Day 22: October 30

5 days to Election Day

This episode had a distinct theme or tenor to it: Obama is strong, McCain is weak. There is a veritable avalanche of information to this point in this show and, though in and of itself that is not necessarily biased -- once again, bias is not inherent in reporting something if it's true. However, the way that Olbermann goes about reporting it is, in fact, biased.

Olbermann talks extensively about the campaigns in Arizona -- namely, that McCain actually has to campaign in his own home state, and that Obama is willing and able to advertise in and visit Arizona. He compares appearances made by the two candidates; Obama's rally was packed with enthusiastic supporters, while even Joe the Plumber was missing from McCain's (even though he was evidently supposed to be there). Olbermann mocks McCain roundly, saying that he's "solid in the unlicensed plumber demographic," referring to the mix-up over "JTP's" absence as a "Johnny Carson 'Doc is here, Doc isn't here' moment," and calling Al Gore "Al the Nobel Laureate."

He criticizes his strategy, saying that McCain is hitting the wrong states, while lauding Obama's efficient structure for using the early vote to his advantage. Olbermann also uses some quotes against McCain, using tape of Bill Clinton at an appearance with Obama in which he criticizes McCain, while saying that Obama's two "presidential decisions" -- his vice presidential pick and his handling of the economic crisis -- were the right ones to make. Also quoted are sources from the McCain campaign calling Sarah Palin a "diva" and a "whack job."

Again, if this is all true -- and there's no reason to believe it isn't -- reporting it is not inherently biased. Reporting on bad management and in-fighting within one party doesn't mean the reporter is biased against that party. However, the way in which Olbermann does it -- a superior, mocking tone, almost as if he's watching a rival sports team lose -- is an example of liberal political bias on his part.

There are other examples as well. One of Olbermann's guests is Frank Rich, a well-known liberal columnist for the New York Times. Again, having Rich on the show is not necessarily an example of bias (though it's closer than reporting on Republican mishaps). In fact, if the goal was to have Rich debate a well-known conservative, it wouldn't be biased at all -- it would be speculative, interpretive journalism, but it wouldn't be politically biased. But the segment where Rich appears sounds like two friends with similar views having a casual discussion. At one point Rich calls McCain's campaign a "fiasco," he can barely keep a grin off his face when discussing that "fiasco," and at the end of his segment Olbermann tells him to "keep your fingers crossed" -- no doubt for an Obama win. This segment is essentially not even pretending to be news-oriented.

The show improves a bit when Rachel Maddow appears to tease her interview with Barack Obama -- it seems at times like an Obama lovefest, but he is attacked a bit. Of course, that attack is that he's not liberal enough, so even that feeds back into the liberal political bias. Obama as referred to as extremely calm and confident about the campaign -- Olbermann calls him "the calmest, least perturbable guy in the room." Overall, though, since they are talking about an interview done by Maddow, that at least is more a description of experience than anything else.

The "Worst Persons" segment is predictable: Bill O'Reilly makes the list for calling Charles Barkley a "pinhead," and then Olbermann talks about their comparative ratings. He also takes an opportunity to call blogger Pamela Geller a member of the "lunatic fringe" -- though since she made the list for claiming that Obama may be the illegitimate son of Malcolm X, that at least may not be bias. However, as usual Olbermann attacks only conservatives, so the segment is predictably rife with political bias.

His "Special Comment" is an attack on McCain for "fatal political malpractice" in his attempts to link Obama with Rashid Khalidi, a supposed supporter of the PLO. Olbermann uses that link, via contributions made by McCain to an organization run by Khalidi, to connect the two, then, via other monetary contributions, he links McCain and Bill Ayres. Honestly, compared to most of the rest of this show, the Comment is not an egregious defender. Nothing he's saying is untrue, as far as we can tell. But it's done in such an over-the-top way that it seems like a personal attack on McCain -- much like most of the rest of the show.