Can’t Blame Liberal Media For Health Bill Stall

By Rich Noyes and Julia Seymour, Wall Street Journal

Liberal hopes for a quick health care bill are in collapse, as Senate Democrats push any floor action off until the fall, a move House Democrats may match this week. But if the Obama White House is upset that their plans for a huge expansion of government health care have been delayed, they surely cannot complain about the media coverage.

Last week, a new study by the Media Research Center’s Business & Media Institute (BMI) found broadcast coverage during the first six months of 2009 tilted heavily in favor of Barack Obama’s big government plan. BMI’s analysts looked at 224 health care stories on the ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening news shows from Obama’s January 20 inauguration through his June 24 prime time special on ABC.

Among the key findings: # Fully 70% of soundbites (243 out of 347 total) supported Obama’s liberal health care ideas. Only nine percent of stories (21) suggested the total price tag for Obama’s “reform” would top $1 trillion.

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