Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Obama treated well by the media

The politician who received the most favorable treatment by the news media was U.S. Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois. He has been in the Senate for less than two years and already is being treated like a big star. Obama, now 45, made a big splash at the 2004 Democratic National Convention with a highly personal keynote speech. The Washington Post called him ?the party?s new phenom.? Newsweek put him on its cover. And that was before he was even sworn in as a senator. During the last couple of months, he was given lots of positive news coverage as he made appearances in support of Democratic candidates. He was on the cover of Time magazine, and Time ran an excerpt from his new book, ?The Audacity of Hope.? His presidential potential was the subject of op-ed pieces in The New York Times. He was asked on NBC?s ?Meet the Press? if he will run for the White House in 2008 and said he is thinking about it. Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page, a libera
l, wrote, ?You embody the politics of hope.? New York Times columnist David Brooks, a conservative, wrote, ?Barack Obama should run for president.? Why all this fawning attention? The national news media are always looking for a fresh face. The media also realize that many different kinds of people feel they can connect with Obama. His father was a black man from Kenya and his mother was a white woman from Kansas. He was raised by his mother?s parents in Hawaii. He earned honors at Harvard Law School. He moved to Chicago to work for a neighborhood improvement program and served seven years in the Illinois state senate. He is a liberal who talks about faith and family values. He is nice looking ? very youthful. But those who are built up by the media can also be torn down by the media. The Chicago Tribune recently disclosed that Obama entered into a real-estate arrangement with a political fund-raiser who was indicted for taking kickbacks. The November issue of Ha
rper?s magazine has a cover story that wonders whether Obama is getting too cozy with his big donors. On a recent trip to Iowa, Obama said, ?I?m always mistrustful of hype.? It?s a good thing ? because hype is what he is getting.