Sunday with Ferris

Photo taken at the screening of Media Malpractice at the National Press Club

Back Channels: Media’s Swoon over Obama.

Campaign ‘08 has hit the big screen.

In a sense, it’s a love story. The heartthrob is the Kennedyesque young senator from Illinois, with the supporting cast composed of the many media suitors who came a-courtin’.

There’s Chris and his thrilled leg. Oh-so-serious Anderson and his plaint about distractions vs. real issues. The TV reporter who declares a Rev. Jeremiah Wright-free zone so the candidate will feel more comfortable. The swooning ladies of The View. And the superest, specialist guest star of them all: Oprah!

The documentary – Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted – is part tragedy and part romantic comedy, as the above-named suitors and others trip all over themselves making excuses for their guy.

Filmmaker and Philly-area native John Ziegler isn’t the only one who noticed the media’s infatuation with Barack Obama. A Rasmussen poll released on Election Day showed that 51 percent of voters thought reporters tried to help Obama win. But Ziegler was on to the issue long before Nov. 4. The filmmaker’s “crystallizing moment” was the coverage of Obama’s pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and his racially inflammatory sermons.

“That showed how ridiculously in the tank the media were going to be for Barack Obama,” Ziegler says. “It was just a flat-out joke.”

You mean this media, John?

Kudos to Kevin Ferris for having the mettle to write about Media Malpractice. It takes a certain strength of character to step back and examine the actions of the media during the past election cycle. Even more so when it is your chosen profession. Perhaps Kevin should hand out copies of ‘Better‘ along with this article to his fellow journalists at the Inquirer. They need all the help they can get!

I found a great video of John Zeigler talking about the media’s reaction to his film. He jokes about having enough material from the reception his film received to make a Media Malpractice 2 – only I don’t believe he was joking.

The photo below was taken in the Ladies loo at the National Press Club. Yes, my camera goes everywhere. With the media abandoning their professional principles, who is minding the cradle of liberty?

Pssst…I AM.