The Guardian has a lengthy article today summing up the past week of campaigning for Barack Obama. In 25 paragraphs the U.S. bureau chief discusses Obama's fatigue, Reverend Wright's recent remarks, Obama's subsequent renunciation of his pastor, the Senator's appearances with his wife this week to emphasize his working-class background and family values, opinions from the locals in Indiana and North Carolina, and how Obama and Clinton stand in relation to one another in terms of delegates.
The British press accept the same frames that are put forth in the American media. They follow the horserace just as carefully, and having already explained the roles of superdelegates much earlier in the campaign season, British media can now ponder the importance of such details without providing context. Much of the article is biased towards the frames of the candidates' fatigue, the invocation of the "race card" by Reverend Wright, and the assumption in the press since the Pennsylvania primary last week that the tide has turned in Clinton's favor. However, the media are manufacturing this very tone themselves, and this article alludes to that by using a reporter on the Obama trail as a source:
"'He is in the middle of a shit storm,' one of the journalists travelling with him said."
Overall, the piece seems subjective. For the most part, it attributes analytical comments about the campaign to various sources and spokespeople, but comments such as the ending clearly show the influence of the press in the race: "In a bad week for him [Obama], it was a rare boost" to have superdelegate Joe Andrew announce his support for the Illinois senator this week.
Still, The Guardian does a good job getting so many quotes and writing such a lengthy article, considering the fact that the bureau chief who authored this article has had one to two bylines each day this week.
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