After many late nights watching the Republican National Convention (RNC), I don't know if I should thank Tivo for letting me easily watch it later, along with the US Open, or curse it for keeping me up late night after night.

Why did I do that? To see what actually happened BEFORE the media covered it.

The contrasts in how different media cover the exact same event are HUGE. AllSides exposes those differences so you can get a better idea of what is really going on – and decide for yourself.

There were lots of contrast this last week – so we wanted to pick a couple of highlights for you in our first ever “Bias Pick of the Week.” In everything we do, we want to avoid slanting to any one side, so we let different sides of our team choose the best picks. Here’s what turned-up.

Top Bias Picks by Right Leaning Staff

Racism Accusations in the Media Flew Freely: Some media organizations just had at it when it came to making charges of racism while others were repulsed by the coverage – chocking it all up to manufactured attacks and underhanded tactics by news outlets. Great examples of this are the controversy that surrounded the confrontation between MSNBC's Chris Matthews and RNC Chairman Preibus over race and the open mic joke made by Yahoo Washington Bureau Chief who was implying Romney is a racist. Here’s what we saw:

  • From the Right Leaning Coverage, we saw The Race Canard by Rich Lowry of the National Review and The MSM's Hyper-Racial RNC Coverage by Town Hall. These describe how the media consistently drew the race card in their coverage. Lowry summed up the Right's perspective with "...when the campaign begins in earnest and President Barack Obama looks vulnerable... liberal commentators pull out all the stops to deem practically any criticism of the president [as] racist." And Guy Benson made the point that a GOP convention is said to be racist if it doesn’t include minority speakers (a perception perpetuated by MSNBC by not showing speeches given by 5 minorities in just one day of “live” coverage). On the other hand, an article by The Los Angeles Times accuses the RNC of simply trying to cover up racism when they do include minority speakers.
  • From the Left Leaning Press, see Exposed: Chris Matthews, Reince Priebus and Phony Balance on Morning Joe by the Huffington Post and This Week in Blackness 2.0: Romney, Birther Jokes and 'Other' by satirist Elon James White. These journalists embraced the "racist" narrative, supporting Matthews' accusations. Spencer Critchley wrote, "the GOP panders to racists, whether it's Ronald Reagan praising states' rights -- at the site of the murders of civil rights workers in 1964...or Sarah Palin talking about how Barack Obama 'doesn't share our values.'" Elon James White was stunned that someone running for president would make the "No one ever asked to see my birth certificate" joke. He addresses the “otherness”’ implied by the birther movement.

Top Bias Picks by Left Leaning Staff

Bias in Ryan Headlines Cast Campaign Promises in Very Different Lights: The impression a headline makes matters a great deal because it’s all that most people see. Depending on which of these headlines you see, you’ll get very different impressions of Paul Ryan:

  • From the Right: Ryan takes aim at Obama in RNC speech, vows GOP won’t ‘duck the tough issues’ (Fox News). Covering Ryan’s acceptance of his party’s nomination for vice-president, Fox News said he “made an urgent plea for the country to get to work turning around its economy and finances.” Teeing up the stage for Mitt Romney's nomination speech Thursday night, Ryan repeatedly accused Democrats of falling down on the job. “The acerbic speech accused the president of leaving his legions of voters with little more than a record of squandered opportunities and broken promises as they stare at ‘fading Obama posters’ and look for work.”
  • From the Left: Paul Ryan’s Debt Talk Contradicts His Entire Career (Huffington Post). The writer, Ari Melber, calls-out Ryan, stating that his new role contradicts his entire government career. This article says his budget plan is just a plan, idea or promise – but not a record. “A look at the record shows this race is not about deficit-hawks, it's about deficit-chutzpah. During 14 years in Congress, Ryan consistently and loyally voted to increase the debt: He did not take political risks or buck his party to combat ‘our exploding deficits.’”

What do you think?

Did you notice any politically charged contrasts in the media this week? Send us your comments or your own picks for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog surrounding this year’s campaign for the White House.

News, Media Bias