Posted on 09/15/2008 12:15:39 PM PDT by Red Steel
MarketWatch Columnist Jon Friedman Warns The Media Live To Build You Up, Then Knock You Down
The Sarah Palin Phenomenon is doomed.
But it's not because of her lack of foreign policy experience or her deer-in-the-headlights look during part of her interview last week with ABC's Charles Gibson.
The primary reason why the Palin bubble will burst is that the media will decide that they are bored with her. They'll need to move to shine a light on a fresh issue or individual.
This is how the world works in the age of 24/7 news cycles. Whether the subject is Britney Spears, Michael Jordan or Sarah Palin, we inevitably raise stars to mythic levels, out of all reasonable proportions. Then we knock them down. (Look out, Michael Phelps. Your time is coming, too.)
It isn't a case of quixotic behavior by reporters and editors. Internet sites, blogs and cable news operations all thrive on presenting fresh headlines and updated story angles as often as possible so readers think we're on top of things. The news world moves at warp speed.
Palin's story is especially captivating because she emerged as an overnight sensation. The governor of Alaska was virtually unknown on the national scene before Sen. John McCain tapped her to be his running mate. Amid the media crush accompanying her rise, it now seems as if Palin has been around forever.
For as long as she has been in the public eye, people have been skeptical about her qualifications, but the allure of her beginner's pluck catapulted Palin to the covers of magazines ranging from Time to People.
The interview with Gibson may be remembered as the first brick being pulled out of the wall. The reviews weren't favorable from the media in the segments when Gibson asked Palin questions about foreign policy.
For instance, the New York Times called the exchange "strained." The Washington Post-owned Slate went so far as to say that "The ABC News anchor flummoxes the GOP amateur."
I'll be interested to see how Palin -- not to mention McCain and the Republican campaign machine -- reacts when the media's disillusionment sets in for real. Their actions may determine the course of the 2008 race.
If they handle the media's about-face with aplomb, her chances of looking, well, vice-presidential will be enhanced. But if Palin's handlers blow it out of proportion and show a strain, their behavior will reflect negatively on her.
Gibson, as dignified a newsperson as America has now, treated Palin fairly and didn't resort to hectoring her with "gotcha" questions, either.
Palin's supporters may be chagrined that their candidate didn't sound more self-assured or expert when she discussed Alaska's relationship to Russia. But Gibson didn't try to trip her up. He pretty much asked the kinds of questions I would have put to Palin as well.
Gibson treated her with the respect befitting a vice presidential candidate. ABC, while discussing the interview Friday on "Good Morning America" unleashed political correspondent Jake Tapper to assess the "truthiness" of Palin's remarks on the ABC show.
The television networks appear to be treating Palin carefully, trying hard not to seem sexist or liberal or come across as intellectual, big-city bullies.
When ABC noted that Tapper had found a few holes in Palin's comments (though nothing earth shattering), the network took pains to add that it, too, would be dissecting the statements of Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Specifically, Palin seemed to have little idea about the Bush Doctrine, in which the U.S must spread democracy around the world to halt terrorist acts. When Gibson put it to her and asked if she agreed with the doctrine, she answered, "In what respect, Charlie?"
Some analysts have suggested that Gibson knew more about the Bush Doctrine than the vice-presidential candidate.
"She sidestepped questions on whether she had the national security credentials needed to be commander-in-chef," the Associated Press noted.
Since we're all clear on the nuances of the Bush Doctrine, we can move on to the Fickle Media Doctrine.
Now that we've built you up, it's about time for us to knock you down.
Can Sarah Palin withstand the body blows that are being inflicted by the national media?
The media aren't the bad guys in the Palin discussion. It's easy to accuse us of acting like sexists or big-city egomaniacs. Let's be real, though. McCain selected Palin for exactly those reasons - because she is a woman from a little-known state, who can take some of the heat off McCain and behave like an attack dog against Barack Obama. So far, the Republicans' plan has worked to perfection, as Palin has dominated the political discourse over the past few weeks. Now we'll see if she has the right stuff to go the distance.
“When you wish upon a star...”
Dream on, Mr. Friedman.
Egocentrism at it’s best.
...or Barack Obama?
So are they going to put Obama back in the “hollywood lights” ? What a bunch of crap.
Yup. After her second term as President, her bubble will burst as she heads home to Alaska.
Bad premise, wrong candidate.
Sarah Palin has shown that the media has even thinner skin than Barack Obama. They are all a bunch of liberal pansies who don’t like being called names.
There's no way this can happen while the Obama campgin continues to make new and interesting fraudulent attacks on Palin. As they say, so long as your name is spelled right, all publicity is good publicity.
Are they watching the same polls and rallies we are? These people are dillusional.
I think the media will pull back now in order to help their Lil’ Castro get elected.
They have started to come to the conclusion that if they just stop talking about her it will weaken her appeal.
Not covering her rally today was the start.
Will it work or is the Genie out of the bottle?
We will see over the next few weeks.
Sarah Palin was built up by the media to tear down?
The tear down began on day one.
There was no build up!
What a dope this guy is.
This guy is describing Obama's Presidential campaign exactly.
He can try to make the same comparison with Palin, if he wants. But Palin isn't running for President. McCain is.
This article serves as evidence that in-breeding produces tone deafness. This no-account Friedman acts like the press raised up their sweetheart Palin and have coddled her, now they are going to spurn her. Their disillusionment will set in when the public closes their doors for the last time for their blatant misbehavior.
MSM Palin Dementia continues apace.
This bears only tangential resemblence to the definition that Gibson himself provided of "The Bush Doctrine."
Palin was right to ask Gibson to clarify what he meant by the ill-defined term.
What Friedman doesn’t know or understand because he is out of touch with everyday Americans is that the conservative base is enraged by the media’s treatment of Sarah Palin. Daily we see the media’s double standard applied to Democrats—the softball interviews and the hiding of important information such as Ayers’ long-term close relationship with the ZeroBama—and their hardball treatment of Sarah Palin, including fabrications and smears of her family. It is disgusting, and so is Friedman.
Leaving a legacy of 8 Roberts/Scalia/Alito ideological clones on the USSC bench.
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