The Utter Fail of Media Analysis: NPR in Northeastern Pennsylvania

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%.

http://nprcheck.blogspot.com/

This guy feels the same way about NPR as many of us do.

You Iowans sure know where to find the good stuff! :)

KnR your post btw. The media lies to us everyday.

Which I wrote as Oct 2006.

D'oh!

We turn out thousands in Senate Park (several times, most recently on July 30) for pro-healthcare and even single payer rallies and no coverage. Zip. Nada.

The crazies turn out a couple of dozen screaming nutballs at a townhall and suddenly they represent everyone in the United States.

I call bullshit.

The question is how many times will DUers - who claim to be more media savvy than everyone else - fall for this tripe?

I had to stop listening to NPR during the runup to the Iraq war. I might as well have been listening to FAUX. Their coverage was complete cheerleading. Sounds like they haven't changed. The scary thing is their coverage is so blatant and over the top. You'd think that if any liberals still listened to them, they'd be buried in angry e-mails every day. Then again, when I got my last pledge request in 2002, I declined to pledge and let them know why. It seems that they are happy enough with their corporate support, and the corporations must certainly be happy with them.

started acting more like a corporation than a trust to oversee public media for the common good. Board members are chosen by presidents to serve six-year terms, so of course everyone Repuke from Reagan on down has sought to fill it with people determined to kill public broadcasting. Clinton didn't help, re-appointing many of GHW Bush's minions, and of course rolling over further for the corporations by deregulating the FCC.

Wikipedia has this to say on the subject of NPR conservatism:

story didn't change their minds..so his mediawhoredom didn't work.

Thanks am..this is more confirmation in zillions of confirmations of the treason of the US "media".

http://m.npr.org/contactus.jsp

I sent my usual NPR contribution to Obama instead, and sent an email to the ombudsman telling him why.

I don't remember where I read this. It's important to remember the context. We were on the verge of complete economic collapse and McCain was basically preaching more of the same. People all over the country were terrified about the economy and terrified by Gramps cluelessness about it.

So a reporter was in the "Alabama" part of Pennsylvania and talks to a woman on her front porch, and asks who she is going to vote for. She calls into the house behind her to her husband and says, "Verne? Who are we voting for?" And a voice comes back and says, "I guess we're votin' for the ni**er!"

So don't tell me Green couldn't find a single Obama voter.