It’s time to get ready for the Vice Presidential debate! I’ve been looking forward to this for some time now, but I’ll admit, I am a little worried after hearing about who’s going to be the moderator tonight. Right on the heels of my yellow journalism post, I discover that our moderator will be Gwen Ifill, long-time political reporter for PBS.
Why is this concerning? I want to be abundantly clear that this has nothing whatsoever to do with the color of her skin. The reason this is concerning is because of two specific instances where she has put pen to paper about Barack Obama, in ways that are very congratulatory and less than impartial.
The first of which is the one that the main steam media is talking about – set for publication on inauguration day is her book, “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.” Here’s the online description of the book from Doubleday, which says Ifill “surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.”
That’s honestly not too terribly concerning. So she’s an African American political correspondent writing a book about African American politicians. I can understand that, I suppose. But that’s not what’s really at issue here as far as I’m concerned.

What is concerning is what the main stream media is completely ignoring. Ms. Ifill recently wrote an incredibly adulatory cover story about Barack Obama and his family for Essence magazine. It’s the combination of the book and the ultra-syrupy article that turns a mild concern into an outright quandary. Of all the political journalists to choose as moderator, of all the respected journalists out there, why choose one who has written so extensively – and so exceedingly positively – about Barack Obama? Why? Why even bother inviting such questions and concerns in an already concerning environment of yellow journalism and media bias? It seems a bit questionable, don’t you think?

That said, I will say that I sincerely hope that Ms. Ifill will maintain her professional integrity and fulfill her duties as an impartial moderator. But because of this situation, I would urge you to please be sure to keep your eye out for any hint of media bias. Don’t allow yourself to forget that it’s the moderator’s job to be completely and utterly impartial. Don’t let clever manipulation get in the way of your ability to fairly evaluate what each candidate says. I’m not saying it will definitely happen, but at least be aware of the possibility.
I’m still looking forward to it and can’t wait to see how both the candidates perform. Best of luck to both of them and I’ll see you back here later on!

For quite a while now I’ve been compiling interesting videos on YouTube, separating them into separate playlists dedicated to various categories relevant to the campaign. I’ll be posting these playlists to the video directory of this site soon, but I thought I’d give you a sneak peek now by offering you a new playlist – a selection of the best of the best! For the discerning voter, I’ve pulled together the videos I think are most important into one easy-to-watch must see list. Watch these and you’ll be well on your way to understanding several major issues of Obama’s campaign.
As always, don’t believe me flat out, but here’s some food for thought and fuel to get your research started!

The NObama YouTube Must See Videos

For a complete listing of the videos and what they mean, click “more”!