With a 312 vote victory for the Democrat, and nothing left to count, the corporate media continue to misreport the facts of the U.S. Senate election in Minnesota...
by Ernest A. Canning
In his March 31st article at Media Matters, Eric Boehlert contrasted the difference in corporate media coverage between Florida's 2000 Presidential election contest and Minnesota's 2008 U.S. Senate election contest. "Norm Coleman's a sore loser," Boehlert argued, and asked "Why won't the press say so?"
He details the striking difference in the corporate media coverage of the two races, where Florida 2000 was both much closer and, as it would determine the Presidency of the United States, arguably more 'important' to get right, and yet the constant media framing continuously painted Al Gore as a "sore loser" for not bowing out 'gracefully' or 'admitting defeat' in the days following the razor-thin election (which, as we would learn later, Gore had actually won, having received more votes across the state of Florida [PDF] than George W. Bush, had the U.S. Supreme Court not kept the ballots from actually being counted).
But to go one further than Boehlert, we'd ask not why the media fail to describe Coleman as a "sore loser," but rather, why it is that --- particularly since Tuesday's final count of any remaining, lawfully cast, previously uncounted absentee ballots --- the media fail to describe Coleman as the loser at all, much less a sore one.
From the New York Times to AP to MSNBC, and even Democracy Now! et al, despite all countable ballots having now been counted, and clear rulings having been issued by both the MN Supreme Court and the bipartisan three-judge panel overseeing the contest, the media seem to have developed an aversion to using the "L" word --- loser --- in their coverage of the MN contest. Perhaps it's because they're listening to only one side of the argument (Coleman's), but the facts of the case, and the many clear court decisions, leave no question that Franken is the winner, and Coleman is the loser. So why won't they say so?...
It's Not a 'Lead', It's a 'Win'
Yesterday, The New Times reported "On Tuesday, after a seven-week case brought by Mr. Coleman and the counting of 351 absentee ballots that had been wrongly rejected, Mr. Franken's lead grew by 87 votes, to 312 votes." They also reported that "some issues remain to be decided" by the three-judge panel overseeing Coleman's Election Contest against Franken.
During her Apr. 8, 2009 interview of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Rachel Maddow compounded the Times' misreporting, by declaring that votes are "still being added," and that Al Franken was "ahead by 312 votes."
Both the Times and MSNBC got it wrong. Votes are not "still being added" and there are no issues still remaining before the three-judge panel.
The Rest
