Cynical Nation

You might want to sit down for this one, folks.

Editor & Publisher is out today with a story that says (brace yourselves. Are you ready?) John Kerry receives more favorable treatment in the media than President Bush.

A new study for the non-partisan Project for Excellence in Journalism suggests that in the first two weeks of October, during the period of the presidential debates, George W. Bush received much more unfavorable coverage from some media than Sen. John Kerry.

In the limited sample (which included four newspapers, two cable news programs and seven shows on broadcast networks), more than half of all Bush stories were negative in tone, during this period. One-quarter of all Kerry stories were negative, according to the study.

Are you okay? Yes, I know this must be a shock. Can I get you some smelling salts? It's okay, I also reacted with stunned disbelief when I first read it. It's okay if you need to take a few minutes to process this. I understand. Come back later when you're not trembling so much.