December 26, 2007

MSM meme: voters ask tougher immigration questions than reporters

A subspecies of MSM reports features recounts of voters asking the presidential candidates questions about immigration- or North American Union-related matters. The reporters usually try to spin it in the best (pro-illegal immigration) light possible, frequently not offering everything that the voters and the candidates say, and frequently giving the candidates chances to "correct" "misstatements" made by the voters.

These reports also reveal just how corrupt the MSM is: they're the ones who should be asking the tough questions, but instead all we get is horserace and the occasional biased recounting of what someone else asked.

The effect can be seen in a recent piece from Ron Claiborne of ABC News, and in July, Michael Luo of the New York Times reported on the candidates being asked about the NAU/NAFTA Superhighway. He allowed Giuliani to state that he had no knowledge of the scheme, when in fact his law firm is involved with the Trans Texas Corridor. Another example comes from Matt Stuart of ABC (link):

Romney faced a wide range of questions from the audiences in Coastal and Northern South Carolina today, from his stance on stem cells to the "consolidation of the North American union."

"Do you mean unifying our country with Canada and Mexico?" Romney said to the later, stating simply "No."

The report contains nothing more about that, and just transcribes a few other comments. If Stuart had wanted to do real reporting he would have pressed Romney on the issue. So, why didn't he?

UPDATE: Along the same lines, see this article from Bennett Roth of the Houston Chronicle.

Posted to Immigration2007b at December 26, 2007 01:09 PM