In study, evidence of liberal-bias bias

(7/27) The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where researchers have tracked network news content for two decades, found that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) than on Sen John McCain (R-AZ) during the first six weeks of the general-election campaign. You read it right: tougher on the Democrat. Although conservatives have been snarling about the grotesque disparity revealed by another study -- by the online Tyndall Report -- which showed Obama receiving more than twice as much television network air time as McCain in the last month and a half, during the evening news, the majority of statements from reporters and anchors on all three networks are neutral, the Center for Media and Public Affairs found. And when network news people ventured opinions in recent weeks, 28% of the statements were positive for Obama and 72% negative. Network reporting also tilted against McCain, but far less dramatically, with 43% of the statements positive and 57% negative, according to the Washington-based media center.