John McCain and Sarah Palin seem to be running against the ''media'' as much as they are against Barack Obama. The coverage has been pro-Obama, they charge in heated rallies.

The theme has been so insistent that at a recent Palin event in Clearwater some of the attendees harassed the reporters present.

The Miami Herald is apparently considered part of that media cabal. I get many more letters from McCain supporters than Obama ones complaining of a supposed Herald bias.

The charge is serious. South Florida citizens have many alternative sources of information -- among them are television, radio, the Internet and other newspapers and magazines -- but The Miami Herald and its sister publication, El Nuevo Herald, are widely seen as the local media of record.

In reviewing The Herald's election coverage, however, I think that the Republican-leaning critics are wrong. Both campaigns have nits they can rightfully pick with the coverage, but I found no major transgressions or trends. I don't want to sound dismissive, but many of the partisan critics are seeing things that are not there or demand repetition of coverage that is. Theirs is a typical phenomenon that can happen to any of us (me included) when we have deep knowledge and strong feelings on a subject.

I have reviewed Page 1 stories and pictures; the number of stories; tenor; the attractiveness of pictures; and investigative zeal. I find no signs of leaning one way or the other. I have followed all of this since early in the primaries and especially bore down on the coverage after the convention, reading and rereading hundreds of stories.

If anything, Miami Herald headlines and lead paragraphs tend to be more bland and neutral than in many other newspapers. This is not meant as a criticism. It merely reflects what has been a conscious effort by editors, with whom I have spoken, to maintain scrupulous fairness.

CASES IN POINT

The Final Stage, read the large bold type on Page 1 on Thursday, the morning after the last debate between the two presidential candidates. John McCain and Barack Obama go to mat on economy, abortion, health plans, attack ads. You can't get more neutral than that.

The newspaper is almost predictable in switching off each day between which candidate gets the big pretty display picture on Page 1 or inside. The photos are almost all complimentary.

I would be happy to tangle with editors on their presidential campaign coverage, as I have other subjects. But there are times when the positive news readers say they want has to do with the newspaper itself.

The Thursday debate story is a good case in point. Here are the first three paragraphs:

'John McCain and Barack Obama clashed sharply in their third and final presidential debate, as McCain tried to paint his rival as insensitive to small business owners like `Joe the Plumber' and too willing to associate himself with unsavory influences, while Obama charged McCain was waging an ugly, divisive campaign.

``McCain, well behind the Democratic nominee in most national polls, was the aggressor, insisting that Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher would pay more taxes under a President Obama. And, McCain said, Obama was reluctant to repudiate a statement by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., or voter registration tactics of community group ACORN.

``Obama fought back gently but firmly, insisting that his Republican rival was too often ignoring the nation's economic issues and running an ugly campaign.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@