Classical Values :: Google is for bloggers and kids. Nexis is for adults and "real" journalists

Google is for bloggers and kids. Nexis is for adults and "real" journalists

When I clicked on Glenn Reynolds' link to a CBS story titled "Obama's Rezko Ties Escape National Radar" I found myself drawn to a comparison made by the Clinton campaign to the press coverage of the Norman Hsu fugitive felon/campaign contribution affair, described as much more vast in scope and breadth than that devoted to the Rezko affair.

Wolfson asserted the Clinton campaign faced more scrutiny over -- and was also more proactive and forthcoming in dealing with -- its own troubled fundraiser, Norman Hsu (alternately pronounced "soo" or "shoe"), a fugitive convicted on grand theft charges years ago. The campaign gave to charity $23,000 contributed by Hsu and identified and returned more than $800,000 in contributions he bundled for Clinton.

"I can guarantee you that if the shoe were on the other foot, so to speak, no pun intended," Wolfson said, "I would have been getting those calls, those questions, left and right, and having to come up with answers that were satisfactory to a very serious and dogged press corps."

In fact, a Nexis search of major world newspapers Tuesday yielded 2,568 hits for the words "Clinton" and "Hsu" versus only 426 for the words "Obama" and "Rezko." Expanding the search to include all media outlets, the Clinton/Hsu query produced more than 3,000 hits, while Obama/Rezko turned up 1,741.

I see the point, and while I don't doubt the results of the Nexis search, something about "all media outlets" made me scratch my head.

What, pray tell, does that mean? I've been reading about the Rezko affair (first discussed here by M. Simon back in April) daily, whether it's in Drudge, on blogs or in my local newspaper. Perhaps I'm dealing with the wrong media. I never performed a Nexis search, because I don't subscribe to Nexis, and I don't think most bloggers do.

However, when I saw the word "all," I was kind of expecting maybe some sort of reference to online media. You know, like, Google? That's what I typically rely on when I do a search, and Google wasn't even mentioned.

Does the internet count?

I figured they must have just neglected to mention Google, but surely they had be right about the disproportionate numbers involving a story like this.

Wrong!

An ordinary Google search I performed just now, yielded 728,000 hits for Obama/Rezko versus 278,000 hits for Clinton/Hsu.

Limiting the search to Google News, I got 2,777 hits for Obama/Rezko versus a very paltry 65 hits for Clinton/Hsu.

What gives here?

Am I dealing with the wrong media?

I'm not knocking Nexis, mind you, but I don't subscribe. And as Virginia Postrel noted,

A Nexis search is not, in fact, easy for most people, by the way. Most people do not have access to the subscription-only service.

Hmmm...

Perhaps this means Googling is kids' stuff, not to be taken seriously? Not worth so much as a mention by "real" journalists?

Especially when it undercuts a point they're trying to make.

Comments

Thanks for the mention.

What is little remarked on is Rezko's connection to the Nation of Islam (NOI). Of course Obama's other vector to NOI is through his spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright.

I worry more about who Obama is dirty dealing with than the dirty deals.

All politics is corrupt as it requires the use of force to obtain its "goods". The question always is: the man behind the curtain, the power behind the throne. The philosophy of the thief.

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron�s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

M. Simon · March 7, 2008 01:46 PM

BEWARE ***The WEAPONS of MASS DECEPTION***
(REAL News you won't se on TV & WHY Not?)

WMD's =
NBC, MSNBC - owned by GE
CBS - owned by Westinghouse
CNN - owned by AOL Time Warner
Most of "the Mainstream Media"

THIS ELECTION IS ABOUT - 29 NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS (Big MONEY)
Aka: Dick Cheney's NEXT Big ENERGY MONOPOLY RIPOFF ... ( Plan)....

Whether Cheney's PLAN succeeds ....OR NOT.... is UP to ALL of YOU.

We all know CORPORATE POWER is in control of our government and ROBBING us every way they can. The "NEWS" media is NOW nearly totally under the CONTROL of Powerful CORPORATE Interests.

The Corporate-Controlled "news" media have interlocking Boards of Directors (same member serves on multiple boards) and all of them serve to enrich their CONGLOMERATED Corporate Masters. (*see FAIR website LINK at the end of this post.)

(YOU can HELP Get the Word Out: Please post this NEWS thruout the Blogsphere and in any NEWS media you can find.)

REAL News you won't see on TV:

Obama is the pre-packaged "New & Improved Chocolate Flavor" Presidential candidate being Marketed like a PRODUCT - hyped & PUSHED by GE and its WHOLLY-Owned subsidiaries NBC & MSNBC...along with Westinghouse & its subsidiary CBS...while slamming the Clintons all day every day. (Assisted by...CNN/FOX/ and a lot of newspaper & radio media dependent on advertising $$$.) GE is the 2nd largest corporation on the planet.

Obama is IN with the Nuclear Industry: Excelon Corp of Illinois has been one of his largest contributors from his entry into politics to the present. Excelon is the largest nuke operator on the planet;owns Con-Ed of NY; more nukes in Illinois than any other state.

GE, Westinghouse, Excelon & 3 consortiums of other companies are planning to build 29 new nuclear power plants. Their Wholly-Owned & Wholly Influenced "News" media are selling the Obama Product because Obama is in favor of Nukes.

In 2005 Obama Voted FOR the Cheney Energy Bill (H.R.6) which ENABLED the nuke industry to make its Plans to build 29 new nukes-by Guaranteeing Taxpayer Payback of any nuke loans that default. (No nukes were built for the past 30 years because the banks wouldn't loan the money - too risky)

Obama Voted FOR the Cheney Energy Bill-despite the fact the Congressional Budget Office rated the risk of default on the nuke loans at 50% or greater. (Does that sound like...GOOD...JUDGMENT to You?)

[NY Times has several articles about the nuke plans & a map showing all 29 locations; Wikipedia covers the subject]

Clinton Voted AGAINST the Cheney Energy Bill and said her Energy Plan does not include nuclear.

? "Its about the FUTURE ...... Turn The PAGE" ?

Nope. Its about Turning the PAGE BACK to the PAST: Obsloete 50 yr old nuke power plants-the dirtiest most expensive kind/centrally-controlled MONOPOLY POWER-instead of deploying New, Clean, Green De-Centralized Inexpensive Energy.

An ad campaign has already begun on the TV media to re-package & re-name nuclear power plants as: GREEN & CLEAN -for- everybody too young to remember the 1970's anti-nuke movement and all the Bad News about nuclear energy.

Don't be taken in by the ad campaigns - Google:'nuclear waste dumps' & read about the hundreds of BILLIONS of gallons of nuke waste at the Hanford Washington dump; 14 tons of plutonium stored at Rocky Flats, Colorado; Barnwell, South Carolina; leaking into groundwater and rivers; plutonium released into the air around Denver from 500 instances of fires at Rocky Flats; nuke waste stored ON-SITE at every nuke reactor in America...presenting hundreds of potential "dirty bomb" targets for terrorists.

Is it true that Obama takes No Contributions/ NO MONEY from Registered Federal Lobbyists?

Yes. It's a LawyerSpeak/Trick of: Speaking a Small truth covering up a Big Lie.

Nope, doesn't take money from REGISTERED FEDERAL Lobbyists.

DOES take money from STATE Lobbyists, Not Registered Lobbyists, AND the wives, husbands, law partners,
...of REGISTERED FEDERAL Lobbyists. Gets money from the same big corporate donors as any other candidate.

Obama's campaign finances are involved in the prosecution (by Patrick Fitzgerald) and trial of his friend of 20 years Antoin Rezko. Some of the funds... allegedly...extorted by Rezko went into Obama's campaign coffers.

Curiously, Iraqi Power Plants and fraud are also involved in Rezko's trial. (Google: Obama -Rezko- Alsammarae-Auichi- IRAQ POWER PLANTS). With the Rezko trial looming over his head Obama, in all good conscience, should not have run for the Presidency - given all the unanswered questions about his involvement with Rezko; including Obama's meeting with Rezko and Rezko's friend Iraqi Billionaire Auichi. Obama's LACK of good conscience in running for President - given the very high risk that the Rezko trial will result in the election of a Republican - reveals Obama's lack of good conscience and his lack of any regard for his party, his country, or its people. Obama should withdraw from the race.

At the beginning of this campaign season a large majority of voters were looking forward to electing Clinton. Then Obama stepped in and started the dirty campaigning that has created the DIVISION he so hypocritically decries. Obama played "the race card" so he could win in South Carolina. He was caught red-handed playing that race card-but the media blamed it on Clinton -even though they all knew they were pushing THE BIG LIE..

With nearly ALL "the mainstream media" pimping for Obama & slamming, smearing, and lying about the Clintons-it is truly amazing enough voters have seen thru the Media-Created Obama "movement"-for Clinton to STILL be in the race.

The only way a very small minority can CONTROL a very large Majority is: DIVIDE & CONQUER -Exactly the same Republican Strategy/Deception they have successfully pulled for most of the last century And ALL of this century, so far. . .

GE, the nuke industry/wealthy have hedged their bets & they will get 29 new nukes IF either Obama or McCain is elected.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Dads & Moms buy nothing GE & Westinghouse are selling - not Obama, not a washing machine, a dishwasher, 29 nuke power plants, or a garbage disposer .... because there is no garbage disposer for Radioactive Nuke Waste. Do not allow them to poison the earth and your children anymore.

For further Info see Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting website:
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3258

elme · March 7, 2008 02:17 PM

You have to take into account how Google News works.

It only by default goes back for the last couple of months and then stories fall into the archive.

More recent issues will show up with higher counts than stories that are yesterday's news.

Nexis goes back many years in their database and it is a full search to return results.

Thus Nexis will give you the more accurate comparison.

Another issue is all the duplication in both services.

Hundreds of papers run the exact same AP or Reuters story and the only thing that changes is the masthead of the paper.

If their is no additional analysis of the issue provided the wire services should be accessed first and clones of the release should be culled from the results.

JustADude · March 8, 2008 05:04 PM

Oh and another thing.

Small point but Wolfson makes the claim Hillary gave the Hsu money to charity, but if you look up the records of the disposition of the Hsu money in the FEC database you will see the money was 'disgorged to the Federal Treasury'.

Of course Hillary does probably consider that a charity.

JustADude · March 8, 2008 05:08 PM