Published on Thursday, May 1, 2008

Media is overly critical of Obama on questionable points

By LETTER WRITER

Before I say anything, I would like to say that I do not support Barack Obama as a presidential candidate. Yet I feel that the coverage of his campaign is unfair and an embarrassment to the nation. I fully understand that anyone who runs for public office will be ruthlessly criticized for anything they do. I myself have criticized Obama on several occasions.

Still, the kind of criticism that Obama has received over the course of his run has been ludicrous. Inflammatory innuendo has been reported as truth, i.e. Obama being a Muslim or supporting Rev. Wright’s comments. Some conservative commentators have even touted Hillary Clinton as a good candidate, and have urged their listeners/viewers to vote for her in the Democratic primaries. The entire media campaign against Obama feels like a desperate, even racist, reaction to the greatest chance this country has ever had at seeing an African-American in the White House.

The coverage of Obama has shown me how backwards the American media is in many regards. I would like to think that Americans are intelligent enough to know that just because a candidate might have a foreign name or has worn a turban does not mean he or she is a bad candidate. I am sure if one was to dig hard enough, one could find more than enough despicable things to criticize any candidate for beyond their heritage or skin color.

Jonah Czerwinskyj
Sophomore, history major