Televised Media Intentionally Downplays Obama's Crowd Sizes & Magnifies Romney Tiny Gatherings

[David Zephyr]

It's pathetic. Really pathetic.

In either a false compulsion of a warped sense of "fairness" to Romney or worse, by intention, the big television broadcast and cable networks are visually downplaying the large rallies that turn out for President Obama. It's no longer, as Mick Jagger might say, "just my imagination running away with me". My family has monitored this issue carefully and this is no longer an accident.

Someone in management at the networks has put their camera people in straight jackets (or the camera people are biased) so they will not, and I mean will not, pan out and show the large sizes of Obama's crowds, while they make tight camera angle shots of Mitt Romney inside a donut shop look like he has filled a stadium.

Also, notice how official crowd estimates, which are very large at Obama events, seem to be omitted from printed and on-line news stories as well.

What is up with this shit?

Really!

[DonRedwood]

1. cnn is terrible about this--one reason they lost me as a viewer

[YvonneCa]

2. I noticed this in 2008 at...

...the McCain events. It was clear the crowds were small, particularly pre-Palin. They seem to have taken 'fair and balanced' to an all new level. Truth has taken a back seat...seemingly on purpose.

[progressivebydesign]

3. Just saw an AP/Yahoo story with Mitt, and the angle was obviously manipulated...

there are no large crowd shots from a distance with Mitt. Even that faul spontaneous crowd-with-cards shot this weekend, only showed a section of the stadium, which means it was otherwise empty.

The MSM is owned by Mitt's peers, and the employees that make decisions like that are also 1%ers and republicans. They don't want to give up the fat money.. they don't care a bit about everyone else, and are willing to manipulate it. All we can do is share the HUGE pics with our family/friends online, and hope that some clever folks take pics at the real number of the mitt events, and puts them online to counter. Bush used fake crowd photos all the time.. bad photoshops increasing the crowd by thousands. the media never called them on it.

[David Zephyr]

4. I'm glad I'm not the only one whose seen this.

It's really manipulative as hell.

[surrealAmerican]

5. They want a close race because it improves their ratings.

It's crass and dishonest, and it will eventually make them irrelevant. The demographics of TV news viewers gets older every year.

[DLnyc]

15. Yes, I think you are right

They don't report when one candidate pulls way ahead, because they want to keep the race "exciting".

Obama is way more popular and if they reported truthfully, his popularity would only grow with a 'bandwagon' effect.

Not the first time, either. They vastly under-reported Obama's crowds, and neglected to point out McCain's pitiful gatherings, in 2008.

[Maraya1969]

20. I think that is why the polls are so "close". I find a lot of them hard to believe.

Because if it came out that Obama was ahead by 10 points every time people would stop paying such close attention. They certainly would stop checking the polls everyday.

[Booster]

21. I recently read an article on things that would be gone in a very short time.

Television, as we know it, was on that list. It is their own damn fault.

[JackBeck]

22. They want a close race, in order to increase their ad revenues. n/t

[Sherman A1]

27. Precisely

That is what has been going on since the GOP primaries.

[Overseas]

6. K&R. They want those right wing ad dollars really badly.

They want to amplify the idea that "America is so polarized," and "it is a close race" to encourage the Kochs and Roves to keep pouring more money into Rob-me and Lyin.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. Mick was just quoting the Temptations....

and lyricist Barrett Strong.

[David Zephyr]

9. You are so right, Bluenorthwest.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. The media want it to be more of a Horse Race. It'd be the same if positions were reversed. nt

[Vincardog]

10. There are lies that the Corporate Owned Media tells so that when the crooked Corporate Owned vote

manipulating machines do their jobs, the result sounds "possible".

[lob1]

28. I agree 100%. They'll steal the election and no one will question it,

if everyone thinks it's close.

[Vincardog]

30. Just like "no one" objected to the illegal SCOTUS ruling that gave us 8 years of Dim Son.

And "no one" was against the disasters in IRaq and Afghanistan.

If it was not on Corporate Owned MEdia it did not happen.

[AsahinaKimi]

11. Its simple really...

The networks want it to appear Romeney is more popular than Obama. Hell, if they could, they probably would have had three people sitting in the front row..and make it appear like no one showed up..

But they knew they couldn't get away with it. The media moguls call the shots on this, and they are in bed with the Republicans.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. Yup. They'll do shots like this

or this -



But won't pull back and show you this -



Meanwhile - in Boulder at the University of Colorado just before the convention, you have this -



And when you call them on it, they start spouting nonsense about "not a rock star", although they are quick to dub their own "rising stars".

[David Zephyr]

16. Excellent photos, BumRushDaShow.

It really is obscene now how this continues. President Obama's crowds blow Romney's away and yet, watching television or reading printed or on-line reports, you'd never know it. Thanks for the photos.

[ananda]

13. I boycott all MSM channels for news or political commentary.

nt

[Drunken Irishman]

14. THERE IS A SILVER LINING...

Local news! This is important! Remember, most Americans do not watch cable news. Their numbers, even FOX, are insignificant if you think about it. But they do watch their nightly news and they do read their local papers. That is huge and important because they generally DO report on crowd size and interview rally goers and it does trickle down to average Americans.

It doesn't make up for the crap the MSM does ... but the bigger crowds do make an impact at the local level!

[Dawson Leery]

29. Mostly true.

In Connecticut, we have our share of right-biased papers.

[David Zephyr]

17. Today: President Obama in Florida: Over 11,000. Romney in Virginia Beach: "Several Hundred"

After searching for a very long time through news articles, I finally came across the numbers:

President Obama drew a crowd of over 11,000 today in Florida.

Candidate Mitt Romney drew a crowd described as "several hundred" in Virginia Beach.

Try to find any comparison of the crowd size startling difference between these two candidates reported and you will be worn out in your effort.

Hardly an accident.

Oh, Romney will poach a NASCAR audience today of 90,000 because he can't create a crowd of his own.

Really!

[itsrobert]

26. Nascar is in a rain delay

Looks like he won't get much coverage.

[RepublicansRZombies]

18. manufactured consent

Koch pays them to pretend Romney has supporters, Koch pays Rove to steal the election, Koch pays the media to cover it up.

This just happened so obviously in Wisconsin.

Walker was paying people to put up yard signs to give the impression people liked him.

Then they easily stole the election and convinced everyone that someone must have voted for him.

After all the effort Wisconsin activists put in, the pizza revolution at the capital, the recall signatures that were so easy to get because everyone hates Walker.

Walker had to bus in felons to get signatures for their recalls.

How the hell did Walker win?

Manufactured consent and election theft.

And they'll do it again, if we let them.

[RepublicansRZombies]

19. but we can't ignore the media, they are lying to millions

We have to confront the media, prove they are liars for the 1% and anything but liberal!

proposing a new DU Group - Occupy the Media (from your laptop)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021303393

[NRaleighLiberal]

23. no mystery. Media owned by big corp. dollars - right wing. NOT objective at all.

[malaise]

24. You're right

I was watching CBS Florida news earlier and they discussed Rmoney's rally before mentioning the Obama rally in St Petersburg today.

By the way 'Just my Imagination' is Smokey Robinson not Mick Jagger.

[Whisp]

25. propaganda, that kind of shit.

everything we learned is wrong.