Original Link: http://www.gulflive.com/opinion/mississippipress/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1217326515151840.xml
By Jeff Johnson
At least some members of the much-touted crowd of 75,000 people at a May 18 rally in Portland for Barack Obama may have been there, in part, to see a popular local band that normally opens its concerts with the national anthem -- of the former Soviet Union.
National media outlets have widely reported estimates of between 72,000 and 75,000 people in attendance at Obama's rally. What th More..ey have largely failed to report, however, is that many in the crowd may have attended as much for a free concert as to express their support for the Democratic frontrunner.
"The rally drew 75,000 people, but the media did not give any credit to the opening act, The Decemberists, who are wildly popular in Portland," says Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Media Institute of the Media Research Center. "I'm not saying that Obama wouldn't have drawn a big crowd, but certainly when you have a band that popular opening for him on a beautiful day, that probably should have been mentioned [by the media]."
By not mentioning the band, Knight says, the media has been able to avoid a well-known fact about The Decemberists. "You'd think the media would find it interesting that a presidential candidate had a band open for him that typically plays the Soviet national anthem, the song that celebrates communism in Russia," Knight says. "But the media has taken no interest in it."
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