Winners and losers in the health care messaging war

The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism says that opponents of the health law prevailed at least in part because their positions were sharper and easier to understand. 

NPR's Shots Blog: How Opponents Won The Health Care Messaging War
OK, so it's not exactly news that the Obama administration hasn't done the best job in the world selling the Affordable Care Act to the American public. But now the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism has some statistics to demonstrate just how sorry that job has been. And it suggests that the media gets at least some of the blame (Rovner, 6/19).

The Associated Press: Study Shows Health Care Opponents Won In Media
Opponents of President Barack Obama's health care plan decisively beat supporters in getting their message across through the media, according to a study released Tuesday. The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism said opponents won, in part, because their positions were sharper and easier to understand. Critics also more frequently drove the coverage, particularly when Tea Party demonstrations came to the fore (Bauder, 6/19).

Meanwhile, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee added their voices to requests that the Supreme Court's health decision be televised -

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Senate Judiciary Committee Leaders Request Live TV For Supreme Court Health Care Decision
Leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee are asking the Supreme Court to allow live television coverage when it delivers its ruling on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking Republican Charles Grassley said the issues in the case are as important and consequential as any in recent court history (6/19).

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Senators Want TV Cameras At Supreme Court
It's hard to predict how the Supreme Court will rule on the Obama health law, but we can safely forecast the court's action in one aspect of the case: It will strike down a request by the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee to televise the ruling (Landers, 6/19).

CQ HealthBeat: Grassley And Leahy Urge Live TV Coverage Of Health Care Decision
Two senior senators who have pushed for televised coverage of Supreme Court proceedings are urging Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to open up the court to cameras when a decision on the constitutionality of the health care law is announced. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy and ranking Republican Charles E. Grassley wrote Roberts on Monday saying that "the issues in the case are as important and consequential as any in recent court history" and Americans should be able to view the delivery of the court's opinion live (Norman, 6/19).