The Primary Bias

Patrick Ruffini finds bias by omission in the early-going coverage of the Republican and Democratic primaries.

They will simply deign Hillary vs. Obama vs. Edwards to be more newsworthy, and go from there. This is because the media approaches Democratic primaries more as participants than as spectators. Coaxing Hillary to renounce her pro-war vote, as happened on the roundtable this morning, is the perfect example of this phenomenon in action.

I am trying to fully game out the implications of this, but don’t be surprised to see these storylines emerge. First, the Democrats will be seen as generating more grassroots energy than the Republicans, whose voters will be framed as subdued and unmotivated. The story on Obama’s crowds is just the beginning. The media will overstate Democratic enthusiasm because they think Democratic primaries are more interesting.

Well, I've never doubted their ability to find innovative ways to communicate their disdain and disregard for half of the country. If only they were so diligent about finding new ways to deliver news...

Hat tip, Lorie.