, according to Greene "may be the issue that gets her behind McCain."

You can read and listen to the whole nasty bag of it here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95420493

All four - if one believes the report - would likely be voting for McCain. Not one supporter of Obama made the reel for NPR's morning news. I remember hearing this story as I was driving to work and just shouting at the radio. Really? Really? You couldn't find one person even leaning toward Obama in all of northeastern Pennsylvania? Not one? What happened to the mythical media "balance," in which one view, however ridiculous, had to be "balanced" by another? We didn't even get that. Just McCain all the way down, with the talking points (maverick, Obama as "scary") included. I was furious, largely because I know Pennsylvania pretty well, and I knew this to be just flat-out false. The idea that Greene couldn't find even ONE person to speak in favor of Obama is just ludicrous. But that's what passed for "objective journalism" on the supposedly "liberal" NPR less than a month before the election.

By the way, the election results for Luzerne County, where Wilkes-Barre and Ashley, PA are located, were as follows:

Obama: 72,492 (53.6%)
McCain: 61,127 (45.6%)

Notice that Luzerne County largely reflects the national results!

The election results in Lackawanna County, where Scranton is located, were even more lop-sided, a wipe out:

Obama: 67,520 (62.6%)
McCain: 39,488 (36.6%)

David Green, NPR "journalist" went to northeastern Pennsylvania and pawned a story on the national audience that, for those who didn't know any better, essentially spelled doom for the Obama campaign in that region. He couldn't find ONE person to speak up for Obama. NOT. ONE. And there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth on this board because all the news media was saying essentially the same thing: Obama's in trouble in Pennsylvania. I invite you to look up my posts about Pennsylvania during that period to see me scoffing at such nonsense.

By the way, Obama won Pennsylvania by damn near 11%.