Four Plays from the Media Playbook

When it comes to politics, the mainstream media operate from a standard playbook that favors Democrats or anyone on the left over Republicans or anyone on the right. While Fox News is the most watched cable news channel, it doesn’t have nearly the influence as other news outlets, so I don’t include them in my definition of mainstream. Instead, I’m thinking of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, AP, Reuters, and The New York Times. Each has the ability to shape a news cycle and affect mainstream cultural thought.

While the playbook is not limited to these examples, I’ve identified four tactics that the media use to influence public opinion against Republicans.

#1 The Opinion of Independents

Example: “The Republicans’ extreme stances on social issues are driving away independent voters.”

The mainstream media like to say that partisanship turns off independents. Well, they say that when Republicans act in a partisan way or hold a partisan position, but somehow the sensitivity of independents isn’t ever mentioned when Democrats act in a partisan way. For the good of the party, Republicans are told, they must moderate their tone in order to appeal to independents, while Democratic attitudes are never presumed to scare off independent voters, even some of their most extreme positions like support of late-term abortion.

#2 Politicizing Events

Example: “Romney and Ryan are politicizing Benghazi and the death of our ambassador to create a wedge issue and gain votes.”

The 24-hour news cycle has created an environment where any news story can be politicized in one way or another, yet it is only when Republicans try to capitalize politically on events that anyone in the media objects. Democrats are given a free hand when they choose to score political points off natural disasters, foreign policy failures, or economic reports, but Republicans are told that we need to come together for bipartisan solutions, that politics stops at the water’s edge, and to stop rooting for a bad economy.

#3 Question Your Own Kind

Example: “By refusing to repudiate Mourdock yesterday, Romney showed that he prefers the rapist vote over the female vote.”

When Republicans go on television to criticize another Republican, the media fawn all over them, while Democrats are rarely given media time when they criticize their own. If a Republican writer offers criticism of a Democrat, they are often accused of not being fair and balanced and are encouraged to criticize their own. Of course, Democrats are free to offer criticism of Republicans without hearing the fair and balanced charge. When a Republican makes an incendiary statement, other Republicans are quickly asked to comment on or repudiate the other Republican, but Democrats are never asked to repudiate their own. Finally, crazy statements by Republicans are assumed by the media to be representative of Republican thought, while crazy Democrat statements are immediately labeled as fringe and irrelevant to the rest of the party.

#4 The Seriousness of the Charge

Example: “While there isn’t any evidence of a crime now, the seriousness of the charge demands that we investigate.”

Scandals are the media’s bread and butter, but there is a decided slant to coverage of political scandals. Scandals that involve Democrats warrant a much higher standard of proof than do those that involve Republicans. In many cases, Democratic scandals are quickly labeled distractions, while Republican scandals are considered clear evidence of hypocrisy. When a Republican is accused of doing something untoward, the “seriousness of the charge” is sufficient reason to keep the story alive. Rumors of Republican infidelity require immediate resignation, while Democrats stay in office until absolute proof is found or the media forget about the scandal entirely.

The next time you’re watching a news story or opinion show, I have no doubt you will see one of these plays in action. Next time you read something from AP, Reuters, or The New York Times, see if Republicans are held to a different standard using The Media Playbook.