Poll: Media not impressive as watchdog

Hard to imagine since James "Electronic Surveillance" O'Keefe considers himself a "journalist".

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- American media's role as government watchdog during the first year of Barack Obama's

presidency has been so-so, a Gallup Poll released Wednesday indicated.

A third of the poll's participants said news media have done an "excellent" or "good" job as a government watchdog, while 37 percent said media earned "fair" marks, results showed.

Twenty-seven percent of participants ranked media as "poor," the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

(snip)

Forty percent of respondents said news media could do a better job reporting on Obama's economic policies, followed by 30 percent saying healthcare, Gallup said.

Forty-three percent of survey participants said media's collective performance as watchdog under Obama was equal to how news outlets did during previous administrations. However, 31 percent of respondents said they believed the media were worse, compared to 21 percent who said television, newspapers radio and Internet were doing a better job.

Gosh, if they actually reported on policy and content instead of hype and jingoism, imagine how well they would poll.

Media figures respond to Pelosi controversy with attacks on her looks

I caught the guy on Hardball last week being a douche, but I didn't hear about the others until just now. Wonder if they would have called Denny Hastert fat publicly?

Josh Marshall On "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" About McCain And The Media

Shuster's doing a week about what the "Progressive Blogs" are talking about, and he started with TPM's Marshall.

Conservative media figures falsely suggest that Reich proposed excluding white males from stimulus package

I heard a caller parrot this on CSpan this morning and was going to check into it, but Media Matters did my work for me. How would any sane person think Robert Reich would really say this? Just more lies.

Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity have falsely asserted or suggested that Robert Reich, speaking at a congressional forum, proposed that jobs created by the economic stimulus package should exclude white males. In fact, Reich has repeatedly stated that he favors a stimulus plan that "includ[es] women and minorities, and the long-term unemployed" in addition to skilled professionals and white male construction workers, not one that is solely limited to them.

Can we set up re-education camps for the media? For some, it just might be the first time.

Pool Reporters In Hawaii Refuse Obama's Offer Of A Beer

Idjits. They refuse to have a beer from Obama when they got bbq sauce all over themselves for McCain?

HONOLULU (CNN) – Many Republicans already believe President-elect Barack Obama has gotten a free ride from the national media, so they may not be happy to learn the incoming Commander-in-Chief offered to buy a round of drinks for reporters covering his working vacation on the sands of Hawaii's beaches and the greens of its lush golf courses.

Halfway through a round of golf on Sunday afternoon, Obama rolled up to the snack bar in his golf cart to find a small pool of reporters waiting to get more pictures of him enjoying a leisurely day. No doubt realizing these might not be the best images at a time of recession***, Obama suggested the reporters seek some other recreation to pass the time — rather than snapping so many pics.

"Obama then told us we should be in the clubhouse at the bar having some beers," according to a pool report by Jamie Farnsworth of CBS News. "Someone asked if he would pick up the tab and he agreed before driving off to the next hole. Pool is still holding without beer.

***Editorialize much?