Here is the first episode of our new series, The Narrative vs The Truth. Jason takes on the narratives around the oil industry. (See also my recent post, “Climate Religion (Hey, Climate Turds, Grow Up!”)
media bias
Gas Prices: Bush and Oil Companies Bad-Obama Good
The average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline hit $3.86 on April 25, more than $1-a-gallon higher than a year earlier and less than 25 cents away from the record high price of gasoline set in July 2008.
In fact, per gallon prices are more than $2 higher than when Obama took office Jan. 20, 2009. Yet the president has been nearly exempt from criticism on the issue of rising prices, despite a six-month drilling moratorium and more regulatory hurdles for industry.
The Business & Media Institute found that out of the 280 oil price stories the network evening shows have aired since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, only 1 percent (3 stories) mentioned Obama’s drilling ban or other anti-oil actions in connection with gasoline prices.
Instead of asking whether Obama’s anti-oil policies could be increasing the cost of gas, the networks blamed other factors such as Mideast turmoil or the “money game” played by speculators. Certainly, the turmoil in Libya, Egypt and surrounding nations has increased worries about oil production and can influence the price. But the networks also should have looked for explanations much closer to home, like Obama’s many regulatory actions taken against the oil industry.
As Usual-FOXNEWS Dominates!
From NewsBusters:
The Fox News Channel absolutely dominated its cable news competition in February. In terms of overall viewers, the top 11 cable news shows were all on Fox. In the coveted 25-54 demographic – the group that advertisers pay particularly close attention to – Fox took 11 of the top 15 spots.
The Rachel Maddow Show earned the top spot for an MSNBC program. Despite her struggles with factual accuracy of late, it seems Maddow has assumed the role of leading prime time anchor left vacant by Keith Olbermann’s departure.
Why is this? Media Bias:
Also, this clarification for those who do not know that this is the norm:
Here are some of the highlights from Nielsen that will help you cut through all the clutter of ratings, shares and spin for February:
For the 110th straight month, Fox was the most-watched news channel in total viewers for both Total Day and Primetime.
Overall, Fox News Channel was the fourth most watched basic cable network in Primetime — behind USA, TNT and History. By comparison in the news universe, MSNBC was 26th and CNN was 29th. By comparison to other widely known channels, ESPN ranked 6th, MTV was 1th and AMC finished 17th. And who else in the world of news does better than top sports and entertainment programming outside of the legendary “60 Minutes” on CBS?
During Total Day, FNC was the sixth most-watched cable network, while CNN was 27th and MSNBC was 28th.
In Primetime, Fox News beat all three news channels – MSNBC, CNN, HLN – combined in total viewers. In Total Day, Fox News beat CNN and MSNBC combined in total viewers.