Posted on 08/31/2004 11:32:20 AM PDT by RatherBiased.com
In all of the media coverage of the anti-Bush protesters who have been gathering in New York City outside the GOP convention, are viewers getting an accurate portrait? 
Not according to influential University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato who spoke out on the subject on Monday's Special Report with Brit Hume. Having seen the protesters parade by his hotel on Sunday, he saw a decidedly different version of events later that evening on television.
"I saw a very different protest [from his hotel room]. I saw lots of obscenities, not just on the banners but also hurled at almost anybody who looked like they might have been a delegate or anybody connected to the Republican convention," Sabato said.
Later that evening he turned on the television.
"I watched the coverage. They did something called mainstreaming. They were very careful to pick out a couple of Iraq War veterans, a little old lady had who attended her first convention and a married couple. A middle-class married couple who had very moderate things to say. Now that may have been 10 or 20 percent of the protesters but I can guarantee you, having watched a good part of this demonstration, that was not representative of the demonstrations."
Sabato's comments do appear to be true of CBS's coverage which has heavily emphasized elderly women, anti-Bush families, and the peaceful intentions of protesters.
Read the full transcript of Sabato's remarks here or watch C-SPAN's live feed of the parade route in case you didn't get a chance to see what the protests were actually like.
(Excerpt) Read more at ratherbiased.com ...
I've been listening too him for a long time (I attended UVa) but I just don't hear it. You could be right, though. Maybe it's just that I'm so used to hearing much more obvious bias from the likes of Jennings, Rather, Brokaw, etc. that his just doesn't make a blip on my bias radar. :-)
He said a month ago that the race was over, Kerry's to lose.
I guess only Republicans would think that that was partisan when we hadn't even had our Convention yet?
And, he seemed to pretty much have a tin ear (as did the rest of the media) about the May 8 Press Conference by the SwiftBoat Vets for Truth.
They all ignored Kerry's 1971 Congressional Testimony. In fact, I still haven't seen it mentioned anywhere by Sabato, but I don't watch TV very much. Or, for that matter Kerry's appearance on Meet The Press in 1971, or his spin on his "medals being thrown away."
Okay, Larry, I am waiting.
I'd also like to hear what Larry has to think about Kerry not being available for any interviews with the MSM, not even the reporters covering him on the campaign.
Should I go on?
And, what about those vacations of Kerry's?
A real shocker ehh!
Well, you see, its like this...
I figure if anybody is worth knowing,
then I probably know them already.
And If I don't know them already,
then they probably suck.
So I don't know who this Larry Sabato guy is,
so that means he is probably not worth knowing,
which in turn means that he probably sucks.
Do I know you?
Of course the MSM would say that the protesters are all just a bunch of life-long Republicans who are 'deeply concerned' with the GOP's rightward shift under the Presidency of George Bush.
RE: If you don't already know him/her/them/it, then he/she/they/it's aren't worth knowing...
So, do you listen to classic oldies music all the time, too, or have you been known to like a new tune, now and again?
When you are homeless, you can call any city home.
So what else is new? "He leans left."
At least he's honest. I'll take that.
Thanks for the welcome! I've been reading FR for years, but just registered to post a couple of weeks ago.
I hear what you're saying, it's just that I consider Sabato to be purely an analyst of the "horse race" if you will. He is not a reporter or a pundit. Actually, I think he fits into a rather unique position. There aren't many people on TV or radio doing what he does. Oh, sure, CNN has that stupid guy who reports poll results, but he's an amature hack compared to Sabato.
Anyway, none of this means that Sabato doesn't lean left. It seems that most people here think he does. I guess I was just trying to say if he does, it sure isn't as obvious to me as it is with some others.
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