What Media Bias? Pew Says The Press Thinks Obama And Romney Both Suck [Study]

Apparently, the media isn’t terribly taken with either President Obama or his GOP opponent Mitt Romney.

You hear accusations of media bias all the time. The mainstream media has a liberal bias and conservatives just can’t catch a break. Fox News is in the right-wing’s pocket and doggedly indicts liberals for even the slightest offenses. It might surprise you to learn that lately, the media at large is pretty heavy-handed in criticism for Obama, Romney, and others, regardless of political affiliation or perceived bias.

Uniquely, wherever you’re sitting on the political divide will determine who you think is getting the worst press. If you’re an Obama fan, then of course you think that Mitt Romney is getting too many breaks from Fox News and you happily share factoids and snippets on social media that paint the GOP candidate in a poor light.

The same applies to those in Romney’s camp, who find that the mainstream media is too hard on him, and unfairly so. On that same token, they believe that Obama’s flaws are soft-pedaled or ignored outright, and that mundane moments receive too much praise.

So where’s the truth about media bias this election cycle?

The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism set out to determine just that, and their results were interesting. Turns out, Obama and Romney are not only neck-and-neck for the presidency, but also for who is getting the most negative press.

Both candidates have been receiving primarily negative coverage in the remaining weeks of the election. Only 19 percent of stories about Obama have been deemed positive, 30 percent negative, and 51 percent mixed. Romney, on the other hand, boasts 15 percent positive, 38 percent negative and 47 percent mixed. Interestingly, social media opinions about both candidates were even harsher.

So basically, we in the media think that both Obama and Romney suck lately. What do you think? Agree or disagree?