As if the obvious needs to be laid out even more clearly, this page presents several more examples of what I've been discussing on the otherMedia Bias pages.
The news media sometimes show bias when they don't report current events. Another nearby page on this site has a long list of suppressed news items.
New: There is now a separate page about biased news coverage of "tea parties".
There are also examples of media bias on the Hurricane Katrina page.
Most recently, the press showed undeniable favoritism toward Barack Obama in the 2008 election cycle, and now, even after President Obama has been elected and sworn in, the favoritism continues.
A recent example of liberal outrage against conservative commentary can be found here.
Media bias on environmental topics is covered on this page, and specific examples of biased reporting on environmental issues can be found here.
Note: The subsection about the "JournoList" has moved to its own page.
Somewhat related: NPR and the firing of Juan Williams.
Time Magazine: Constitution Doesn't Limit Government, ObamaCare Constitutional. Regular readers of Time magazine this week found in their mailbox yet another pile of leftist tripe in the vein of "the Constitution is a living document." This week's cover article by managing editor Richard Stengel is a freak show of anti-Constitutional babble including an assertion that the Constitution was not intended to limit government: "If the Constitution was intended to limit the federal government, it sure doesn't say so..."
NBC Picks on Supposed Republican Stumbles Before Showing Obama Soothing a Baby. On Tuesday night [6/21/2011], NBC decided to highlight a series of stumbles by Republican presidential candidates, none of them all that significant (Romney having $100 bills in his wallet and Perry referring to Twitter as "tweeter"), before later in the newscast showing White House-produced video of a baby which stopped crying when handed to President Obama.
He is not a reporter, he is an activist. There's a big difference.
ABC newsman "comes out" to support DREAM Act. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas has revealed his status as an illegal immigrant in order to fight for the DREAM Act. ... He didn't know his immigration status until he applied for a driver's license and was told his green card was a fake. He has kept the secret until now.
The Reckless Folly of the "Undocumented Immigrant". With great fanfare and elite media sympathy, Jose Antonio Vargas publicly declared himself an "undocumented immigrant" this week. ... The [New York] Times featured full-color photos of Vargas' fake document trove — including a fake passport with a fake name, a fake green card and a Social Security card his grandfather doctored for him at a Kinko's. He committed perjury repeatedly on federal I-9 employment eligibility forms. ... Making false claims of citizenship is a felony offense. Document fraud is a felony offense. Vargas, who frames himself as a helpless victim, freely chose instead to secure yet more dummy documents. He used a friend's address to obtain an Oregon driver's license under false pretenses.
Vargas: From Journalist to Illegal Immigrant and Political Activist. The newly publicized life-story of award winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas seems to be one of those revelatory stories that tends to confirm some of the worst charges against liberals and the Old Media. The media sees no reason not to break the law, it employs people with political agendas, and all the while refuses to inform customers of the "news" that this is the case.
NBC Cuts 'Under God' From Pledge of Allegiance. NBC on Sunday [6/19/2011] decided to cut the words "under God" from the reading of the Pledge of Allegiance that accompanied the beginning of its coverage of the U.S. Open Golf Championship.
NBC's 'Under God' Omission Prompts Calls for Boycott, Firing. NBC apologized for omitting the words "under God" and "indivisible" from the Pledge of Allegiance during Sunday's U.S. Open, but the incident has touched off calls for NBC to hold the persons for the omission accountable.
Pledging Allegiance. Frank Mickens took NBC to task for its censorship of "Under God" and "Indivisible" from the Pledge of Allegiance over the weekend. Mickens is a news anchor for CBS affiliate WFMY-TV in Greensboro, North Carolina. He did what our free press is supposed to do: hold accountable those in power. We need more intrepid journalists like Frank Mickens.
NBC-ya Later. It has now been revealed that NBC's decision to leave out the words "under God" and "indivisible" from the Pledge of Allegiance in Sunday's U.S. Open golf broadcast was no accident. ... It takes a concerted effort to open up an audio file, cue up to the "offensive" language and snip it out. But it also takes a stratospheric level of obliviousness to one's own arrogance to do so without contemplating the kind of blowback that is occurring. Part of that arrogance was likely animated by the thought that most Americans would be too stupid to notice.
Why So Many Atheists on CNN Belief? The CNN Belief Blog, which has graciously featured a few of my pieces, just celebrated its first anniversary, and for the occasion, its editors reflected on 10 things that they've learned in the course of the year. The one that got my eye was this: that atheists are by far the most fervent commentators on matters religious.
Media's Bias On Display In Hate Of Palin. The New York Times and Washington Post have asked their readers' help in scouring 24,000 emails from Sarah Palin's governorship, released Friday. They hate her — really hate her. Imagine a newspaper in 2008 asking readers' help in perusing Barack Obama's emails as U.S. senator and Illinois state senator. Or for that matter, help in unearthing his college records. The howls from "mainstream" journalists and Democratic politicians would have been deafening.
The Bounty Hunters of the Mainstream Media. I suspect that Sarah Palin has received more coverage by the news media than all other USA vice-presidential candidates combined.
Palin/Obama Paper Trails and Media Hypocrisy. The deafening roar of nothingness emerging from the Sarah Palin email trove points up the media's hypocritical lack of interest in Barack Obama's pre-presidential record. Just as Palin's emails were released, Slate's David Weigel pointed out that Barack Obama's State Senate records are not available. Weigel quotes Obama's statement to the effect that he didn't have the staff or financial resources to preserve office paperwork. As a result, Obama claims, his State Senate records may have been thrown out. In fact, Obama could easily have preserved his State Senate records had he wanted to.
Monsters in Our Midst. The elite liberal congressman Anthony Weiner turned his world of digital correspondence into an X-rated predator zone. ... As the pitiable man of his time endures the attacks of moralists, hypocrites, and other fiends who resent the congressional gym being used as a soft-core production house, the press is hot on the trail of the real monster. Major media institutions, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, enlisted their readers to comb through Sarah Palin's emails and report back on anything pounceable.
Times' Bias Shows In Palin E-mail Affair. No wonder last week's frenzy over Sarah Palin's old emails went as fast as it came. Not only did it turn out to be the nonstory of the year. It gave objective journalism one of its biggest black eyes yet.
Left-wing talking heads helped Anthony Weiner spread his lies. Following the salacious tweets and Facebook posts seen by just about anyone with an Internet connection, it has been astounding to watch certain members of the mainstream media defend Rep. Anthony Weiner by either uncritically reporting his own lie that his account was "hacked," blaming the scandal on someone else (i.e., blogger Andrew Breitbart) or simply ignoring it altogether.
Weiner's Case Shows Media's Double Standard. There's an obvious double standard when the liberal media cover political scandal. They're a pack of hungry lions to devour Republicans; they are mellow leaf-eaters when Democrats cross an ethical line. Let's recall the quick and dirty end of Republican Mark Foley's career in 2006. ... Foley's scandal was a sex talk scandal. Investigators never found a physical relationship, but the media chewed that story clean to the bones. The timing — just weeks before midterm elections — surely was delicious.
The Palin pile-on. A book some years ago called The Dance of Anger was an exploration of dysfunctional intimate relationships. The so-called "mainstream" media ought to read it, with Sarah Palin in mind. It's comical to watch them stalk Palin and then blame her for it all.
Chris Matthews: 'Nobody Thinks This Country Can Drill Its Way Out Of High Gas Prices'. I'm regularly amazed by the economic ignorance of today's television commentators. Consider MSNBC's Chris Matthews who on Monday's "Hardball" actually said, "Nobody thinks this country can drill its way out of high gas prices".
Democratic press handmaidens. You might have seen the vicious Mediscare video by now entitled "America the Beautiful." If you haven't, you should. It's from folks who just the other day were chanting the mantra of "civility." It's a taste of what the left will be serving up as 2012 approaches. ... Not since Barry Goldwater was smeared in 1964 with the famous "little girl with daisy and mushroom cloud" TV ad has there been such bald-faced character assassination.
MSN Money Finds 10 Reasons 'You Should Love $5 Gas'. Many have noted that homelessness seems to always become a concern for the legacy media when a Republican is president. Similarly, during Democratic administrations, media outlets always seem to find good things about bad economic news (remember "funemployment"?). The latest such attempt comes from MSN Money, which on Wednesday tallied ten reasons that "you should love $5 gas."
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Alinsky's Sarah Palin's Bus Tour Before It Even Begins. Governor Sarah Palin accepts an invitation from Rolling Thunder, a non-profit veteran's organization that holds an annual motorcycle ride in Washington D.C. every Memorial Day ... and what does the MSM do? Well, what they always do when it comes to Governor Palin: using well-honed Alinsky tactics, they attack with the goal in mind of discrediting, embarrassing and undermining her.
Cindy Sheehan Antiwar Activism Continues Despite Being Used by the Democrats. We don't read much about Cindy Sheehan's antiwar activism these days, perhaps because her political utility has faded. Sheehan has railed against President Barack Obama as she did against Bush. The press, for the most part, has shrugged.
Associated Press poll claims 60% Obama Approval. Obama sycophants in the media, which means most of the media, have been trumpeting an Associated Press poll that purports a 60% approval rating for Barack Obama. And if you believe that number, I have a compound in Abbottabad I'd like to sell you. The AP reached the 60% figure by lumping the majority of 'Undecideds' into the Obama approval column. Typically approval polls categorize respondents into three categories: Approve; Disapprove; and Undecided. Not the AP poll.
NBC: GOP 'Long Shots' vs. 'Confident' Obama 'Raking in Millions'. During a report on Tuesday's [5/10/2011] Nightly News, White House correspondent Chuck Todd was largely dismissive of the current crop of Republican candidates: "[Mitt Romney] skipped the first debate last week, leaving Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty as the only major contender alongside a slew of long shots jockeying for attention."
Spotting Media Bias in Story Choices. Media bias can be easily noticed in what the media say, but sometimes the worst cases of bias involve what the media do not say. A perfect example of this is the current media coverage -- or non-coverage, if you will -- of the recent gas price crisis nationwide. When President Obama first took office, prices were $1.86 per gallon. On 25 April 2011, the average price of fuel in America was $3.789. Yet where is the media outcry about gas prices?
Rock Island state's attorney pleads guilty, resigns. Rock Island state's attorney Jeff Terronez has pleaded guilty to providing alcohol to a minor a day after he said he would resign his post.
The Editor says...
There is no mention in this article of Mr. Terronez's party affiliation; therefore, he must be a Democrat.
CNN's Vastly Different Reporting On Bush, Obama Gas Prices. Read the article ... and see for yourself how CNN defends President Obama's actions regarding oil prices. CNN showcases Obama's recent rhetoric about gas prices, while conveniently neglecting to fact check any of President Obama's claims (as CNN did when covering President Bush's gas price rhetoric in past years).
Left-Wing Journo Attacks Rep. Allen West. Brandon K. Thorp, a gay activist from the alternative weekly Broward-Palm Beach New Times newspaper, is only the latest left-winger to launch into a verbal assault on Lt. Col. Allen West, now a Representative from Florida's 22nd District. Like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, Rep. West is one of the many conservatives that leftists fear the most. We know this because the left's constant, fevered, overwrought attacks tell us so.
PBS Host Advocates Repeal of the 'Natural Born' Clause. Apparently, in [Jon] Meacham's world, it is irrational (and horrifying) to expect transparency from this particular president. As expected, he refers to the matter as the "birther issue" instead of an issue of transparency, and insults those who consider the matter important by equating them to "crying children."
Lawrence O'Donnell Literally Cries Over Possible Defunding of Planned Parenthood. Reading almost directly from Democrat talking points, the so-called "news" network MSNBC spent most of its prime time programming Friday [4/8/2011] claiming that if the federal government was shut down as a result of a budget impasse, it was because Republicans wanted to defund Planned Parenthood.
Union leaders motivated by power and greed, not desire to help. Although the left has been talking of civility since the unfortunate Tucson incident, civility applies only to the other side. Only two months later, the Wisconsin activists launched the most vicious campaign of intimidation with a number of death threats, violent signs, and widespread hatred. The media, of course, silent.
They were outraged over "Death Panel" claims, but...
NBC Doesn't Object to Dem Calling GOP Budget a 'Death Trap'. On Tuesday's [4/5/2011] NBC Nightly News, a report on the Republican 2012 budget proposal included a sound bite from Democratic Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who decried the plan and ranted: "Medicare would become little more than a discount card. This plan would literally be a death trap for some seniors."
Why are Obama and the Press so Silent on Afghanistan? The mainstream media basically downplayed or ignored a March 15 Washington Post/ABC News poll which showed American support for the Afghanistan war seriously eroding. For the first time since the war there began almost a decade ago, nearly two of three surveyed said the battle is not worth fighting. Normally, such a dramatic turn in public sentiment against a war would rate screaming headlines and endless speculation on how that might affect President Obama's political standing and re-election chances in 2012.
Uncivil disobedience: Media ignores union thuggery. In Michigan, protesters opposed to Gov. Rick Snyder's austerity budget broke a window to get into the capitol building. One faces felony charges after assaulting police with an edged weapon; 14 were arrested. In Washington, DC, the windows at GOP headquarters were shot out, not the first time that Republican offices have been subject to such attacks. In Madison, Wis., the state capitol was occupied for weeks by teachers-union members and their supporters. Doors and windows were broken; a mob tried to keep Republican state senators from entering the Senate chamber to vote.
Top 10 Ugly Moments in the Wisconsin Union Battle. The mainstream media was in a tizzy about signs at Tea Party rallies that pictured Obama with a Hitler mustache, but there was no similar outrage about the intemperate signs at the Wisconsin protests.
Racially Inflammatory Al Sharpton Gets Yet Another Pass From the New York Times. The New York Times's weekly "Sunday Routine" feature is billed as "Prominent New Yorkers recount their weekend rituals." This Sunday it featured Al Sharpton being interviewed by David Halbfinger. Halbfinger's introduction gave no hint of why Sharpton is considered by non-Times readers as a controversial figure.
Networks Link Bush to 'Skyrocketing' Gas Prices 15 Times More Than Obama. As gas prices rose in 2008, network reporters mentioned President Bush in 15 times as many stories than they brought up President Obama in a similar period in 2011. Bush drew gallons of coverage in 2008. Comparing a 20-day span of rising gas prices in 2008 to 24 days of rising prices in February 2011, the Business & Media Institute found the networks did more than 2½ times as many stories during the Bush years versus Obama.
NBC Reporter Taints Big Oil With Watergate Scandal. On Friday morning [3/4/2011], NBC's Tom Costello couldn't close his Today show report on high gas prices without airing the proverbial soundbite from an angry gas station customer accusing oil companies of gouging the consumer. Costello even managed to taint Big Oil with the Watergate scandal, in his set-up for the perturbed gas pumper, as he pointed out one of the highest prices he found in Washington D.C. was "right in the shadow of the Watergate" adding, "customers across the country are increasingly suspicious of the oil companies."
Skewed Public Sector Union Poll Ignores Reality. While other polls have Democrats and Republicans roughly even in party identification, the Times/CBS poll gives Democrats a 10-percentage point edge. Also, 20 percent of those questioned have a union member in their household and 25 percent have a government employee. Those are considerably higher percentages of union members and government workers than actually exist in the country. So the poll is slanted to begin with.
The media protects a Democrat with silence. You would think something like this would be a pretty big story, especially since the union troops Hintz supports are becoming increasingly aggressive in their occupation of the state capitol. After millions of BTUs worth of hot air were unleashed about "tone" and "civility" in the wake of the Tucson shootings, an actual death threat from an elected representative is a significant event. No "heat of the moment" defense would be accepted from a Republican under similar circumstances, especially if a male Republican cited for sexual misconduct were threatening a female Democrat.
Wisconsin Dem Assemblyman Curses GOP Assemblywoman, Media Mum. A Wisconsin Democrat Assemblyman turned to a Republican Assemblywoman in the middle of a legislative session Friday and said, "You are f---ing dead." Despite the following report from the Northwestern at 12:53 PM Monday [2/28/2011], no major media outlet other than Fox News has covered this disgusting story.
Media drop ball on Wisconsin coverage, make union protesters look like saints. The cadre of reporters that descended on Madison, Wis., during the past couple weeks steered attention away from the union demonstrators' negativity — or, at the very least, failed to call attention it. The public sector union protesters have exhibited violence against Fox News reporters and have carried signs comparing Republican Gov. Scott Walker to recently deposed Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak and Adolf Hitler. NBC News anchor Brian Williams likened union members' actions to the populist revolts in the Middle East. ... ABC News' Diane Sawyer opened her Feb. 17 show in a similar manner, but went a step further.
The Teachers' Unions are on the Ropes. [Scroll down] It was real news to the residents of New Jersey, how the teachers' unions had rigged the system. Because for decades, the story went untold by the Newark Star Ledger and Bergen Record, the state's two largest dailies. The editors either didn't think the corrupt collective bargaining process was an issue worthy of a series, or didn't have a problem with the process. I suspect that many of the editors liked being for what their ideological opponents were against. Because both of those papers are liberal by any objective standard, and those that challenged the teachers' unions tended to be Republicans.
Should Boys Be Wrestling Girls? This year's Iowa state championships attracted attention nationwide when the promising high school sophomore Joel Northrup (the fifth-ranked wrestler in the state) defaulted on his first match. He had drawn Cassy Herkelman, a female freshman, as his opponent, and he could not, in good conscience, wrestle a girl. ... Had he not declined to wrestle Herkelman, he might have won it all. The New York Times, the AP, and other national news organizations noted that Northrup's father is a minister — the suggestion being that such peculiar and backward views as the young man expressed must be chalked up to a religious sensibility. Most of the coverage stressed the "girl against the old boys network" angle.
Eleanor Clift Asks "Since When Does Scott Walker Represent 'The People'?" Maybe someone should have told Eleanor that Walker won in 2010 by roughly the same margin Barack Obama did in 2008, as she certainly thinks the current White House resident represents "the people". More importantly, as is clearly evident in Clift's protestations, Democrats elected with union money represent the people. Republicans supported by individuals don't.
Anderson Cooper and the 'Big Bad Birthers'. [CNN's Anderson] Cooper is the guy who popularized calling Tea Party protesters "Teabaggers" even though he knew it was a derogatory term that referred to a sex act popular among homosexuals. He had to apologize for that, sort of, but what would be more appropriate would be an apology for pretending to be a fair journalist when he actually is a shill for left-wing causes.
AP Stops Tagging Troubled 'Centrist' Wu As a Dem. Oregon residents and news followers nationwide can be forgiven for shaking their heads over the Associated Press's latest item on the misadventures of Congressman David Wu. All of a sudden he's apparently not a Democrat — well, at least he's not identified as such by the wire service's Jonathan J. Cooper.
Wisconsin Unions vs. The Tea Party: A Classic Double Standard. A story-by-story analysis by the Media Research Center shows the Wisconsin protests are a perfect case study in the media's longstanding double standard favoring left-wing causes while demonstrating much more hostility to the Tea Party and conservative protest.
The Media on Wisconsin? A Bad Joke. The battle in Madison, Wis., between new Gov. Scott Walker and the public-sector union hacks offers an amazing study in journalistic double standards. The same national media that have spent the last two years drawing devil's horns and Klan hoods on the Tea Party protesters have switched sides with lightning speed. In the Wisconsin protesters, they find sweetness and light, "hope and change."
ABC's Bob Woodruff Touts 'Amazing' Union Protests, Downplays Other Side. In a segment totaling just two and a half minutes on Monday [2/21/2011], Good Morning America's Bob Woodruff managed to feature eight clips of pro-union protesters in Wisconsin and only two supporting Scott Walker, the state's Republican governor.
Radical, Bush-Death-Wishing Guitarist Delights Union Crowd in Madison. While reporters like Adam Nagourney "worry" out loud that the Wisconsin Republicans are going to look too extreme, AP somehow left out Morello's truly appalling and extremist stands, like speaking fondly of Philadelphia cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Maoist Shining Path terrorists in Peru. If that didn't seem pro-violence enough, then there's Morello praying for the drowning of President Bush in 2007, as reported in the Washington Post.
NBC Reporter Advances Dem Talking Points on GOP's 'Severe' Budget Cuts. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, on Monday's [2/21/2011] Today show, lumped the Wisconsin and federal budget fights together and depicted the Republicans, in both cases, as being on the defensive. Starting in Wisconsin O'Donnell reported that over the weekend "Protesters backing union workers vented anger" but didn't mention the Tea Party had a counter-protest.
Media Gone Mad. The battle to reform spending on public employees is underway in a dozen states, and there's little doubt as to which side the mainstream media is taking. ... Everything from crowd estimates to characterizations of intent was distorted. Unlike the exaggerated estimates of anti-reform crowds (a Feb. 18 crowd of perhaps 10,000, reported as up to 40,000, according to one station), few estimates were given as to the size of pro-reform crowds. Saturday's NBC Nightly News reported that "up to 70,000" protestors had gathered in Madison, but the context of the statement seemed to suggest that the estimate referred only to pro-union protestors. Another source clarified that the estimate of 70,000 included both pro- and anti-reform protestors.
Fox Calls Doctors Writing Sick Slips In WI "Fraud," CNN Calls It "Helping Out". On Fox News, Mike Tobin interviewed some residents of the state who claimed that it was extremely easy to get a doctor to give them a sick note, thus enabling public employees to take off from work to protest without any risk. News anchor Gregg Jarrett responded, "That's incredible news if it's true. That's basically fraud by doctors incidental to the breach of a teacher contract, which prohibits them from calling in sick to protest." Over on CNN, the story was essentially the same, but the tone decidedly different.
Only Fox News Highlights Nazi, Hitler Signs in Wisconsin Pension Debate. Wisconsin radio talk show host Vicki McKenna appeared on Your World With Neil Cavuto to discuss the battle over whether state employees will have to pay more for their pension and health care. Citing the attacks by liberals, she informed, "I have been called the Taliban, Hitler... I mean, anything that involves dictator, tyrants or genocide, historical references to slavery." In comparison, Good Morning News anchor Juju Chang spun the story: "Well, a bill seen as the most aggressive anti-union proposal in the country goes up for a vote in Wisconsin today." She simply claimed that state workers are "swarming the capitol in protest."
News reporters — or Narrative Shapers? CBS reporter Lara Logan, "covering the jubilation" as CBS put it, was surrounded by a mob of men screaming, "Jew, Jew!" who beat and sexually assaulted her. She is currently recovering in a U.S. hospital from injuries described as "serious." Despite the fact that the incident occurred last Friday, CBS sat on the story until it became apparent that other members of the media had gotten wind of it. Why? The bet here is that this incident interferes with the mainstream media-established narrative regarding the true nature of some "freedom-loving" Egyptians. People yearning for democracy aren't supposed to be anti-Semitic thugs or sexual predators as well. Thus, a genuine news item became an "un-story."
George Stephanopoulos Touts Michael Bloomberg's Anti-Gun Truck. Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday [2/16/2011] conducted a softball interview with Michael Bloomberg, touting his new gun control campaign and never once calling the New York mayor a liberal.
History Channel Credits 1980s Economic Recovery to 'Reagan Tax Increases'. According to a new History Channel special on Ronald Reagan, the profound economic recovery of the early '80s can be credited to "the Reagan tax increases." The February 9 program contained this odd assertion while highlighting the President's path to reelection in 1984. Of course, the Economic Recovery Act of 1981 actually cut the top marginal rate from 70 percent to 50 percent.
Ronald Reagan: The 100-Year-Old Racist? Ronald Reagan "tortured" blacks. Tavis Smiley, the PBS television host, once said this about the former president. NBC's Bryant Gumbel and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, among many others, consider Reagan a racist.
Matthews Bashes Bush for Holding Saudi King's Hand, Ignores Obama's Bow. In a classic example of liberal media bias, Chris Matthews on Friday bashed former President George W. Bush for holding Prince Abdullah of Saudia Arabia's hand when he visited the Crawford ranch back in 2005. After mentioning how "the bowing and scraping" involved in the "paramount task" of presidents honoring Arab leaders has sometimes "been nearly comical," the host of the syndicated program bearing his name completely ignored President Barack Obama's deep bow to the very same man less than two years ago.
Tale of Two SOTU's. Even though it was Obama's first State of the Union since his party lost control of the House and saw its Senate majority shredded, the [New York] Times didn't dwell on the decline in his party's fortune. By contrast, Kate Zernike's 2007 lead story on Bush's first State of the Union after the Republicans lost Congress emphasized the power shift away from the president, while lauding new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
ABC Sets Up Sting Operation to Find Racism; Hires Actor to Play a Bigot. ABC and reporter John Quinones on Thursday stretched the bounds of journalism, hiring an actor to play a racist security guard as a way of testing how the people of Arizona would react to the state's "anti-immigration law."
Chris Matthews Blames Egypt Riots on George W. Bush and Iraq War. It's a metaphysical certitude that whenever anything happens in the Middle East, the media will quickly blame former President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Not missing the opportunity to do so, Chris Matthews began the 5PM installment of "Hardball" Friday [1/28/2011]...
A Natural Born Job Killer. Don't believe the media. Obamacare is already adding to the unemployment rolls. ... A typical example is an AP "fact check" piece that includes this priceless quote from economist Paul Fronstin: "CBO isn't saying that there is job loss as much as they are saying that fewer people will be working." The irony of such verbal contortions is that they would be unconvincing even if they were not self-refuting. It isn't necessary to invoke the CBO to demonstrate that Obamacare is a job killer. The ink was hardly dry on the new law when the layoffs began at the small insurance companies.
The NYT's Tale of Two Speeches. The New York Times's lead political blogger Michael Shear was predictably effusive toward Obama's "soft and restrained" Wednesday night [1/12/2011] address to the nation, while showing resentment toward Palin's "accusatory" Wednesday morning video defense of herself: "Obama and Palin, a Tale of Two Speeches."
More about Obama's Arizona speech.
The Times Loses It. The [New York] Times ran, as its second lead, above the fold on the front page, a story about the Tucson shootings headlined "Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics." The article, by Carl Hulse and Kate Zernike, contains almost nothing newsworthy. Nor can it be called news analysis, beginning as it does with an attempt to create a self-fulfilling prophecy: "The shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords ... set off what is likely to be a wrenching debate over anger and violence in American politics." If self-fulfilling prophecies were wanted from reporters — and they are not — a better one would have been "Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Mental Health Policies."
Just When Grace Is Called for, Count on the MSM to Wallow in Disgrace. Fox's Bernard Goldberg, in commenting on the media's coverage of the Tucson massacre, put it (as usual) very well: "In all my years as a working journalist I've never seen such shallow, thoughtless, agenda-driven drivel as I have in the past 36 hours — and it's all masquerading as serious analysis and commentary." He added, "This is as bad as anything they've ever done." As a wise friend wrote me yesterday: "I don't think I have ever seen any episode in media that quite approaches this level of depravity."
What if Jared Loughner had been a Muslim? Shamefully and sadly, the media would have covered his horrific assassination attempt of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) and slaying and maiming of innocent Arizonans in a more responsible manner. They would have called for restraint and not violated the journalistic tenet of not assuming anything, a tenet they purportedly (and often facetiously sanctimoniously) claim to hold dear. But because Loughner was not a member of one of the mainstream media's protected classes, they used Loughner's heinous act to go on liberal crusades against conservatives and Tea Partiers, to promote gun control, amnesty, and rail against those who may oppose ethnic study programs that erroneously teach students that the Southwestern part of the United States is a part of Mexico.
Separation of Journalism and Politics. The mainstream media reached a new low with their coverage of the Tucson shooting spree by a deranged "left-wing pothead" (as one classmate described him). It seemed that with each attempted terrorist attack on our soil by a Muslim extremist, the journalistic community's refusal to call a spade a spade and identify and report to the public the reality of a very pervasive and genuine threat to national security was a symptom of political correctness run amok. However, the Arizona shooting proved that the real issue with news outlets is that their reporting is guided not by politically correct standards, but rather by biases so pervasive that there is no longer a moral compass involved in the reporting of world events. Editors and producers either do not care to or are no longer able to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, victim and attacker.
The New York Times: Three-Fifths Of A Newspaper. It's sad enough the New York Times' editors believe it "a theatrical production of unusual pomposity" that the incoming Republican Congress require "that every bill cite its basis in the Constitution." It may be only me, but I'd be willing to bet those same Times editors would be running down the hallways, arms a-flailin' and citing a pure constructionist position on the First Amendment, if the new Congress required government oversight as to the content of their sorry excuse for a newspaper.
New York Times Attempts to Label the Constitution As Irrelevant. As the unofficial, official Newspaper of the progressive movement, the NY Times has a core audience to placate, but who would think that they would go out of their way to alienate the rest of their readership. But that's exactly what they did in an editorial called "Pomp, and Little Circumstance", which rebukes the GOP for the attempt to repeal Obamacare, allowing John Boehner to swear his staff in early and most startling, for wasting the people's time by starting off the 112th Congress with a reading of the United States Constitution.
The NY Times Explains the Constitution. It is fascinating to see the liberal response to House Republicans reading the Constitution in the House chamber. At the New York Times, reporter Kate Zernike offers an "annotated guide" to the Constitution that purports to explain the main battlegrounds between, as the Times frames the dispute, the Tea Party and progressives. ... The Times' analysis contains a number of howlers. ... We have "little in common with the framers"? Not even, apparently, a system of government. This is reminiscent of Ezra Klein's observation that the Constitution is old, so we may as well ignore it.
Why the Constitution — and What It Means — Matters. Having taken control of the House of Representatives, Republicans plan to begin their political journey by today [1/6/2011] reading the American Constitution word-for-word. This is simply too much for those on the left. According to the Washington Post's Ezra Klein, it's a "gimmick." The Constitution, you see, was written "more than 100 years ago" and is very, very hard to understand.
Nineteen Democrats Scorn Pelosi in Speaker Vote, WaPo Buries Story on Page A8. The first vote cast by the 110th Congress on January 4, 2007 was for election of Speaker of the House. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) won all 233 Democratic votes (including her own). All 202 Republicans voted for Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio. Two years later Pelosi secured 255 (including her own), and there was only one Democrat, one Rep. Gutierrez who did not vote. Minority Leader Boehner received every Republican vote, save for his own and three other Republicans who didn't vote. By contrast, yesterday's [1/5/2011] vote for Speaker witnessed a total of 20 Democrats — 10 percent of the party caucus — defecting from the Pelosi line.
CBS Plays Food Police, Touts ObamaCare Counting Calories. On Tuesday's [1/4/2011] CBS Evening News, correspondent Michelle Miller lectured Americans on their diet: "According to Consumer Reports Health, many Americans are simply deluding themselves, most say they eat well but don't... 85% of Americans rarely, if ever, count calories. Another 79% never set foot on a scale."
AP Lingo: Republicans 'Hack Away Derisively' at Obama's 'Landmark' Health Care 'Accomplishment'. The media's coverage of the incoming GOP-controlled House of Representatives could be called the March of the Mean Words. When Democrats ascend to power, they pass "historic" and "landmark reforms." When Republicans do the same, the media argot is colorful and violent, sending unsubtle meat-axe messages of conservative "assaults" and "attacks."
NBC Promotes 'Princess Boy' Propaganda. Any semblance of objectivity grew fairy wings and flew out the window on the January 3 broadcast of NBC'S "Today Show." Host Meredith Vieira promoted a book by Cheryl Kilodavis, titled "My Princess Boy," an illustrated children's book that promotes the tolerance of cross-dressing boys.
Post says Russian Regime Untrustworthy, After Endorsing Russian Arms Treaty. A Washington Post editorial on November 19 endorsed Senate passage of the New START treaty with Russia. On December 27, after the treaty was passed, the Post published an editorial saying that Russia was firmly under the control of former KGB officer Vladimir Putin, the former president who is now Prime Minister, and that the Russian regime could not be counted on to live up to international standards. Wouldn't it have been nice for the Post to have told its readers this fact before the treaty was passed?
WashPost's Ezra Klein Laments 'Confusing' Nature of Our Old Constitution. The Washington Post's Ezra Klein appeared on MSNBC's Daily Rundown, Thursday [12/30/2010], to mock the incoming Republicans for their stated fixation on the Constitution, asserting that the document is rather old and "confusing."
The 10 Biggest 'Non-Story' Stories of 2010. [#10] The Resurgence of State's Rights — Somewhat supported by the Tea Party movement, and certainly related to ObamaCare and Arizona's immigration battles, the broad issue of state rights in the context of constitutional government is garnering interest among Americans perhaps like never before. The 10th Amendment is being championed on an increasing number of fronts and even the concept of "nullification" has returned to our modern dialog. Big Media really isn't into the whole Constitution thing. It would never occur to them that Washington is less than omnipotent.
MTV's Teen Abortion Sales Pitch: It's Just "A Ball of Cells". The show was even worse than I suspected it would be. It was infuriating and horrifying, almost beyond words. It was also heartbreaking beyond belief.
WaPo Reporter Buys Liberal Line That Abortions Are 'Virtually Impossible' in Rural Iowa. Has The Washington Post ever traveled to Iowa? Obviously, yes for presidential caucuses. But on Friday [12/31/2010], Post reporter Sandhya Somashekhar accepted the bizarre premise of abortion advocates that abortions are "virtually impossible" in rural Iowa. No one owns a car? The story centered on a new pro-life cause, protesting the provision of RU-486 abortion cocktails over the Internet. Liberals can get upset about selling booze on the Internet, or the spreading of Obama slurs on the Internet, but the marketing of death pills online is a precious human right.
Piling on Palin. When ABC's Barbara Walters deems Sarah Palin one of the year's "Most Fascinating People," it's a backhanded compliment. Walters knows Palin has an adoring fan base, and she's definitely not part of it.
Salon Publishes Call for Torture, Murder of Sarah Palin. Liberal online political magazine Salon.com published a letter to the editor Friday [12/17/2010] that called for the murder of 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Oprah, Matthews Spread the MSM's Anti-Palin Gospel. Oprah Winfrey sounded the bell for the 2012 presidential race with her thinly veiled whack at Sarah Palin in the new issue of Parade Magazine; And the mainstream media are already lapping it like swine.
CBS shows doctored cover mocking Bush's book. Like so many CBS "Sunday Morning" pieces over the past 30 years, the one on book covers this past weekend seemed gentle, fair and snark-free. Unless you took a really close look. When a series of book covers flashed by on-screen, former President George W. Bush's recent memoir was no longer titled "Decision Points," but instead carried this title and subtitle: "Desision Points: How I Managed to Go Eight Years without Making One Good Decision."
Where Are the Stories On the Death of the Democrat Party? When Republicans lost in 2008 there were stories everywhere about the Death of the Republican Party. The one in Time Magazine was most enjoyable. While this article talks about the possibility of a comeback, Michael Grunwald can't mention often enough that Republicans are an "endangered species" and even calling them the Donner Party. Who's eating their own now?
The Palin 'Glaring Gaffe' That Wasn't. [Scroll down] If Yahoo wanted to do a little serious political reporting, it might have inquired as to how chief counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan, who was sitting with Clapper during his brain freeze, got his job. A former CIA operative and advisor to Barack Obama, Brennan first came to public attention in April 2008 when one of the employees of his small consulting company was caught illegally rifling Obama's passport files. Maybe, he was trying to figure out just how many of America's 57 states our president had visited.
Net Neutrality: For some, 'Big Brother' regulation is OK. It's been interesting watching the spin on net neutrality. PC Magazine online offers one of those little-of-this, little-of-that "journalistic" pieces that put me to sleep. Heck, I was even beginning to think, "Neutrality" has a nice ring, reminds of Switzerland during the war, studiously impartial to all and sundry — well, except for safeguarding hoards of Nazi gold and other loot. Not content with that, PC Magazine also offers an opinion piece, though it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish news from opinion. The title was provocative: "Do We Need FCC's Net Neutrality Order?"
Christmas Without Christ. 2,000 years ago, there was no room for Mary and Joseph at the inn in Bethlehem. Fittingly enough, in the past two years, there was no room for their baby at the network evening news shows. Every year, millions of Americans celebrate the most important Christian holiday by reflecting upon the significance of the birth of Christ. Families attend church, count blessings and exchange gifts, and yet the evening news broadcasts for ABC, CBS and NBC almost completely ignored these religious traditions by leaving Christ and God out of Christmas.
Glorifying "Great" Liberal Judges. Scott Pelley hailed how Stevens had "shaped more American history than any Supreme Court justice alive." He especially underlined how liberals see Stevens' opinions on the rights of terrorist suspects as "among the most important of his career." The detention center at Guantanamo Bay is a legal and political mess. One could easily blame the "historic" Justice Stevens; CBS lauds him.
GOP Calling ObamaCare 'Government Takeover' of Health Care Is Biggest Lie of Year, Touts ABC's 'Nightline'. ABC's "Nightline" touted a PolitiFact story Thursday that rated the five biggest lies of 2010 in politics. The number one lie? Republicans calling the health care bill a "government takeover of health care." When asked why the claim received the status of biggest lie of the year, PolitiFact.com editor Bill Adair answered that it was "so pervasive" and "just not true."
Media Gush Over Clinton Briefing Room Appearance. Before the media got thrills and chills over Obama, they were enthralled with Bill Clinton. They still have that lovin' feeling for him to this day, judging by their reaction to President Clinton's return to the White House briefing room lectern on December 10.
The Liberal Media Is Distorting The US/Israel Settlement Freeze Impasse. After weeks of negotiations, the United States government announced that they would no longer try to force Israel to extend its settlement freeze. Almost unanimously the media placed the blame for the impasse on Israel.
Barbara Walters vs. Sarah Palin: When ABC's Barbara Walters deems Sarah Palin one of the year's "Most Fascinating People," it's a backhanded compliment. Walters knows Palin has an adoring fan base, and she's definitely not part of it. When the Dec. 2 special began, Walters greeted Palin with "Many people find the thought of you as president a little scary." This is not what Walters asked President Obama in yet another gooey Barack-and-Michelle hour-long ABC interview on Thanksgiving night. ... Liberals like Walters always assume that if you're liberal, you're smart; if you're conservative, you're either evil or stupid. Or both.
MSNBC's Mitchell Touts Planned Parenthood Poll. During Tuesday's [12/6/2010] 1PM ET hour on MSNBC, anchor Andrea Mitchell highlighted a new poll from the left-wing pro-abortion group Planned Parenthood that claimed that voters do not trust Sarah Palin on so-called "women's health issues": "A new poll suggests that she may have a tough time getting voters to trust her on at least one front... 54% of registered voters do not trust Palin on those issues."
CBS's Pelley Promotes Claim Supreme Court 'Stole' 2000 Election for Bush. In a softball interview with retired liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on Sunday's 60 Minutes, correspondent Scott Pelley touted Stevens's opposition to the court ruling on the 2000 presidential election: "He thinks [Bush v. Gore] is one of the Court's greatest blunders.... There were many people in this country who felt that the Supreme Court stole that election for President Bush."
'Rightwing' Terror Suspect Turns Out to Be a... Leftwinger. It seems that whenever you hear about a "rightwing" hate crime nowadays, it turns out the the perpetrator turns out to be a leftwinger... much to the disappointment of liberals who continue to maintain the fiction about a violent Tea Party movement.
All The News That Is Unfit to Print. Here are a few important developments that remain strangely ignored. I say strangely, but most readers understand why some news becomes news and some does not.
The Threat of Leftist Violence. In 1918, the Sedition Act was added to the Espionage Act of the prior year, making it a crime to publish, speak, or write in a fashion critical of our form of government. Aimed at the radical Progressives, there were more than two thousand successful prosecutions under the act. The Sedition act was upheld in the Supreme Court numerous times as a perfectly constitutional means of protecting the Constitution from those who sought to subvert it. Twenty-two years later, the Smith Act made it illegal to advocate the violent overthrow of the government. Yet just the other week, MSNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan committed prosecutable violations of both acts when he hosted a segment on his show featuring cartoonist/author Ted Rall discussing his cheerful new book, The Anti-American Manifesto. ... That such a discussion was held on a mainstream American news network defies belief.
MSNBC's Brewer Promotes Electric Car Charging Stations as Parent Company GE Sells Them. Displaying a clear conflict of interest during Friday's 12PM ET hour on MSNBC, anchor Contessa Brewer did a story promoting electric car charging stations but did not disclose to viewers that the channel's parent company, General Electric, was selling the very same product. GE commercials for the charging stations have frequently aired on MSNBC in recent weeks.
Al Gore's Climate Exchange Utterly Fails — Media Ignores It All. One would think that if such an effort from the right had failed so miserably to succeed the Old Media would be pushing this news by leading every news cast, every TV report, and filling up the front page of every news paper with the tale. Yet this magnificent failure of the leftest of left-wing causes leaves the Old Media utterly silent.
The Ad the Media Didn't Want Delaware to See. It's one thing to grouse about media bias, and another to confront it head-on. Just in the past couple of days, we've seen a CBS affiliate in Alaska get caught plotting how to disrupt Republican Joe Miller's rally, and now a cable station in Delaware "forget" to air Christine O'Donnell's half-hour closing argument ad — twice.
MRC Study: "News" Media Aid Democrats' Tea Party Trashing. The Democrats' strategy to salvage the 2010 campaign was to distract voters from their record over the past two years and paint their opponents as wacky extremists. Win or lose, the Democrats got a lot of help from their friends in the supposedly objective "news" media.
More about biased coverage of Tea Party events.
Sarah Palin's not laughing, and neither are we. Like methane bubbling up from the bottom of a swamp, every so often we get glimpses of the overwhelming liberal bias that dominates America's newsrooms, nationally and locally. Such was the case when a call from Anchorage CBS affiliate KTVA to the Joe Miller campaign failed to disconnect and some revelatory comments were recorded.
CBS Alaska Caught on Tape Scheming against Joe Miller. CBS affiliate KTVA in Alaska was caught on tape Thursday [10/28/2010] in the most provocative accidental voicemail message scandal of the campaign season to date. It's really not a good idea to for reporters to have a conversation about ways the CBS affiliate might be able to discredit the Republican candidate right after leaving a phone message for the candidate's press representative. They may find that the voicemail is still recording.
CBS Reporters' Scheme to Undermine Republican Joe Miller. I wonder where these "reporters" went to journalism school. ... They want to fool the public into thinking that they are just responding to a legitimate news tip as opposed to what they're actually doing: trying to manufacture dirt on a candidate out of thin air — one day before the election.
CBS reporters plot hit piece on GOP candidate. Reporters from a CBS affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska, allegedly left a voicemail by mistake at the campaign of the state's Republican nominee for Senate, Joe Miller, in which the journalists can be heard plotting to "find" a "child molester" among the politician's supporters. The reporters are also overheard hoping for violence against Miller so they can "send out a tweet" and Facebook alert that "Miller got punched" at a rally he held four days ago.
The TV station admits guilt:
CBS Affiliate Fires Two After Joe Miller Voicemail Controversy. Reporters from a CBS affiliate in Alaska recently left an accidental voicemail message for an aide to Senate candidate Joe Miller, in which producers are heard discussing the possibility of reporting on the appearance of a child molester at a Miller rally. Essentially, they could be heard conspiring to create or fabricate stories.
KTVA dumps two producers over 'Phonegate'. Local CBS affiliate KTVA announced Tuesday afternoon [[11/2/2010] via press release that two producers are no longer with the station as a result of an accidental voice recording which captured newsroom staff discussing coverage plans for Joe Miller rally last Thursday.
CBS-KTVA Newscasts Nixed For Ethics Issues. In the wake of a Big Government exclusive report featuring audio of CBS Anchorage affiliate KTVA-TV staffers seemingly plotting potentially damaging scenarios for Alaska Republican Joe Miller's Senate campaign, the station has been forced to cancel two evening news broadcasts, allowing time for extended discussion on journalistic ethics.
How The Old Media Constantly Undermines Sarah Palin. Most media-watching conservatives have simply been flabbergasted at how the Old Media establishment has so neatly come together to destroy Sarah Palin. The Internet has been abuzz with examples of this attack on Sarah since she was chosen by John McCain to be her number two during the campaign for the 2008 presidential election. Every day there is a new example of it and here is yet another one.
MSNBC Gives Free Time to MoveOn.org Ad. Just days after MSNBC President Phil Griffin claimed his cable network does not use air-time to support Democratic candidates and liberal causes, evening host Lawrence O'Donnell yielded over two minutes of his eponymous program to feature MoveOn.org's latest anti-Republican advertisement in its entirety.
The New York Times: Democratic voter fraud? That's crazy talk!. The New York Times tackles the subject of voter fraud today, I'm going to give them points for honesty for this one. Sure, the article is biased, but if you're going to slant things in a news article, you might as well come out and announce it in the first few paragraphs...
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Saves Democrat Party Boss From Embarrassing Gaffe. [Scroll down] Rep. Brady shockingly acknowledged that the cash-on-the-streets strategy is not an antiquity but still part of the Democratic Machine's playbook in 2010: "We still have the street money and we're very knowledgeable," he said. Rather than follow-up on this damaging revelation, Ms. Mitchell continued on with her scripted questions for several minutes until the very end when she decided to follow-up on the inflammatory statement. But, instead of trying to nail him and make him squirm (as one would expect a reporter to do with a politician in the midst of a serious gaffe) she threw him a safety line.
Journalistic Malpractice and NPR. The recent firing of NPRs Juan Williams is only the tip of the iceberg for NPR's journalistic malpractice. ... Charlie Rangel has been in Congress since 1970 and has been under ethics investigations for nearly 2 years. Joe Wilson has only been in Congress since 2006 — yet for some reason Mr. Wilson seems to have garnered more attention from NPR than the graft, greed and blatant corruption of the man who writes the tax code for the entire country. Why?
More about NPR and the firing of Juan Williams.
Newsweek Poll: Too Many Democrats in the Sample. This Newsweek poll released over the weekend [10/24/2010] found some surprisingly good news for Democrats. But it probably doesn't mean much for President Obama and his party: the sample includes too many Democrats, at least based on a lot of other recent polls.
CBS Puffs Pelosi: 'One of the Most Effective Speakers in Congressional History'. On CBS's Sunday Morning [10/17/2010], correspondent Rita Braver conducted a fawning interview with Nancy Pelosi, portraying the widely unpopular Speaker of the House as a strong leader taking on her opponents.
In CNN's America, We're Heavily Black and Muslim. CNN, like many liberal media outlets, is very interested in diversity — in race, creed, sexual preference, everything but ideology. But this image today, as CNN launched a new marketing gimmick asking viewers to fill in the sentence "My America Is...." If we're going to get into bean-counting here, judging from the graphic behind anchorman Tony Harris today, America is majority-black and has a lot of Muslim women.
Supremely Slanted. For almost 20 years, in this new era of activist groups and activist reporters, The New York Times has covered Supreme Court fights with a heavy finger on the scales of justice, tipping the balance. They have painted conservatives as highly controversial and dangerously ideological, while liberal nominees were presented as "brilliant" moderates who were only newsworthy in that they were often laudably "historic" choices, or, in Kagan's case, she was not only "brilliant," but "very funny, warm and witty."
Did someone mention Elena Kagan?
The most conservative court? Hardly. What do you call a Supreme Court that within the last few terms has ruled that carbon dioxide can be regulated as "air pollution" by the Environmental Protection Agency? ... If you're NPR's Nina Totenberg, you say it's "dominated by a new brand of conservative justice." If you're Dahlia Lithwick writing in Slate, you slam it as a court "in which big business always prevails, environmentalists are always buried, female and elderly workers go unprotected, death row inmates get the needle, and criminal defendants are shown the door." If you're The New York Times, you label it "the Supreme Court that conservatives had long yearned for and that liberals feared."
Revealed: Daily Kos' AstroTurf Program to Manipulate Google and Trash GOP Candidates. There is more than one way to manipulate the public, and the progressive movement has turned it into an art form. Less than one week after their AstroTurf rally in Washington DC, where unions and socialist organizations foot the bill to bus people to the nation's capital city, the Daily Kos has developed a new AstroTurf program with the objective to use Google to trash Republican Candidates.
Kos Konspirators Try to Rig Google. In accord with the elevated tone set by the founder, the Daily Kos openly urges readers to rig Google rankings of articles, in order to make the most damaging material about Republican candidates appear prominently when their names are searched.
More about bias at Google.
ABC Sanitizes Left Wing Rally, Excludes Communist and Socialist Signs. Good Morning America on Sunday recapped the liberal One Nation rally held on the nation's capital, Saturday, but skipped any mention of the socialist and Communist themed signs seen during the march. These are some of the signs that were featured during reporter Tahman Bradley's segment: ""Peace, justice, equality, hope, change," "Fair trade, not free trade," "Educate every child," "Full and fair employment" and "Silence GOP lies." However, signs with the Communist Party USA logo, posters reading "Capitalism is failing, socialism is the alternative" and "Build a socialist alternative" were not.
More about the One Nation rally.
One Nation Rally Picture Guaranteed to Haunt Media. The media — and especially MSNBC's Ed Schultz — were hoping for a huge turnout at Saturday's "One Nation" rally in Washington, D.C. So hopeful were so-called journalists that this liberal event would top the attendance of Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in August that Schultz even "guaranteed" on his radio show that he "could do more than 300,000."
Newsweek poll assumes lower GOP turnout than in 2008. If you look at how each party does by the voters' partisan ID, and do the three-by-three equation ... you'll find their registered voter sample is weighted as follows:
• 39 percent Democrat,
• 29 percent Republican,
• 32 percent independent.
They give different numbers at the end of their report, but this is how the poll is actually weighted, according to the math.
The Media's Debacles. The latest reporting from the New York Times, Newsweek and Time have set new records for not wanting to report the news that doesn't fit their editorial line. Glenn Beck's Tribute to Honor in Washington D.C. that attracted in the neighborhood of half a million participants was resigned to a few inches on page 34 of the Times and the other liberal journals were hardly more accurate in their non-coverage. Their sanctimonious condemnation of all opponents of the Ground Zero Mosque was the icing on the cake of irresponsible journalism.
Liberal media goes on attack against GOP's Boehner. The heat is on Republican leader John Boehner. Liberal media outlets are trying to smear the highest-ranking Republican in the House just weeks before the midterm elections with a deal-breaking scandal before he has a chance to take the speaker's chair from Nancy Pelosi.
The Beatification of Hillary. After all these years, the Christian Science Monitor is starting to live up to its religious name. At least they are beginning to publish hagiography-the reverent biographies of saints. In the current issue, their candidate for canonization is St. Hillary Clinton. Howard LaFranchi's "Hillary Clinton: A Quiet Brand of Statecraft" is as gushily adulatory as Chris Matthew's leg tingle.
Fabrication: Newsweek Makes Up Ground Zero Election Day Tea Party Rally. [If a mosque at Ground Zero] isn't appropriate, would it be an appropriate place for a Tea Party rally to be held? Possibly not. But whether that's the case or not, Newsweek's David A. Graham would have you believe there will be a so-called "Election Day Tea Party rally" held at Ground Zero, led by former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, as an effort to shore up support for a 2012 presidential bid.
Media white-washes Bell, California jail-birds' party status. They're gone, wearing jumpsuits, all eight former officials of Bell, the modest California city whose citizens, for 25 years, were plundered by shamelessly corrupt Democrats.
Bell, California Corruption — Not a Single Mention of Party Affiliation From Media. Today, eight city council members were arrested in Bell, California for what Los Angeles County District Attorney labeled "corruption on steroids." Thus far, every major news outlet that has reported on the story has omitted the fact that all eight individuals arrested are Democrats. These glaring omissions come only weeks after NewsBusters reported that of the 351 stories on the then-brewing controversy, 350 had omitted party affiliations, and one had mentioned they were Democrats only in apologizing for not doing so sooner.
Overwhelmingly White Media Criticize Conservative Rallies as 'Overwhelmingly White'. If you thought media coverage of the Aug. 28 "Restoring Honor" rally hosted in Washington D.C. by Fox News host Glenn Beck seemed like just another attack on conservatives, you're not alone.
NAACP, Left-Leaning Media Groups Form Tea Party Tracking Site. A new website sponsored by the NAACP and left-leaning media operations is seeking videographers and bloggers who will search out "racism" and "extremism" among Tea Partiers.
From sword fight to shoeshine. The fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina recalls a horror show on two levels. There's the actual disaster, which killed hundreds of people, and then there's the media smear job on the Bush administration and first responders.
Taxpayer-Funded Pacifica Radio Planning to Air Al-Jazeera Audio. It might seem impossible, but the radical-left taxpayer-funded Pacifica Radio network is in negotiations to get even more anti-American in its orientation. It's negotiating with Al-Jazeera for its five stations to broadcast audio from the Al-Jazeera English cable TV channel, which is only marginally available in the United States.
Remarkably blatant media bias in Beck crowd counting. Sure you expect bias — of the more subtle and deniable kind. But the deliberate downplaying of crowd numbers at the Beck rally shows that the major media outlets really don't care if their wildly underestimated totals (or in the case of WaPo deliberate deception) are challenged. The left has their backs and they know only conservative media will call them on it. Perhaps the Washington Post outright deception takes the cake.
New York Times delivers predictably hackish piece on Beck/Tea Party rally. Neither the Huffington Post nor Dave Weigel have found racism yet at today's Glenn Beck rally (I've got to admit, I'm not really sure what to call this odd event), and so you can safely assume anything smelling of racism was pretty hard to find. That left the New York Times' official conservative-are-racist reporter Kate Zernike with two options: (a) quote Al Sharpton, or (b) write an op-ed about how she interprets the Tea Party types, but throw in a couple of "critics say" and disguise it as a news story.
ABC News Tries To Incite Incident At Mosque Protest. In 1989 during my first gig as an investigative reporter with the Guam Tribune, my editor sat me down and I've never forgotten his warning, "It's the job of the news media to report the news, not incite it." Tell that to ABC News.
ABC News Issues 'Reprimand' To Their Ground Zero Mosque Plant. ABC News has reprimanded one of its employees for trying to start some kind of ruckus during Sunday's Ground Zero Mosque protest.
ABC, You Got Some 'Splainin' To Do — Now. Was I shocked when I read Andrea S. Lafferty's article about ABC News sending an undercover photographer into a crowd of Ground Zero Mosque protesters? Yes and no. Yes, because it's something a news organization has no business doing. No, because nothing surprises me with the media nowadays. NBC's Dateline sent people dressed as Muslims to a NASCAR race shortly after 9-11 to videotape bigotry that they hoped to find. They found none, but that's not the point here. The fact they thought they would find it at a NASCAR race shows NBC's bigotry.
AP Orders Staff: 'Stop Using the Phrase "Ground Zero Mosque"'. In an unusual move, the Associated Press has publicly released an advisory memo to its reporters on how to cover of the Ground Zero mosque story — and the first rule is that journalists must immediately stop calling it the "Ground Zero mosque" story.
Did someone mention the proposed Ground Zero mosque?
Race War A'Comin'? [Scroll down] The media insist that opposition to the leftist political plans is racist, so debate on political issues is stifled and unhealthy. In black-on-white situations, the news always skips to racism and excuses the black parties. Blacks are blameless, victims of racism. A black guy fired because he was caught on camera stealing shoots and kills all his coworkers, and the report is that he was the victim of white racism.
ABC and NBC Refuse to Identify Corrupt Rostenkowski as a Democrat. Reporting the passing of Dan Rostenkowski, the ABC and NBC anchors on Wednesday night [8/11/2010] managed to gently note his ignominious departure from public life while also including a humanizing anecdote about his life, but neither identified him as a Democrat. Nor did any on-screen graphic mark his party.
Let's Play 'Spot the Democrat'! In the greatest party-affiliation cover-up since the media tried to portray Gary Condit as a Republican, the media are refusing to mention the party affiliation of the thieving government officials in Bell, Calif. There have been hundreds of news stories about Bell city officials' jaw-dropping salaries. In this poor city on the outskirts of Los Angeles, where the per capita annual income is $24,800 a year, the city manager, Robert Rizzo, had a salary of $787,637.
The D word. If you read a 1,000-word article on the new University president's deep political ties, wouldn't you expect the article to mention what party this new president is in? I did. But once I realized the article — on new UNC head Thomas Ross — contained neither the words "Democrat" or "Republican," I knew which one it was — D.
WaPo buries Dem fundraiser's fraud, highlights GOP fundraising scandal. I wonder why the Nemazee story — about a conviction, not just charges — was not deemed as worthy of front-page and exhaustive treatment as the Wyly story.
Are conservatives suspicions regarding the media justified? Yes. Howard Kurtz whines that "[Conservative] candidates seem to regard it as an affront when reporters challenge them on their past statements and inconsistencies, which is a basic function of journalism. They are avoiding or limiting interviews with all but the friendliest faces as a way of circumventing the press. And some of them delight in skewering the mainstream media, a tactic that plays well with their base." It's interesting that Kurtz doesn't mention the Obama administration's attempt to boycott Fox News, and its ongoing complaints about that network.
Newsweek Whitewashes Al Sharpton. A well-known "civil rights activist" made the cover of Newsweek, the left-wing "news" magazine reportedly sold for its debt and $1. Based on this cover story, the buyer overpaid.
ABC Skips Label for Liberal Media Matters. Conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart and Eric Boehlert of the liberal organization Media Matters debated each other on Wednesday's [7/21/2010] Good Morning America. But ABC only identified the ideology of the right-leaning guest.
Networks Protest Arizona's Immigration Law With Cameras and Microphones. The TV networks have aggressively demonstrated their dislike of Arizona's state law "cracking down on illegal immigrants," a law that "pits neighbor against neighbor." An MRC review of morning and evening news programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC from April 23 to July 25 found the networks have aired 120 stories with an almost ten-to-one tilt against the Arizona law (77 negative, 35 neutral, 8 positive).
Chris Matthews Thinks Carter, Mondale and Dukakis Are 'Center-left' Democrats. If you needed to know just how liberal Chris Matthews is, consider that he thinks Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, and Michael Dukakis are on the center-left of the political spectrum.
The Editor asks...
Who is further to the left than Carter and Mondale? Tell me the names of the politicians who make Carter and Mondale look like centrists.
Schieffer Stacks 'Face the Nation' Panel 4-1 in Favor of DOJ. Last week, CBS "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer made the incredible confession that he was unaware of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation cast on CNN's July 18 "Reliable Sources." ... "I was on vacation that week," Schieffer said. "This happened — apparently, it got very little publicity. And, you know, I just didn't know about it" To compensate for this oversight, Schieffer has assembled a panel for his July 25 broadcast of "Face the Nation" to discuss this issue. The problem — it's heavily stacked in favor of the Obama administration's perspective on the issue.
ABC Hypes NAACP Indictment of Tea Party as Racist, a Smear the Network Stoked. Four months after ABC's World News spent a weekend defaming anti-ObamaCare Tea Party protesters as "very ugly" with "reports of racial and homophobic slurs," citing "protesters roaming Washington, some of them increasingly emotional, yelling slurs and epithets," Tuesday's newscast, unlike those on CBS and NBC, credentialed the NAACP's charge that the "Tea Party movement is a threat to the pursuit of human rights, justice and equality for all."
Daily Kos: Take Legal Action to 'End Organized, Institutionalized Religion'. For all the daily talk on the Daily Kos that conservatives are dictatorial, their cast of bloggers isn't without grand designs for social control. Take this post: "Time to begin working for the death of religion (a rant)." The diarist "BlueMoon" expressed no attempt to disrupt free speech, but the "end of organized religion" must be attempted.
CNN Reporter Dana Bash Laughs as Kathy Griffin Calls Scott Brown's Daughters 'Prostitutes'. On her Bravo TV show Tuesday night [7/13/2010], left-wing comedian Kathy Griffin referred to Sen. Scott Brown's two daughters as "prostitutes," and a CNN reporter apparently thought it hysterical. [Audio available.]
A Phone Call from the Associated Press. [Scroll down] What the AP did yesterday [7/14/2010] is yet another example of how low journalism has sunk in the United States. The AP journalist seems to be dialing around to engineering experts hoping to get the answer they want to support a political position determined to stop fossil fuel use in the United States.
Most Nets Skip Over Their Advocacy of Broadcast Profanity. Most networks skipped over the story of their own corporate advocacy of broadcast profanity last night when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals shredded the FCC's broadcast decency regulation. (All the major broadcast networks signed on, with Fox in the lead). NBC's Brian Williams offered 94 words, but erred in claiming "When a curse word has slipped out in the past, the FCC has imposed heavy fines on networks."
CBS's Schieffer Interviews Eric Holder, Ignores Black Panther Case. While devoting all of Sunday's Face the Nation to an interview with Attorney General Eric Holder, CBS host Bob Schieffer failed to ask a single question about the Obama Justice Department dropping a voter intimidation case against the Black Panthers or allegations that the department has adopted a policy of ignoring such cases.
The harassment of Sarah Palin. It took one year, two independent counsels, and tens of thousands of Alaska taxpayer dollars to conclude that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin did nothing wrong in connection with a legal defense fund created to pay legal fees resulting from allegations related to her service as governor. Indeed, the story of the endless harassment of Sarah Palin is incredible.
Whitewashing Black Racism. Why haven't national media outlets reported on the vile and violent rants of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) thugs whose 2008 voter intimidation tactics got a pass from the Obama administration? Simple: Radical black racism doesn't fit the Hope and Change narrative. There's no way to shoehorn Bush-bashing into the story. And, let's face it, exposing the inflammatory rhetoric of the left does nothing to help liberal editors and reporters fulfill their true calling — embarrassing the right.
More about the Black Panthers incident.
Tavis Smiley on Oil Drilling. Apparently, Tavis Smiley of PBS knows what's best for Gulf residents, even if it would mean widespread unemployment.
Morning Shows Devote 52 Minutes to Lindsay Lohan, a Scant 20 Seconds to Berwick. Over the span of two days, the network morning shows have given just 20 seconds of coverage to the recess appointment of Donald Berwick, a pro-rationing doctor who will run Medicare. In contrast, Good Morning America, Today and Early Show devoted 52 minutes of coverage to every detail of Lindsay Lohan's sentencing.
El Paso City Hall Takes Cross-Border Fire, MSM Yawns. On Tuesday [6/29/2010], seven bullets believed to have been fired from one or more AK-47s from across the border hit the El Paso City Hall. It was big news in the Texas border town right across the river from Juarez, Mexico, but it earned a collective yawn from the national MSM.
AP Equates Illegal Immigrants to Civil Rights-Era Minorities. The "struggle" illegal immigrants face as they seek the same benefits and services afforded to U.S. citizens is the same that faced civil right activists in the middle of the 20th century, according to the Associated Press. "Students fighting laws that target illegal immigrants are taking a page from the civil rights era," reporter Rusell Contreras wrote, "adopting tactics and gathering praise and momentum from the demonstrators who marched in the streets and sat at segregated lunch counters as they sought to turn the public tide against racial segregation."
A Left-wing Journalistic Plant in the Conservative Movement. A writer masquerading as a conservative who was supposed to be covering the conservative movement has quit his job under fire at the Washington Post. The writer, David Weigel, left after it came to light that he had made disparaging remarks about conservative personalities on a private email list of liberal journalists. The scandal involves The Washington Post, Reason magazine, and a network of "independent" on-line publications with funding from billionaire George Soros and multi-millionaire gay mogul Tim Gill.
Barnicle Can't Bring Himself To Mention Byrd's Klan Past. When Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond died, the MSM was quick to stress his segregationist past. The New York Times ran the headline "Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100," leaving readers to imagine the South Carolinian had remained an advocate of segregation. The very first line of USA Today's story described Thurmond as "the nation's most prominent segregationist." Strange how the MSM can suddenly become reticent about mentioning someone's segregationist past when the late politician in question is a Democrat.
Media Routinely Used 'Conservative' Label on Bush Nominees
to Supreme Court; Obama Picks Always 'Centrist'. When President Bush nominated John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in 2005, the media did not hesitate to describe both men as "very conservative," but when President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan this year many in the press couldn't seem to identify any liberal ideology.
Why the News Makes You Angry. Objectivity, in the journalistic definition, is a bare-boned restatement of facts, e.g., he said this, she said that. But by the time the reporter gets around to transcribing comments, he has already made a number of decisions, including perhaps the most important one: Is this subject sufficiently compelling to justify my effort and the requisite newsprint or broadcast time? In fact, there is simply no way to establish objectively what is important and what isn't. The reporter and the editors have to make that decision.
AP Bias: 'Name That Party' Blasts Repubs, Leaves Dems Unnamed in Stories. One of the many ways in which the Associated Press lends its support to Democrats and leftists in its political reporting is often evident in its stories about political scandals. The most common assist the AP gives to Democrats is to somehow forget to mention that a politician in the news because of criminal activity or other scandals is a Democrat. Yet when any pol in the news for scandal is a Republican, his party affiliation often leads the story, if it isn't in the headline, even.
Huffington Post Writer Sounds Like a Cuban Agent. The Huffington Post's Cuba-based writer, Margarita Alarcon, informs us that treating Cuba "this small island" as "a threat to U.S. integrity so much that the Department of State puts it on its list of terrorist nations is considered tantamount to political dementia." In fact, Margarita Alarcon's views closely parallel those of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency's former Latin American head, Ana Belen Montes. ... Turned out that Montes, (a frequent visitor to Cuba on "academic exchanges") had been working for Castro since the 80's.
Obama and Pelosi Hijack Christianity. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decided to follow President Obama's lead in claiming that God directs her lawmaking, invoking the Bible as her legislative roadmap. If a conservative Republican did this, it would be the top of the news.
Brian Williams Boasts of Bettering Obama in Oil Spill Compassion. NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams granted an interview to the website Mediaite on Thursday [6/3/2010], boasting that whatever the Obama administration and BP are doing to stop the oil spill is due to TV news cameras. ... But Williams seems to miss that news anchors and cameramen don't close oil spills. He's not offering expertise. He's just offering persistent public embarrassment to spur action.
ABC Bashes Bush on Memorial Day. The ABC News report on the rainout of President Obama's planned Memorial Day speech in Illinois noted that Obama had been criticized for not staying in Washington to go to Arlington National Cemetery. But ABC provided a ready excuse, subtitling its report "Obama Not First to Skip Arlington on Memorial Day" and asserting that George W. Bush "did not attend in 2001 or 2002." ABC was flat-out wrong about 2001, and highly misleading about 2002.
'Peace convoy'? This was an Islamist terror ambush. [Scroll down] And now we can see that the real purpose of this invasion — backed by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), a radical Islamic organization outlawed by Israel in 2008 for allegedly serving as a major component in Hamas's global fund-raising machine — was to incite a violent uprising in the Middle East and across the Islamic world. ... The notion — uncritically swallowed by the lazy, ignorant and bigoted BBC and other western media — that the flotilla organisers are 'peace activists' is simply ludicrous.
Debunking Flotilla Lies, One by One. Based on the information available three days ago, honest people of goodwill might truly have believed that Israeli soldiers perpetrated an atrocity on innocent peace activists aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara. The information that has since emerged precludes any such belief. Anyone who still believes, for instance, that these "peace activists" actually had peaceful intentions should study new video footage uploaded by the Israeli army yesterday [6/2/2010].
Blumenthal, Reagan, and the Big Lie: On Thanksgiving in 2003, President Bush made a surprise visit to troops in Iraq. The initial wildly enthusiastic public response to Bush's visit was dampened by reports that the roast turkey the president held for photographers was fake. The stories turned out to be erroneous, and newspapers subsequently issued corrections. But the damage was done, and the "plastic turkey" story persisted for years. A potentially inspiring moment for Bush's presidency instead became a subject for ridicule.
As D.C. Cops Fine-Tune Their Story...
Where's the Washington Post On the SEIU Protest? Why is the Washington Post ignoring the SEIU protest at the homes of two bank executives, one being an employee of the Bank of America? Aside from a brief mention in a larger story on May 17 about SEIU protests, the paper of record in the nation's capital has been strangely silent.
Hit job: What Media Matters and the SEIU got wrong about Fortune's Nina Easton. Last week, Nina Easton, the Washington editor of Fortune, wrote a column about the SEIU and National People's Action. The two progressive groups had sent roughly 500 protesters to Easton's Chevy Chase neighborhood on May 16th to picket the front yard of Bank of America's Greg Baer. Easton had just put her 2-year-old son down for a nap, and stepped outside to ask the protesters to quiet down. They didn't. Easton wrote a column. And now she's become the target of the SEIU and Media Matters for America.
More about the latest SEIU incident.
Obama: He's Better than Teflon — He's a Democrat. I'm from Houston and I covered Hurricane Ike, so I know what it's like to have a disaster the press doesn't care about. The damage was horrific. Galveston Island was nearly wiped out. An estimated 400 or more people died and 300 are still unaccounted for. Gone. National media? Crickets. President Bush was in office. It was his home state. Some in the lefty blogosphere even stated that the people of Texas got what they deserved.
Matthews: Obama Needs to 'Nationalize' Oil Industry! Last week an agitated Chris Matthews tried to hold Dick Cheney accountable for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and this week Matthews is demanding action from President Obama, as the Hardball host pushed the President to nationalize the oil industry to solve the problem. On Monday's [5/17/2010] Hardball a visibly angry Matthews demanded Obama go after BP.
Time Magazine Introduces Radical Obama Nominee, Says He's Not Radical. "Any health care funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized and humane must, must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate. Excellent health care is by definition redistributional. Britain, you chose well." Was that a British socialist speaking in Parliament? Nope. It was Dr. Donald Berwick, a Harvard professor about to face Senate confirmation as President Obama's nominee to head Medicare and Medicaid.
Polarization May Be Our Best Hope. The Washington Post editorial board, after noting Sen. Robert Bennett's loss in Utah and Sen. Blanche Lincoln's primary challenge, asked: "Is there a way to push back against the movement toward partisanship and paralysis — to carve out some space for those who strive to work across party lines in the national interest? We can think of no more important question..." Really? How about the question as to whether the trajectory of government spending will drag the United States into insolvency? How about the problem of a governing class unmoored from the Constitution?
Angry Journalists Refuse to Review Anti-Obama Book. Journalists do the public a service by rebutting absurd conspiracy theories and wacko charges. In recent memory, though, they have taken a much greater zeal toward stamping out allegations against Democrats, particularly President Obama, a stark contrast to the kidglove or even promotional attitude they took toward books by liberal authors alleging all sorts of anti-Bush absurdities.
Most Trusted Name? CNN Runs Outrageous Health Care Tale. CNN reports a man couldn't find a better quote for his surgery than a price ten times higher than the going rate. This is bad enough to put all CNN health reporting in question.
Meanwhile, In Nashville. What does it say when 11 men who perish on an exploding oil platform, or 30 poor souls who die in a 1,000-year Tennessee flood, get less coverage than two oil-soaked birds? It says news is driven from the left.
The 'Hutaree Militia' Case Starts To Unravel — On First Amendment Grounds. When the nine members of the Hutaree militia group were arrested in late March near Adrian, Michigan, the MSM ran hard with the story. Within 48 hours, the template was set: A "right-wing extremist Christian" militia group had been planning to wreak havoc by killing law enforcement officers as a way to engage a wider war against the government. Soon the MSM had the Hutarees tried, convicted and jailed. ... Here's the question the MSM needs to ask, but won't: Was this flamboyant raid primarily driven by political rather than law enforcement motives?
The MSM looks for a way to avoid the obvious.
Mystery Solved. As information about Faisal Shahzad accumulates, a number of misconceptions are being dispelled. It turns out that the Times Square would-be bomber was not, Mayor Bloomberg's speculation notwithstanding, someone who was unhappy about Obamacare. Nor was the bomber the random "white man" who was filmed by a security camera removing his shirt a block away from Shahzad's Pathfinder. Nor was he, to Contessa Brewer's deep regret, one of those dreaded Tea Partiers. Nor was his "motivation" a mystery, as suggested by the Associated Press. No, to the surprise of some — but not us — Faisal Shahzad was a jihadist.
Elite Media vs. Tim Tebow, Christian. What do women, Tim Tebow, and evangelical Christians have in common? They are all largely despised by the sports journalism division of our media elite. The continuing controversy over the first round selection in the National Football League draft of quarterback Tim Tebow by the Denver Broncos is a reminder that sports journalists are simply smaller and often nastier versions of their elite brothers on the serious side of the business.
Whiteout: As with everything having to do with race, this report has been subject to all kinds of distortion. From the left-wing point of view, white decline comprises a perfect Hegelian opposition — whites vs. everybody else — and it has been promoted as such. A process occurring over decades became a revolutionary, if not apocalyptic, event. "Minority status" was transformed into the "downfall of the whites," in much the same sense as occurred in Rhodesia or South Africa. Barack Obama was presented as a symbol of this event, the same as he is with everything else.
Fox News Compares Media Coverage of Tea Parties and Immigration Protests. As NewsBusters' Scott Whitlock reported Monday, ABC News logged dramatically different reports about the ObamaCare protests on Capitol Hill in March and the virtual riots that happened in Arizona after that state's governor signed a strict anti-illegal immigration law last Friday. The former was depicted as "very ugly" while the latter, despite the number of riot police and arrests, was described as "mostly peaceful."
Immigration Law: What The Media Fail To Report. Media coverage of Arizona's new immigration law has become so bad that even some Republicans, like Senate candidate Marco Rubio of Florida, have criticized the law. Most news reports make it seem as if any Arizona cop can mosey up to any Hispanic and ask for his immigration papers.
Angry, hateful, violent, extremist liberals. Imagine a group of angry demonstrators toting swastika-festooned protest signs calling politicians Nazis, shouting obscenities and racial remarks and throwing rocks and bottles at police officers sent to keep order. No, these are not Tea Partiers. They are the mob that turned out last week to protest Arizona's new immigration-enforcement law. This group of liberal rowdies has been dubbed the Tequila Party. For the most part, liberal media coverage overlooked all the leftist violence. Typical headlines described the protest as "mostly peaceful," with media outlets avoiding details about why they had to use the qualifier "mostly." Reporting a near-riot by the opponents of the Arizona law doesn't fit the dominant media storyline.
Ariz. immigration law mirrors federal version but with state enforcement. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough has an odd obsession for criticizing conservatives for calling Mr. Obama a "Nazi" all the time, yet he has no problem comparing the newly signed Arizona immigration law to "Nazi guards asking to see your papers." ... Federal law mandates that aliens register and carry their documentation. Arizona's new law functions the same way. Why hasn't the MSNBC host called the federal law "Nazi" in nature?
CBS 'Early Show' Report Fails to Cite Any Supporters of Arizona Immigration Law. On Friday's [4/30/2010] CBS Early Show, correspondent Bill Whitaker reported on protests against Arizona's new immigration law, citing several opponents of the new measure, but failing to feature a single supporter.
Obama and Media Hyperventilate Over Immigration Law. While the critics would have you believe enforcing America's immigration law is the second coming of fascism, the Arizona law properly emphasizes enforcement in a manner that upholds the Constitution and basic principles of human decency. Nevertheless, Eugene Robinson, the Washington Post columnist, denounced the law by saying, "Arizona's draconian new immigration law is an abomination — racist, arbitrary, oppressive, mean-spirited, unjust."
Critics Saluted Media Slams on Bush During Katrina Crisis; What About Obama's Oil Mess? The last time a major disaster threatened the U.S. Gulf Coast, journalists dropped any pretense of objectivity and openly scorned what they saw as the ineffective response of the Bush administration to Hurricane Katrina. And top media writers found it just wonderful that the press was taking a side, with New York Times' critic Alessandra Stanley saluting "a rare sense of righteous indignation by a news media that is usually on the defensive." Now, there are gentle suggestions that the Obama administration dropped the ball in the days after the oil rig explosion...
Proof of Media Bias: A Tale of Two Cases. [Scroll down] Oh dear. It would seem that the only thing that matters to Media Matters is a false narrative. Perhaps some of their state media contemporaries compare better: "Senior Fellow" Eric Boehlert is still on a mission to prove that what happened on the ACORN videos didn't actually happen (while insisting that what didn't happen on the Lewis/Carson/Cleaver videos did), which is really the only defense left. Good luck with that.
Liberal Nazis. [Scroll down slowly] The recently passed healthcare bill is not a constitutionally secure piece of legislation and since it does not have a two-thirds ratification as a constitutional clause, it could be gone by next spring. The news media will not mention this. Back in 1938, Germany was being run by a minority party that had majority control of the government. In order to consolidate power, that party selected the successful and the prosperous as a scapegoat. Sound familiar?
Press tries, convicts doctor-soldier. Do you remember the old concept of presumption of innocence? ... Well, like so many other media standards, you can throw them out the window when it comes to those brave men and women who stand up for principle and the Constitution in challenging Barack Obama to prove his eligibility for office. As WND first reported, Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, an Army doctor, is refusing to deploy as ordered to Afghanistan until Obama offers proof he is a natural born citizen, as required by the Constitution. I guess it's not enough that he's facing court-martial, disciplinary action, possible jail time, dishonorable discharge. The media are hanging him out to dry — trying and convicting him before he's even officially charged with misconduct.
More about Lt. Col Terry Lakin.
HuffPo Columnist: Media Didn't Do Enough to Shill for Health Care. A lefty columnist for the Huffington Post believes that the media's coverage of the health care debate was sorely lacking. ... [Allison] Kilkenny's complaint seems to be that all media did not skew their coverage to the left, and those that did simply didn't skew it enough.
Democrats Awash in Corruption Scandals. Seven months before the November midterm elections, the Democrats are awash in ethics and corruption scandals in Congress and among the nation's biggest governorships. The major networks' nightly news shows have largely ignored or played down the mounting allegations, charges and investigations targeting Democrats, but they are becoming a major issue in key campaigns that could help the Republicans make large gains in the House, Senate and state capitals.
Related topic: Which party has a "culture of corruption"?
Newsweek Helps Energy Secretary Chu Push Cap-and-Trade. At Newsweek, the global warming crusade remains an important mission. The magazine's latest push came in an interview by CNN contributor Fareed Zakharia of Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Zakaria threw softballs to Chu throughout the article, as Newsweek showed it was simply a matter of when — not if — the administration should continue to pursue a drastic environmental agenda.
My Thoughts on Watching the Dems Stab the Constitution on the Congressional Floor: The supine cowardice of the mainstream media here is almost beyond imagining. To fail to even notice the attack on the Constitution going on here is stunning and discouraging in the extreme.
How Quickly Spread the Tea Party Smear. [Scroll down] Only two possibilities present themselves, neither of them good: [William] Douglas had started writing this enormously consequential article in advance and/or he assembled it with a reckless indifference to the facts. A simple call to the Capitol Police would have killed the spitting story and a review of the video footage would have thrown the screaming of "nigger" by multiple "protestors" into such serious doubt that no responsible paper would have printed it. The fact that Douglas is himself black and that the McClatchy chain has a liberal bent should not matter, but in this case they both do. This is not journalism. This is collusion.
It's Time For the Black Caucus Race Hustlers to Apologize. On Saturday March 20th the leftist media reported what they described as a horrible story from their sources at the conservative-hating Huffington Post. ... At least one report said that it was "a chorus" of racist hatred. Another report said the Congressional members heard the n-word at least 15 times. Reporters from ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX News, (including Bill O'Reilly), MSNBC, and so on, repeated this horrible story. Unfortunately, it was a fake. The media had no evidence... Nothing. As the story was a complete fabrication. It was totally made up.
Obama Steps Up Confrontation. [Scroll down] Even his surprise trip to Afghanistan on Sunday [3/28/2010] mobilized the perks of the presidency to marshal public opinion, as pictures were beamed home of Mr. Obama mobbed by U.S. troops.
The Editor says...
On the contrary, I saw the unedited satellite signals from Afghanistan, and the soldiers looked like reluctant props who had been ordered to attend the President's speech — extras in Obama's photo op du jour. Some of the soldiers shook his hand, but only to be polite, or so it appeared. The response from the enlisted men appeared to be tepid at best.
Poor Judgment. The troubled Kansas City school district is closing almost half its schools. But the media can't quite figure out why. Maybe it's because the reason doesn't fit the left-wing narrative.
Cokie Roberts: Glenn Beck 'Corrupting' Democracy, a 'Traitor' to American Values. Journalists love the marketplace of ideas until people start selling ideas they find objectionable. The liberal media somehow manages to shout about its right to speak freely while demanding others be silenced. Glenn Beck is probably the most popular target for the left's demands for censorship.
Obama's Pseudo-Achievement: The story here is not that he succeeded against all odds and with the winds against him to push through historic legislation, even though that is what the media would have you believe. The story is that a party holding a 75-seat margin in the House of Representatives was barely able to squeak by with its greatest legislative priority and most devoutly desired policy.
HuffPo: ACORN was Brought Down by... The New York Times? And you thought a couple of plucky young conservative activists with a camera brought down ACORN. Nope. It's the arch-conservative New York Times that did in the noble community organizing group, or so says The Huffington Post...
Media Cast First Vote for Health Care. From the president's attack on insurers to the bogus prediction the bill was going to pass any day to claims that opponents were "Astroturf" or phony grassroots, the media mirrored the president's position almost constantly.
The LA Times Refuses To Report Honestly on Costs of Climate Law. Why can't the LA Times be fair about the costs of AB 32, California's global warming law? Last week, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office found that the "net jobs impact" of AB 32 is "likely to be negative." No surprises there — AB 32 is designed to raise the price of energy, and expensive energy hinders economic growth. The LA Times, however, was unconvinced.
You Lie! MSNBC Lets Dem's False 45,000 'Uninsurance Deaths' Go Unchallenged. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-NY, for one, does not want blood on his hands from 45,000 Americans who allegedly die every year due to lack of health insurance. And MSNBC's Alex Witt, for one, doesn't think it worth questioning the veracity of that number.
Media Ignore Boy Scouts' 100th Anniversary in Favor of Pro-Gay Agenda. In the media's eyes, the Boy Scouts of America are on par with bubble wrap — unimportant, disposable and something largely ignored unless someone wants to stomp on them.
Homosexual Activist Group Honors 'Outstanding' CNN for 'Excellence'. CNN received two awards on March 13 from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) during its annual GLAAD Media Awards.
CNN Documentary Depicts Sex Change as a 'Medical Necessity ... Done to Preserve Life'. CNN dished out a heavy dose of liberal bias last night [3/15/2010] with its two-hour long documentary "Her Name Was Steven."
As ACORN Agrees to Leave Ohio, AP Writer Despicably Plays the Race Card. The Associated Press seems to have two unwritten rules on how and when to write stories about leftist controversies and setbacks: Rule Number 1 — Do little or nothing with the story until you can figure out a way to make center-right critics or victors look like the bad guys. Rule Number 2 — If you're thinking about covering the story any other way, refer to Rule Number 1.
Software Turns Your Cell Phone Against You. Malicious software for cell phones could pose a greater risk for consumer's personal and financial well-being than computer viruses, say scientists from Rutgers University. The scientists have made a particularly resilient malware, known as a rootkit, that can turn a cell phone's microphone, GPS and battery against the phone's owner.
The Editor says...
That's odd. Up until now, anyone who developed a rootkit was called a hacker by the mainstream news media. Why, in this case, are they being called scientists?
Krugman: Rangel's Ethics Scandal Has No National Significance. Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman says Congressman Charles Rangel's (D-N.Y.) ethics scandal has absolutely no national significance. As the Roundtable segment of ABC's "This Week" turned to new revelations concerning the powerful Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Sunday, the New York Times columnist was all by himself in making the case that Rangel hasn't really done anything wrong.
The Real Tea Party Story: Community Builders vs. Community Organizers. In less than a year, the MSM has gone from ignoring Tea Parties to mocking and insulting their participants to grudging coverage with ridiculing overtones. Finally it has arrived at giving wide attention to the movement, albeit grudgingly and ungraciously. A once-highly esteemed fourth estate, they have become talking-head dilettantes on a mission to save the disgruntled masses from democracy itself.
Texas and the Textbook Alamo: [Scroll down slowly] In the article "Darwin Foes Add Warming to Targets," the New York Times warns against conservatives and white evangelicals who dare to disbelieve the man-made global warming theory. The article lambasts states introducing legislation to promote "critical thinking" on evolution, the origins of life, global warming and human cloning." That same article refers to scientists who embrace intelligent design as "deniers of evolution." The author states emphatically "for mainstream scientists, there is no credible challenge to evolutionary theory," and then adds, "There is wide agreement among scientists that global warming is occurring and that human activities are probably driving it." Really?
NBC's Castro-Driven Journalism: In June 2007, Castro's Stalinist regime held a "tourism fair" in Havana to kick off an ambitious plan to boost the Cuban military's tourist booty. By some peculiar coincidence, NBC's "Today Show" decided to broadcast from Havana that very week. Amidst smiling, clapping, dancing tourists, Matt Lauer and Andrea Mitchell advised viewers on how to legally vacation in Cuba.
Pelosi Says She's Running Most Ethical Congress Ever, Media Mum. During a Friday [2/26/2010] press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she was running the most ethical Congress ever. ... Despite the absurdity of this remark, CNSNews.com and Fox News were by themselves amongst major press outlets in finding it newsworthy.
NBC's Brian Williams Ignores Rangel Corruption Charges. After the Democrats regained control of the House in 2006, Nancy Pelosi promised NBC's Brian Williams that she would "drain the swamp" and "turn this Congress into the most honest and open Congress in history." So when news broke that a House Ethics committee found that long time New York Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel accepted corporate money for trips to the Carribean one would think Williams would be all over the story — he wasn't.
The Internet and the Agora: [Scroll down] Maureen Dowd and Ellen Goodman could be pinups for journalistic agnotology, other variants of false narrative. Miss Dowd recently accused a congressman of calling the President a "boy" with no proof other than innuendo. The false narrative here is the belief that those who criticize black politicians are bigots. Ellen Goodman in a notorious column equated those who question some of the "junk science" associated with global warming to "holocaust deniers." These ladies illustrate the lack of fair play and racist doublethink that has come to characterize many traditional newsrooms.
AP: Bill Ayers A 'Former' Radical. At age 50, Bill Ayers called himself a "radical" and a "communist." As recently as 2001, Ayers had himself photographed for a magazine story trampling an American flag. But that's not good enough for the Associated Press. In an article today [2/23/2010], AP describes Ayers as a "former radical."
Did someone mention Bill Ayers?
FNC's Goldberg Slams MSM for Double Standard Connecting Violent Acts to Conservatives. On Monday's The O'Reilly Factor on FNC, host Bill O'Reilly brought aboard FNC analyst Bernard Goldberg to discuss the mainstream media double standard in linking violence by individuals who express right-wing sentiments to conservatives while ignoring the political sentiments of left-wing individuals who commit violence.
The New York Times Should Terminate Character Assassin Zernike. As Big Journalism readers know, a New York Times reporter accused a speaker at CPAC of using "racial tones" and "racial stereotypes." I was that speaker.
Media Ignored Left-Wing Tone of Netroots Nation in 2009. While the national media dig through CPAC 2010 material for anything potentially embarrassing to fling at conservatives, their actions highlight a stark example of the blatant double standard applied to controversial speakers. Back in 2009, the Netroots Nation Convention took place in Pittsburgh just before the G20 summit. Even though it hosted a number of far-left agendas, the media stuck to popular, mainstream subjects in their coverage.
What's in Morning Joe's coffee? When Scarborough proudly proclaims that "I have been bashing my party more than the Democratic Party because I want to make sure that I am fair and down the middle," conservatives scratch their heads in disbelief. How does "bashing" your party make you "fair"? Joe, meet Non Sequitur. That's Scarborough's problem. He bashes everyone and then whines when anyone complains.
Matthews' Southern Poverty Guest Ties Stack To 'Radical Right'. Liberal TV show host? Want to guarantee that the post-Stack finger will be pointed at conservatives? Choose as your sole guest on the subject someone from the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center. That's precisely what Chris Matthews did this evening [2/18/2010], with utterly predictable results.
Palin vs. Edwards, a case study in media bias. No one can confuse me for someone who is an enthusiastic supporter of Sarah Palin. ... Nonetheless, there is little question that Palin has been treated unfairly by the press, at least in comparison to other politicians. And no comparison best illustrates the double standard the media has with Palin than how they treated another former vice-presidential nominee, Sen. John Edwards.
Lobbyists putting in billable hours live on MSNBC. The Nation has a fact-filled and interesting piece (via Reason) on lobbyists and consultants who go on TV as if they were disinterested experts, and advance positions that help their clients. My favorite part deals with the AIG shills who stuck up for the administration's bailouts.
Olbermann: Limbaugh and Palin Trying To 'Kill Us All' With Global Warming Disinformation. Keith Olbermann Wednesday [2/10/2010] claimed that conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin are trying to kill us all by disinforming the public about the dangers of global warming.
Brokaw's Bad Memory: Impeachment Was 'Initiated' Against Clinton. We're not looking to give Bill Clinton a hard time on a day when he's undergone heart surgery. But our forbearance doesn't extend to Tom Brokaw when he misstates history ... Can you imagine the MSM field day if, say, Sarah Palin had so bungled an important fact from recent American history?
CNN: Don't Blame Harry Reid — Most White People Are Racist. After working days to deny that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said something patently racist, the media realized the story wouldn't die, and have now begun looking for fresh angles that can mitigate the damage.
Media malpractice on display. Few stories elicit as much distorted coverage as the annual Pro-Life March in Washington.
Statement from James O'Keefe: It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story. MSNBC falsely claimed that I violated a non-existent "gag order." The Associated Press incorrectly reported that I "broke in" to an office which is open to the public. The Washington Post has now had to print corrections in two stories on me. And these are just a few examples of inaccurate and false reporting.
Weeks later...
James O'Keefe: No Felony. It looks like James O'Keefe won't be in cuffs after all. The conservative activist filmmaker, who was arrested in New Orleans in January along with three cohorts in the office of Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu, is expected to enter a plea to a misdemeanor on Wednesday in federal court. He's accused of entering federal property under false pretenses.
ABC Devotes Over 60 Minutes to John Edwards, Avoids Labeling Him a Democrat. Since Friday, ABC has devoted 60 minutes and 23 seconds to interviews covering the most salacious details of John Edwards' sex scandal. Yet, the network's anchors have refrained from referring to him as a Democrat. 20/20 on Friday spent the entire hour talking to Andrew Young, a former top Edwards aide who allegedly holds a sex tape involving the politician. The D-word was never used by reporter Bob Woodruff.
Murderous Alabama professor 'far-left political extremist who was obsessed' with Obama. A few days ago, liberal blogs trumpeted banner headlines about a Massachusetts man who was charged with stockpiling weapons. It seems he was a Tea Party activist and a Sarah Palin fan. Naturally, this confirms the left's suspicion that all conservative activists are violent anti-government terrorists. Well, I wonder what those same bloggers will make of this tidbit in today's Boston Herald about Amy Bishop, the Alabama professor who recently went on a shooting rampage killing three people.
Maher Strikes Again: Americans 'Not Bright Enough to Really Understand the Issues'. Either Bill Maher was doing his best effort to impersonate Mel Brooks as King Louis XVI in "History in the World, Part I" or he has a complete and utter disregard for the intellectual competency of the American people.
At Smith College, Maddow Whacks Bush's 'Super-Corrupt Criminal Government'. Following up on Brian Williams offering a Bush-bashing commencement address at Notre Dame, the liberal all-female Smith College naturally invited MSNBC host Rachel Maddow for her own Bush-bashing graduation speech on Sunday [5/16/2010].
Homosexual Media Target Christians. The Washington Post editorial page has joined lesbian MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow in blasting the government of Uganda for considering a law to protect children from homosexual predators and the dangerous public health impact of the homosexual lifestyle. Despite its moderate views on some foreign policy issues, the Post has always come down firmly on the side of making homosexuality into a special right that should be protected and even glorified by governmental institutions. Now it wants to impose that view on Uganda's mostly Christian population.
Ed Schultz: I'd cheat to keep Brown from winning. Brian Maloney captured MSNBC's ED Schultz making a startling remark on his radio show yesterday about supporting voter fraud in Massachusetts, so Scott Brown would lose.
Ed Schultz: 'If I lived in Massachusetts I'd Vote 10 Times...'. The panic on the left concerning Tuesday's special senatorial election is getting palpable, for on Friday [1/15/2010], MSNBC's Ed Schultz said on his radio program that he would try to vote ten times if he lived in Massachusetts.
MSNBC's Shuster Wonders If Massachusetts Voters Have Lost Their Minds. Teasing coverage on tomorrow's Massachusetts special election to fill its vacant Senate seat, MSNBC's David Shuster avoided any pretense of objectivity as he opened the 10 a.m. EST hour of the network's news coverage with the question: "Has Democratic-leaning Massachusetts lost its mind?!"
MSNBC to Massachusetts: Drop dead! Watching coverage of the Massachusetts senatorial election Tuesday night [1/19/2010], I wondered if MSNBC was getting ready to cut off its cable signal to the state. Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, positively enraged that Massachusetts dared to elect a Republican, delivered two hours of nonstop bilious rage toward the state's voters, calling them "irrational" and "teabaggers," engaged in "a total divorce from reality," and hinting that they're vicious racists to boot.
Caulkers, Clunkers, and Coakley: [Scroll down] MSNBC, doing its part to help get out the vote for Coakley, ran a streaming headline at the bottom of the screen on election day which said that Brown supports "waterboarding." Apparently, ignorant viewers were supposed to see that, gasp, and then rush to the polls. It didn't seem to occur to MSNBC's hosts that what they considered grim warnings about Brown — if he wins, ObamaCare dies, they said repeatedly — would serve instead as open invitations to vote for him.
The Tangled Web of Green: Manufacturing a Public Scare. In addition to the "incestuous" relationship among some scientists, there seems to be an "incestuous" relationship between newspapers and environmental activists claiming to be health experts. Consider that the "health advocates" quoted in the December 29 Journal-Sentinel article by almost-Pulitzer Prize winner Meg Kissinger are Janet Nudelman of the Breast Cancer Fund and Alex Formuzis. The Breast Cancer Fund's agenda, despite its name, is environmental issues.
Economic Rebound? What Economic Rebound? An AP writer's year-end wrap-up epitomizes 2009's biased reporting on the economy.
Chris Matthews Calls Saul Alinsky One Of His Heroes. Chris Matthews on Tuesday [12/22/2009] called "Rules for Radicals" author Saul Alinsky one of his heroes. This admission came only five days after the "Hardball" host proudly admitted on the air that he was a liberal.
Chris Matthews Admits He Hearts Saul Alinksy. Ever since Obama's installation into the White House, left wingers feel free to tout their radicalism. It's as if they spent years trying to at least create the illusion of sanity and dropped all pretense the moment Obama was sworn in as Community Organizer in Chief. Just five days after affirming on air that he is a liberal, MSNBC host Chris Matthews exclaimed that radical community organizer Saul Alinsky is one of his heroes.
Why Won't the Mainstream Media Cover Planned Parenthood Honestly? I wonder how many taxpayers know that their dollars are funding black genocide and supporting statutory rape. That sounds awfully harsh, doesn't it and yet how can one explain what goes on behind the closed doors of a PP clinic?
What I Saw At the Napolitano "Revolution". [Scroll down] Oh, my — how does America's liberal media explain it all away? One of the most extraordinary accounts of this chaos was served up by Washington Post columnist David Broder. In the aftermath of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's sweep-it-under-the-rug "the system worked" analysis of the Christmas day attack, Broder published a column on January 1 explaining her terrific handling of the crisis.
Not PC enough to work for the AP. Uh oh. The Associated Press (AP), which has become so politically correct that according to James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal they have assigned 11 reporters to fact check the 432 pages of Sarah Palin's book. This means each reporter has 39.3 pages to authenticate. But they only assigned 2 investigative reporters to drill through the 4,064 pages of the multi Obamacare bills giving each reporter 2,032 pages to study.
Media Downplays Palin Crowds. Former Alaska Gov. continues to attract large crowds on her nationwide book tour but the mainstream media prefers to lowball the numbers.
Editor and Publisher's unethical ACORN defense. On Monday [11/23/2009], Editor and Publisher published a lengthy piece — "Have the Media 'Falsely Framed' ACORN?" Written by Christopher R. Martin and Peter Dreier, it's a shameless defense of the corrupt left-wing advocacy group.
A Tale of Two Leaks: NYT Bashed Palin, But Won't Touch ClimateGate. The ClimateGate email leak has demonstrated in full force a glaring double standard in the mainstream media's coverage of leaked information. Too often, liberal media outlets jump at the chance to damage conservative figures by publishing sensitive information, but refuse to publish such information if it discredits or hinders the left's efforts.
NYT's Friedman on ClimateGate. [Thomas] Friedman has been hoping for some sort of forced action on global warming for several years now. On ABC's "Good Morning America" on March 9, 2006, he boldly announced his preference for the future of U.S. energy policy. "Charlie, if they [Iran] cut off oil and oil went to $100 a barrel — that would make my day, because the sooner we go to $100 a barrel, the sooner we're going to have everyone in America driving a plug-in hybrid car fueled by corn and ethanol," Friedman said.
Did someone mention ClimateGate?
How The Media Have Mangled The Pro-Life Story. This past year, I found myself chief chronicler of the two of the year's most important stories involving the pro-life movement. One was the inspiring saga of the 2009 March For Life, the largest in its 36-year history. The second was the dispiriting saga of the recently murdered late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller. What the two stories have in common is that each was consciously and completely mistold by the major media.
Why Newsweek is the Punch Line. Newsweek lost almost $20 million in the first quarter of this year; in response, [editor Jon] Meacham said that he would attempt to cut readership in order to increase profits. His plan involved "discouraging renewals," ostensibly by creating a magazine so far to the left that no rational human being could take it seriously, and "targeting a more highbrow audience" (the term "highbrow" being used in the loosest possible sense).
Fort Hood Horror. Horror spread quickly across America as the story unfolded: An Army psychiatrist went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas, killing 13 and wounding 30. But as more information emerged, clearly pointing to an act of terrorism, many in the "news" media simply chose not to report news.
Maddow: Murder of Abortion Doctor 'Terrorism' — But Not Ft. Hood Massacre by Jihadist. Rachel Maddow wants you to stop referring to Nidal Hasan as a terrorist. Please. You know what short fuses they have.
More about the incident at Fort Hood.
More about Pro-Islam Bias in the Media.
Now the AP Does It. Via Kathryn Lopez at NRO, I see that the AP is out with a horribly biased story, not even listed as analysis (and therefore by definition treated as "straight news"), that tries to downplay GOP success IN ADVANCE of tomorrow's elections, so that if Republicans or conservatives win, the media can treat it all as no big deal.
The Left-Wing Country Club. Very curious editing error at the Guardian today. In an otherwise comprehensive list of all previous Nobel Peace Prize winners, Britain's leading liberal newspaper managed to leave out all three Israeli recipients.
Nine Big Stories the Mainstream Media Missed in 2009. If you only followed the mainstream media, you might have missed some of the biggest stories of the year. Here's a list of the top nine stories the mainstream media ignored in the past year.
Washington Post Admits to Bogus Quote. Veteran Washington Post reporter Daryl Fears, part of a two-person writer team, unmistakably wrote that filmmaker John O'Keefe had "said" he "targeted" ACORN, the advocacy group, for his candid-camera expose, because it registered voters to defeat Republicans. O'Keefe said no such thing. It was a non-quote made out of whole cloth by reporter Fears, and published as fact on Sept. 17. Making the falsehood exponentially worse, the Post story then was retailed worldwide by the Associated Press.
Anita Dunn — Pots and Kettles. On April 16, 2000, viewers of CBS' 60 Minutes saw Dan Rather interviewing Elian Gonzalez' father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez. ... Here's what America didn't see: "Most of the questions Dan Rather was asking Elian's father during that 60 Minutes interview were being handed to him by Gregory Craig," recalls Pedro Porro, who served as Rather's in-studio translator during the taping of the famous interview.
From CNN: 'Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh... communism still can win'. Reporter Carol Costello had a report on CNN's "American Morning" Friday [10/2/2009] asking whether the time was ripe for a third party in the United States. That's certainly an interesting topic, and one well worth featuring in a news report, but what was really interesting was that the third party Costello chose to feature was communism. That seems to tell us more about CNN than about American politics.
Podesta spends Soros' money stupidly. Every journalism inquiry from the mainstream media continues to focus on the successful operation that exposed ACORN, not on ACORN itself, as if there is no evidence to sift through or common traits to be found in the videos. Why is the story about journalistic process rather than institutional corruption?
A Biased Media at Work. [Scroll down] The minimal coverage of the Pouillon murder included references to Pouillon as an "anti-abortion protestor" who practiced "in-your-face" protests against abortion and carried photographs of bloody fetuses. Absent from the stories were any balancing phrases, such as a "tireless crusade to save the lives of innocent babies." Instead, the coverage was characterized by thinly veiled disdain for Pouillon's commitment to a pro-life agenda. Further, pro-life groups did not use Jim Pouillon's death as an opportunity to score political points and attack liberals and abortion advocates. By contrast, when late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller was shot to death in Wichita, media coverage was extensive and liberal political groups used the death as an opportunity for conservative bashing.
Dan Quayle: Evidence of a Double Standard. Whenever I'm in a debate regarding left-wing media bias, I find it useful to mention the treatment of Vice President Dan Quayle as opposed to the treatment of Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden by members of the Fourth Estate. While Gore made statements that bordered on the absurd — he claimed he created the Internet — the liberal establishment even now heaps praise and accolades upon him, including an Academy Award for his documentary on global warming.
Did someone mention Al Gore?
Taking It To The Streets. When Americans have to turn to the foreign press for truthful reports of the size of popular protests in Washington, it's time to wonder: Are we dominated by "state-run media"?
ACORN story fells the big oaks of mainstream media. If there's one story that's had it all in the past week it's the series of undercover reporting stings that have uncovered the true nature of ACORN — the Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now. It's got sex, misuse of taxpayer funds, the condoning of illegal activity by officials and connections to Barack Obama.
Democrats Run Away From ACORN. Democrats in Congress are abandoning an embattled community organizing group after Republicans stepped up attacks on the liberal-leaning ACORN and the federal funding it receives.
Bias alert:
Liberal leaning? As if ACORN isn't all the way out on the fringes of the political left?
The Liberal Media's Favorite "Republican": The demonstrators were mostly against Big Government, but many banners and signs on display during the 9-12 march and rally in Washington, D.C. expressed disgust with liberal media bias. One of the harshest was, "Mainstream media: communists or puppets?" Another said, "Why are the watchdogs White House lapdogs?" One of the most direct, equating liberal news outlets to state-run media, was "AP, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC = Pravda." Still another said simply, "Shame on Mainstream Media!"
False reports about guns. Countless newspapers and television networks — from CBS to MSNBC — have misreported that conservative protesters are threatening President Obama with guns at public events. It hasn't happened.
Van Jones — unfit for print. The [New York] Times continues to treat communism as a cute campus peccadillo like pot smoking or nude streaking. A Times think piece (Sept. 9) worried that [Van] Jones' fall was "swift and personal." Being a communist is personal but being the pregnant teen daughter of a vice presidential candidate is public business?
The End of America's Experiment With Royalty. [Scroll down] This was the work initially of the patriarch, Joseph Kennedy, a self-made millionaire, hyper-ambitious for his sons, who manipulated the media with aplomb. Joseph Kennedy invited himself to the apartment of Henry Luce, the proprietor of Time and Life, to watch the coverage of his son's acceptance speech at the Democratic convention in 1960. He also arranged to have a new car parked in the driveway of Arthur Krock, Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. The result was fabulous media coverage not just of the candidate but of the extended Kennedy family, as well.
NPR Ombud: NPR Was Big on Ted Kennedy Stories, But Not on Chappaquiddick. National Public Radio ombudsman Alicia Shepard isn't afraid to raise questions of liberal bias occasionally. Her latest column is titled "Too Much Kennedy." She reports NPR offered 53 stories on Ted Kennedy's death in the first five days (August 26-30), "But on that first day, in the 23 on-air stories, only one mentioned the name Mary Jo Kopechne and 5 mentioned Chappaquiddick." When they did, it was passed over gently...
Is the Washington Post trying to 'Macaca' Bob McDonnell? In the 2006 campaign season the Washington Post ran more than a dozen front-page stories on Senator George Allen's reference, at an August 11 campaign stop almost 400 miles from Washington, to an opposition campaign staffer as "Macaca." ... Now there's a campaign on for governor of Virginia, and the news editors of the Post seem to be using their front page once again to defeat the Republican candidate, Bob McDonnell, and elect Democrat Creigh Deeds.
When Post Editors Attack: The Washington Post's behavior lately goes so far beyond mere bias that it looks like a caricature cooked up by a comedian or saboteur. The paper's bid to fix the Virginia gubernatorial election is right out of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. ... It would be funny if it were not such a serious breach of journalistic ethics.
Update:
The Post's campaign to 'Macaca' McDonnell takes a new tack. Today's front page story by Amy Gardner and its placement by Post editors on the front page is one of the most flagrant examples of electioneering by a paper's news pages that I have ever seen. "Scrutiny Spreads to '03 McDonnell Remarks," the headline proclaims.
Mourning Dead People Who [Stink]. When [Ronald Reagan] died, the media made sure to cover "both sides of the story" and even sadder, they genuinely seemed dumbfounded at the fact that so many people were seriously mourning the man. They had spent such a long time painting him as an evil warmonger that they didn't even realize how diametrically opposed they were to the mainstream American opinion. The media's ignorance of America's Conservative roots are only surpassed by Barack Obama's incapability of grasping Ted Kennedy's "50 years in public office" as a perversion of the founding fathers intent for our government.
Hypocrisy Flashback: Media Liberals Saluted Anti-Bush Dissent. With the Obama administration and their friends in the media denouncing the sometimes loud dissent that liberals are facing in town hall meetings on health care, it's worth recalling how some of those same journalists celebrated the anti-Bush dissenters and denounced what they claimed was the Republican administration's attempts to stifle dissent.
Dodd Cleared of Wrongdoing — Times Suddenly Remembers He's a Democrat. Now that Sen. Chris Dodd, liberal Democrat of Connecticut, has been cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee of wrongdoing, has the [New York] Times decided it's safe to identify him as a Democrat again?
MSNBC: The Place for Made-Up Numbers of Uninsured Women. As the media get more desperate, as they see the national popularity for the government takeover of medicine they favor continue to tank, they get more desperate — and so do their claims. [Angela] Burt-Murray's whopper is the "very real issue" of 64 million women who have allegedly lost their insurance due to their losing their jobs. Statistically, that would mean that there are also roughly 64 million men without health insurance (unless Ms. Burt-Murray is claiming the scourge of uninsurance to be exclusively a women's issue, which would be a whole other area of bizarreness).
ABC Tries to Tie Health Care Town Hall Protesters to Hate Groups. ABC News correspondent Brian Ross tried to connect the health care town hall protesters to hate groups on Friday's [8/14/2009] GMA. Ross cited the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose left-wing political affiliation he omitted, and used two sound bites from the SPLC's Mark Potok, who hyped that President Obama supposedly "triggered fears among ... white people ... that they are somehow losing their country."
Town Hall Outrage? Media cooperated in disruptions at GOP events. [Scroll down slowly] Activists again used their sympathizers in the media to disrupt the 2008 Republican convention, using press credentials multiple times. At least one witness said MSNBC was specifically identified as the source of the media pass. On another occasion, a newspaper reporter said she was, conveniently, in the bathroom when a protester, using a pass with her name on it, disrupted an RNC session on abortion. It is, perhaps, possible that the passes were used without the reporter's — or, in the other instance, MSNBC's — prior knowledge; Code Pink has been accused of forging credentials, even stealing identities. But Code Pink has specifically admitted to using media credentials from "friends of friends" to disrupt Republican events.
CNN Uses Pro-Communist American to Tout Cuban Health Care. There's something deeply wrong with journalism that scrutinizes and criticizes the institutions of free and successful nations, but produces puff pieces on the supposed achievements of totalitarian dictatorships. On Thursday [8/6/2009], CNN aired a piece of communist party propaganda about how Cuba could serve as "a model for health care reform" in the United States, complete with an authoritative sound bite from an American medical expert, identified only as someone "who's lived and worked in Cuba for decades."
MSNBC's O'Donnell Performs Possibly the Worst Interview in History. Is it a requirement at MSNBC that program hosts interrupt conservative guests whenever possible thereby preventing anyone other than liberals to make a point? Such certainly appeared to be the case Thursday evening when Lawrence O'Donnell filled in on "The Ed Show" and treated his guest, Peter Schiff, more poorly and unprofessionally than just about anything I've ever witnessed.
Times touts economic momentum, recovery; in 1992, not so much. The Times hasn't always been so optimistic when it comes to one-tenth-of-a-point declines in the unemployment rate. On this very day in 1992, in the midst of the presidential campaign between George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the government also reported that the unemployment rate ticked downward by one tenth of a point, and the Times' treatment was far more restrained.
Media Ignore Democrat Astroturfing at Pelosi Event. As media members fell all over themselves last week calling town hall meeting protesters part of an angry mob financed by conservative organizations, they were totally disinterested in evidence of astroturfing by Democrats at an event attended by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.).
Nets Take Turns Failing to ID Convicted Democrat William Jefferson. On Thursday [8/6/2009], all three network morning news programs reported the conviction of former Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson on bribery charges, but only NBC's Today identified him as a Democrat. CBS's Early Show and ABC's Good Morning America simply referred to him as a "former congressman."
Did someone mention former congressman William J. Jefferson?
Cynthia Tucker: 45-65% Of Townhall Protesters Are Racists. Are you opposed to ObamaCare? Willing to attend a town hall to express your disapproval? Odds are good you're a racist. Just ask Cynthia Tucker ... As Clay Waters has noted, Paul Krugman alleges that racist motives are at the heart of the town hall protests against ObamaCare. On this evening's Hardball, Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was willing to get specific, estimating that "45 to 65%" of the protesters are motivated by racism.
Did someone mention town hall meetings?
The New York Times Profiles Sonia Sotomayor's 'Rich Experience'. I made the mistake this morning of reading a front-page profile of Sonia Sotomayor in the New York Times. If that information alone isn't enough to prove I should have known better, this was the headline...
MSNBC: Opposition to Sotomayor = "Smearing" the Nominee. On his Countdown program last night a sneering Keith Olbermann, whose modus operandi is to use well-rehearsed sneers and ad hominem derision as substitutes for facts, summarily dismissed "the Republican talking point of 'judicial activism'" vis á vis the Senate confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
No wonder black America doesn't have a clue. While flipping through the channels with my remote, I stopped on the movie "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" on BET (Black Entertainment Television). Excellent movie. During a commercial break, they gave a news update. An announcer said, "They tried to get the Bronx kid, Sonia Sotomayor, but she beat them." There was not one mention of Sotomayor's controversial racist statements. Thus, ill-informed black viewers who don't follow the news closely are led to conclude that those "evil racist white Republicans" are at it again trying to block a person of color.
New York Times Misleads in Editorial on Census and ACORN. An entirely justified concern that some Americans have is that ACORN is actively involved in the 2010 census planning process (including hiring decisions) and that the Obama administration lied about it. This was proven in the document dump ably engineered by Tegan Millspaw of Judicial Watch. Of course the NYT ignores this issue altogether.
Did someone mention ACORN? ... and the Census? ... and the New York Times?
"Almost Entirely White and Irritable Crowd" of "Angry" Obama-Care Protesters. After years of mainstreaming and idealizing anti-war protesters and marches supporting illegal immigrants as "grandmothers with canes, parents with children in strollers," dissent against a president's policies is no longer cool in Timesland. The [New York] Times finds the newest batch of protesters against Obama health care to be "angry," "irritable" crowds of whites taking marching orders from conservative talk radio and web sites.
Hondouras and Chavez: What the centralized media is not telling you. The "coup" in the Central American nation of Honduras is the first major blow to the Marxist expansion sponsored by Hugo Chavez, but the American people are to a great extent being kept in the dark by the centralized news media. The Associated Press, upon which most news outlets in the United States depend, appears to be slanting its reporting to support the pro-Chavez version of events in Honduras.
A 'coup' in Honduras? Nonsense. Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie to the truth. The White House, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and much of the media have condemned the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this past weekend as a coup d'état. That is nonsense. In fact, what happened here is nothing short of the triumph of the rule of law.
Honduras Outraged by Obama-Chavez Alliance. I continue to receive messages from Honduran citizens upset at the international media for their distorted coverage of the situation in the Central American country. The people support the ouster of Manuel "Mel" Zelaya, who is considered a puppet of Venezuelan Communist ruler Hugo Chavez. They are mystified that an American president would want to return this Chavez puppet to power in Honduras.
Helen Thomas Cited for Honest Reporting? Even with the Marxist influence in President Obama's background — and even with the reluctance to raise his voice against bloodthirsty tyrants such as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — even with all of that, trust Helen Thomas to find Obama too hard-line with America's enemies and too easy-going with America's friends.
Legal Expert Says Sotomayor Aims to 'Annihilate' Losing Side in Cases. Imagine, if you will, an expert on the federal judiciary told a Washington Post reporter a few years ago during the Sam Alito nomination that the conservative jurist took "a kind of carpet-bombing" approach to the law, showing a determination "not to just defeat the other side, but to annihilate it" when rendering his opinions from the bench. It's hard to image that being buried deep in an article on the jurist. But of course the nominee in question isn't Alito, it's President Obama's pick of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace outgoing liberal Justice David Souter.
Night Before Key Vote, Networks Remain Silent on Cap-and-Trade. A House vote on Waxman-Markey's American Clean Energy & Security Act to cap-and-trade emissions was imminent June 26. Some Republicans have called the bill "the largest tax increase in American history," but despite the enormous burden to taxpayers the three major networks failed to cover the bill the night before.
CBS Slams Exxon for Not Drilling More. After all the media hand-wringing the past few months over imploding financial institutions, they might praise ExxonMobil for taking care of it shareholders first and keeping ample reserve funds, rather than running on risky investments and toxic assets. "Consumer advocate" Dan Weiss closed the story saying, "Big oil is swimming in profits with money drained from the pockets of American families." CBS mentioned he was a senior fellow at the "Center For American Progress" yet neglected to mention that it is an avowedly liberal think tank. The founder of CFAP is former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta.
When Are Gay Rights Groups 'Far-Left'? When They Criticize Obama. During the Bush administration, do you recall the MSM ever describing a gay rights group such as the Human Rights Campaign as "far-left"? Neither do I. To the contrary, such organizations were sympathetically portrayed as proponents of mainstream values. But let such groups criticize Pres. Obama and — what do you know? — the MSM suddenly decides they're "far-left."
The New York Times May Want To Poll This Question. It seems every day there is another example of media deception in America. With the Fourth of July approaching, it is well worth remembering why the Founding Fathers gave the press special privileges. They wanted journalists to report honestly, to give the folks accurate, unbiased information so they could make informed decisions about who should hold power.
Two Killers, One Bias. Amid the press coverage and consternation about the murder of veteran abortionist George Tiller in Kansas, the media and President Obama seemingly missed another news item. Or at least they didn't emphasize it much: The man suspected of murdering one military recruiter and wounding another in Little Rock, Ark., was an Islamic jihadist. The two cases are interesting for what they reveal not only about the media and its hero in the White House but also about their unspoken ideological goals.
Is NPR Skipping Over the Murder of Private William Long? Just like audio offered on the National Public Radio website, NPR transcripts in Nexis do not include top-of-the-hour newscasts. But a quick Nexis search finds there is no mention of the Monday shooting of Private William Long at a Little Rock recruiting station by a Muslim convert. ... Meanwhile, Nexis lists NPR has aired seven full stories or interview segments on the Sunday shooting of late-term abortionist George Tiller.
So, you want to compare hate crimes. On a Sunday morning in Wichita, Kan., a man is murdered while attending church. The killing is immediately labeled a "hate crime" and an act of "domestic terrorism." The news media is outraged. Television networks act as if the man was a martyr, and the story is front-page news in every newspaper in the country. ... The next day, in Little Rock, Ark., two young men are shot down by a lone gunman. One of them dies. For the most part, the public knows nothing about this shooting because the news media don't report the story. They are too busy covering every possible aspect of the first murder. ... And no one calls it a hate crime.
Armed and Extreme, but Buried in Briefs. The Tiller assassination garnered three stories, an editorial and a column (mine) over the following two days, and a week later a front-page story, whereas The Chronicle ran two national briefs about the military-recruiter attack, on Page A5 one day, and Page A6 the next. Other media underplayed the domestic terrorist attack as well. For me, the reason is pretty obvious: Stories that reinforce journalists' political beliefs rate the front page or top of their newscasts; stories that do not are not considered big news.
Jon Stewart: Socialism Is Awesome. Last night's [4/22/2009] agenda on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart was: Socialism is awesome! As more and more Americans worry about the growth of government in their lives here in the U.S., the Daily Show travelled to Sweden to put those worries to rest. They wanted to show us that we should embrace Socialism rather than fear it. Well, by playing fast and loose with the facts, as usual, we fear even one person believed their nonsense.
A Conspiracy of Euphemism. The eight a.m. NPR news update today included word of the fatal shooting of one soldier and the wounding of another outside an army recruiting station in Arkansas. The news reader, Nora Raum, outlined the incident and stated that the shooting appeared to have "religious motivations." She did not name the suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, or tell NPR listeners what those religious motivations might be. In other words, it could have been a radical Unitarian who gunned down the soldiers, or possibly a violent Presbyterian.
Flashback: Nets Were Quick to Tag Alito and Roberts as 'Ultra' and 'Hardline' 'Conservatives'. Network anchors and reporters didn't hesitate to apply strong ideological labels (not just quoting others) to President Bush's two Supreme Court nominees, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Will they be as willing to tag President Obama's nominee, U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, as "staunch," and "hardline" and "ultra" liberal, or at least as "very liberal"?
CBS Decides Sotomayor No Liberal: 'Can't Be Easily Defined by Political Labels'. "Pundits usually label judges as either liberal or conservative, but that won't be easy with Judge Sotomayor," Katie Couric propounded in setting up a piece from Wyatt Andrews, who concluded: "President Obama, then, has found a judge with 17 years experience but no clear ideology on discrimination, gay rights, or abortion and who can't be easily defined by political labels." At least not by the CBS newscast, which back in 2005 asserted Roberts would move "the court further to the right" and fretted over the Alito pick "tilting the Supreme Court in a solidly conservative direction for years to come."
When Reporters Rise For The President. Some people noticed that many reporters rose from their seats last Friday [5/1/2009] when President Obama unexpectedly entered the White House briefing room, but the same courtesy was not always extended in the past when President Bush would make an appearance. Comparison videos were even posted on YouTube.
Double Standard. Tiller's suspected murderer, Scott Roeder, is white, Christian, anti-government and anti-abortion. The alleged gunman in the military recruitment center attack, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, is black, a Muslim convert, anti-military and anti-American. Both crimes are despicable acts of domestic terrorism. The disparate treatment of the two brutal cases by both the White House and the media is striking.
Newsweek Celebrates Christianity's Decline. Ever anxious to create controversy, Newsweek, in its April 13 cover story, has proclaimed "the decline and fall of Christian America." The number of Americans who consider themselves Christians has fallen 10 percentage points in two decades, Newsweek's Jon Meacham reported with scantily-disguised glee. "Our politics and our culture are, in the main, less influenced by movements and arguments of an explicitly Christian character than they were even five years ago," Meacham wrote. "I think this is a good thing..."
The End of Newsweek? Newsweek greeted the coming of Easter with a black cover, and the headline "The Decline and Fall of Christian America," spelled out in red in the shape of a cross. Inside, it was more declarative: "The End of Christian America." Why? Because they found that the percentage of self-identified Christians had fallen 10 points since 1990. OK, then let's compare. How much has Newsweek's circulation fallen since 1990?
MSNBC's Sole Purpose Is to Remind Viewers Why They Should Hate Republicans. Moments ago, I saw a promo for Chris Matthews, in which the announcer asked, "Is the Right sucking the wind out of the GOP?" Matthews contemplated running for Senate as a Democrat. He worked for Tip O'Neill. It's not like the host has an interest in the future success of the Republican party. So why is he so obsessed with the health of the party he disagrees with?
Memo to Capitalists: Be Very Afraid. Lately, MSNBC's Chris Matthews has been on a childish tear, taunting Republicans to admit their belief in the biblical account of the Creation. Someone ought to ask this paragon of smug self-satisfaction why, if he's so brilliant, he unquestioningly echoes the demagogic hyperbole of global warming fanatics hellbent on destroying the economic system responsible for producing unprecedented prosperity in the advanced industrialized world.
CNN's Susan Roesgen: Taking Hackery to New Heights. This video with CNN anchor Susan Roesgen is pretty unreal. She attends the Chicago tea party, picks some wacko out of the crowd and tries to argue with him about whether Obama's a fascist (and even then the guy with the ridiculous Obama-as-Hitler sign comes off more willing to engage in discussion than her), then she talks to a guy who seems perfectly reasonable and rudely cuts him off multiple times. She then attacks Fox News, ranting that the crowd is anti-CNN and says that the tea party is not "family viewing."
Shortly thereafter...
Avoiding Criticism: CNN Shuts Down Anti-Tea Party Reporter's Email Address. So, we are all well aware of the so-called "reporter" from CNN, Susan Roesgen whose on-air haranguing of those she was ostensibly reporting on made obvious her anti-Republican bias. Well, for the past day Americans have been emailing her to let her know how they feel about her unprofessional attitude. Apparently, CNN does not appreciate hearing from its viewers, though, because all of a sudden anyone that sends an email to Roesgen's CNN email address will have it returned as address unknown!
Time Mag Photographer Works as Both a 'Journalist' AND Team Obama Employee? Time Magazine has employed a photographer named Callie Shell that has apparently been doing double duty as both a "journalist" AND a member of team Obama, taking pictures subsequently sent out as official White House photos. How is it that we can have someone thinking that bias cannot be presumed when that same person is working for both a news agency and at the same time for the subject of that news?
Excuse Me, Your Leftism is Showing. On March 2nd there was a demonstration in Washington D.C. It was billed as the largest demonstration for green power/global warming awareness/stop dirty coal/let's all go live in a tepee, ever held. It was attended by — are you ready for the number? — 2,500 people. That was the largest one ever! This demonstration was covered by every major television and news service. No station or alleged newspaper gave any coverage to opposing opinions. Ironically there was a blizzard that day another fact which, to the best of my knowledge, was not noted by any major news outlet.
Review of a new documentary...
Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted. In journalistic terms it's called a "tick-tock." This is when the media crafts a news story that takes you behind the scenes of an event and breaks down, piece by linear piece, the individual acts which led up to that event. With "Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted," director John Ziegler turns the art of the tick-tock around and aims it, with damning effect, squarely at the news media. The result is not a documentary, at least not for anyone who believes in truth, fairness or journalistic integrity — the result is a horror film.
ABC News Shocker: The 'All Time Dumb Quotes' Are All From Republicans. Looks like ABC News is starting out 2009 with a partisan bang. On its main page, ABC News is hosting a slide show featuring what it is calling the "All Time Dumb Quotes." ... There are six political quotes five by Republicans and one by Tina Fey making fun of a Republican (Palin, naturally), yet there are no "All Time Dumb Quotes" from any Democrats. Not a one. Apparently ABC doesn't think there's ever been a dumb Democrat?
Camelost. It is, perhaps, fitting that, as metropolitan newspapers fade from the scene, the Boston Globe should remind us why this is happening by producing not one but two hagiographies of Edward Kennedy. ... Now that his days in office are numbered, the cliché machine has anointed him the "last lion," the last of a vanishing breed, the last giant to stalk the corridors of the Senate, we shall not see his like again, and so on. Oh, please. The last time this phrase was employed in a book title, by the late William Manchester, the subject was Winston Churchill. Surely theGlobe isn't drawing a comparison?
CNN Sells Obama T-Shirts, Propagandizing for The One. Remember the days when news agencies claimed they were the fourth estate? Remember when they claimed to be "objective" and pretended at being separate from the controlling power in Washington D.C.? Apparently that whole claim has proven somewhat chimeric if the several stories we've detailed this week are any indication. And now, to add to the gathering evidence that the Old Media are actively joining Team Obama and the political left, comes CNN to hawk a new line of Obama T-Shirts. So much for being objective.
How the News Became Propaganda. The never-ending campaign of President Barack Obama finds a cornerstone in 24-hour television network CNN. CNN, home of Wolf Blitzer and Larry King Live among other talking heads, now leads the Newsfront Cult called Obamamania. While the viewers of most television networks watch the news, CNN viewers "wear the news".
All Obama, all the time...
D.C. Station Dumps Its Failing Liberal 'Obama 1260' Talk Format. Liberals may want to insist on the "Fairness Doctrine" as a business strategy, since liberal talk is barely moving the ratings needle. The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reported Monday that "President Obama may be riding high in Washington, but OBAMA 1260 is not. The area's only progressive talk station is changing formats, dropping such syndicated liberal hosts as Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller and Bill Press in favor of financial news, starting next week."
Newsweek Partners with Money-Losing Liberal Radio Network Air America. Newsweek has decided to enter into a business deal with Air America. ... Air America has taken in at least $8 million from George Soros's Democracy Alliance, and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2006.
The Editor says...
Call me old-fashioned if you will, but partner is not a verb.
GMA Manages Not To Mention Why Richardson Went. In its opening half-hour, Good Morning America found time to tell us — twice — that President-elect Obama choked up with emotion as he viewed his packed-up old home. But somehow ABC never got around to mentioning that a possible pay-to-play scheme was behind Bill Richardson's bye-bye as Commerce Secretary nominee.
Media Giddy Over Attack on U.S. President. The name: Muntadhar al-Zeidi — a new hero to many in the Muslim world. President Bush — in a surprise, end-of-term visit to Iraq — held a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Zeidi, an Iraqi "reporter," shouted, "This is your farewell kiss, you dog," and threw a shoe at Bush. The reporter quickly threw a second. The shoes missed their target only because an agile President Bush managed to duck. And with his typical self-deprecating humor, he later joked, "It was a size 10."
The psychopathology of Bush hatred. The Bush hatred we are seeing in the media today belongs in the long catalogue of human psychopathology — not rational behavior. The latest version is the shoe-throwing incident in Iraq. ... But our media harbor such bitter hatred for him that they turned a potential bomb-throwing incident — by one of their own — into a joke, just another reason to sneer at the President.
Only 26 days left for Bush-bashing. With only 26 days left to harangue, mock and bash President Bush, some of our colleagues in the media aren't wasting a day. Bashing ex-presidents, except for the ex-presidents with shrill prominent wives, isn't nearly as much fun as bashing while he's still the real thing.
As liberals take power, loony media Left behind. The Seattle paper will cease publication in March unless a buyer is found. Even though it can't pay its bills, the Post-Intelligencer should have been inducted into the left-wing hall of fame after its publisher told the FBI to buzz off when the agency asked for media help in locating two possible terror suspects.
Media Fiddle While America Burns. Bloomberg News, one of the few news organizations seriously examining the role of the Federal Reserve in the financial meltdown, now puts the cost of the various bailouts and other federal schemes to "save" the financial system at an incredible $7.7 trillion. And there is no reason to believe that the bailouts are at an end. At the end of it all, America could be reduced to the status of banana republic, without the ability to pay to import bananas.
Times Watch Quotes of Note 2008 — The NYT's Worst Quotes of the Year. The New York Times's embrace of Barack Obama's candidacy, and its fervent defense of him against John McCain's "racist" and unfair attacks, made 2008 a particularly bias-packed year for the paper.
Cinderella vs. the Barracuda: Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post has devoted two columns in as many weeks to this "fairy tale" scenario in which [Caroline] Kennedy, our "tragic national princess," is finally rewarded — for her years of quiet dignity, selflessly avoiding scandal and the paparazzi — with the Senate seat that once belonged to her uncle Bobby. What's astounding about the normally sensible Marcus' case for "the Cinderella Kennedy" (New York magazine's phrase) is that she doesn't really make one, at least not on the merits. Marcus doesn't even bother. It's all schoolgirl gushing.
Sweet on Caroline. One sign the liberal news media live in a plastic Manhattan bubble is their undying ardor for the Kennedy Myth, best known by that public-relations construct "Camelot." Instead of a president and First Lady, they believe, we had the King and Queen of Glamour.
Matthews: My Job Is To Make Obama Presidency a Success. Just in time for the new James Bond movie, Chris Matthews has earned himself a new moniker: Odd Job. Matthews says he sees his job as a journalist as doing everything he can to make the Obama presidency a success.
How to Survive Media Bias. [Scroll down] Michelle Bachmann learned her lesson the hard way. The Minnesota mother of five, foster mom of 23 and tax lawyer serves as a member of the House of Representatives. But she almost lost her bid for re-election, and the reason is MSNBC, a network that's become a playground of the rabid left.
CBS's 'Lifelong Republican' for Obama Is An ACLU Member. On Monday's [11/3/2008] CBS Early Show ... Colorado Springs City Council member Jan Martin described herself as a "lifelong Republican" explained: "I think we are at a place and a point in time where hope and unity are two things that this country needs more than anything." The only problem is that Jan Martin was similarly touted by the New York Times in early October, at which point, NewsBusters' P.J. Gladnick discovered that she was a member of the Colorado Springs chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and Colorado's Gay and Lesbian Fund.
Associated Prevaricators: A recent Associated Press story so thoroughly twisted the English language to present the opposite of reality, Bill Clinton might be writing its headlines. … This is not reporting: it is news manipulation designed to massage public opinion about the war. It is an important reminder of the ever-present filter through which Americans receive their news.
Newspapers Censor Their Way to Oblivion. This campaign season The Kansas City Star passed on a parcel of the nation's most eye-popping stories. Incredibly, at least five of those stories flared up in the Star's home state, Missouri. As the reader might guess, all five stories reflected unfavorably on Democratic candidates. This is nothing new. What is new is that by censoring such stories the Star has continued to show its indifference to the majority of its potential customers even as it struggles to stay afloat.
With Gas Prices Down Brokaw Wants To Tax Them To $4 A Gallon. If you needed any more proof that liberal media members don't [care] about the state of the economy or the American people, and instead just want to raise taxes, you got it Sunday when Tom Brokaw advocated gas prices, which have plummeted recently, be kept at $4 a gallon with government keeping the added cost.
Democrat Governor Arrested! [Scroll down] Let's do a little survey of where in their stories certain well-known press outlets mentioned that Gov. [Blagojevich] is a DEMOCRAT:
— Home Town Paper Chicago Tribune — 5th graf.
— Associated Press — 4th graf.
— New York Times — 2nd graf.
— Washington Post — never. Not once. In a 2,500 word story the Washington Post never thought it might be important, interesting, or even amusing to note that Gov. B is a Democrat. If Govenor Blutarsky had been a Republican that fact would have appeared in the headline.
Conflicting news reports about the same story:
The subject of evolution being taught in public schools is covered on another nearby page, but this is a rather surprising example of an incident being reported as a victory for evolutionists by some news outlets (in viewpoint 1), and as a victory for creationists in others (in viewpoint 2).
Viewpoint 1:
Texas scraps school anti-evolution requirements. The Texas Board of Education has scrapped a 20-year-old requirement that public school students discuss the "strengths and weaknesses" of evolution, the Associated Press and other news outlets report. But the board, in what some in the media viewed as a compromise, did vote to encourage students to scrutinize "all sides" of scientific theories, the Houston Chronicle reports.)
Evolution 'weaknesses' won't be taught in Texas schools. A last-ditch effort by social conservatives to require that Texas teachers cover the "weaknesses" in the theory of evolution in science classes was rejected by the State Board of Education Thursday in a split vote. Board members deadlocked 7-7 on a motion to restore a long-time curriculum rule that "strengths and weaknesses" of all scientific theories — notably Charles Darwin's theory of evolution — be taught in science classes and covered in textbooks for those subjects.
Evolution moves to head of class in Texas schools. The State Board of Education gave a nearly final nod to new science curriculum standards Thursday [3/26/2009] that would change a long-standing Texas tradition over how schoolchildren learn about evolution. The tentative vote — a final one is expected today — will mean that teachers and students no longer will be expected to discuss the "strengths and weaknesses" of evolution and the theory about the origin of life developed by Charles Darwin 150 years ago.
Conservatives lose another battle over evolution. Social conservatives lost another skirmish over evolution Friday when the State Board of Education stripped two provisions from proposed science standards that would have raised questions about key principles of the theory of evolution.
Viewpoint 2:
Victory! Science Wins Over Censorship in Texas! After a fierce battle on how science will be taught in Texas, the State Board of Education voted today to include wording that guarantees children will have the chance to learn and examine all sides of scientific theories. It looked like we had lost yesterday when the board voted to strike out the requirement that students learn about the "strengths and weaknesses" of all scientific theories, including evolution. However, we believe today's final vote, which includes the words "critique" and "examining all sides of scientific evidence," came as a result from your persistent prayers, calls and emails. We believe this language is just as strong.
Science education issue finally settled in Texas. The Texas State Board of Education has decided overwhelmingly to keep the teaching of scientific strengths and weaknesses, but under a different name. By a vote of 13-to-2, the Board decided to replace strengths and weakness with the language "examining all sides of science."
State Board of Education approves new science curriculum. Much of the debate over the new curriculum has centered on whether the keep the term "strengths and weaknesses." The approved curriculum replaces that controversial term with "analyze, evaluate and critique."
Conservatives get evolution win. A day after failing to uphold a 20-year-old requirement that Texas public high school students evaluate the "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific theories, including evolution, the State Board of Education on Friday morning [3/27/2009] ratified new standards requiring biology students to "analyze, evaluate and critique" scientific theories.
State Board of Education approves new science curriculum. Texas' school children will continue to be given instructional options for questioning the relationship between man and his natural origin. Last minute amendments helped the The State Board of education approve a new science curriculum Friday.
Setting the Record Straight on Science: Correcting Some Misleading Media Reports. The media coverage of Friday's victory for critical discussion of Science and rejection of Censorship has been all over the map, and I don't just mean the fact that this story was covered by media outlets all over the country. I mean that if you read more than one report, you might think that Texas Freedom Network and their band of thought police strict Evolutionists from California (Eugenie Scott) and other places got what they wanted. Absolutely not.
Another example of conflicting viewpoints:
Viewpoint 1:
Well into August...
Ice choking the Northwest Passage. Warmist doctrine has it that the Northwest passage (through Arctic waters to reach the North Pacific from the North Atlantic) should be clear sailing anytime now. In fact, according to the Ottawa Citizen: "...the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center is predicting another near-record meltdown by the end of this year's summer thaw." Unfortunately for them, reality is not cooperating.
Viewpoint 2:
Vast expanses of Arctic ice melt in summer heat. The Arctic Ocean has given up tens of thousands more square miles of ice on Sunday [8/9/2009] in a relentless summer of melt, with scientists watching through satellite eyes for a possible record low polar ice cap.
The Editor says...
Attention AP writers: Vast expanses of Arctic ice always melt in the summer heat.
Sarah Palin subsection
Readers of a page like this probably fall into on of two categories: Either you're sick of hearing about Governor Palin, or you're disgusted by the news media's treatment of her during the last half of 2008. This subsection could have easily filled a page of its own, but I'll keep it brief.
The Media Plan to Destroy Palin. A Rasmussen poll found that 51 percent of the people believe that reporters are trying to "hurt" Palin. Twenty-four percent said the stories made them more likely to vote for McCain. The backlash has begun.
Leftist media sire hypocrisy. When the story first broke that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards had cheated on his cancer-stricken wife and sired a baby with a bimbo on his campaign payroll, The New York Times refused to run it. But when the news hit that not the president, not the vice president but the daughter of the vice-presidential nominee is pregnant, the Times ran five — count 'em, five — stories about it. In one day.
Smut-hunting NY Times Limbo Dancing in Alaska. The New York Times is proving "how low it can go". The NY Times is dispatching a group of its top "investigative journalists", fanning them across the State of Alaska looking for dirt on [Sarah] Palin and Republicans in a desperate bid to take the wheels off of John McCain's little red wagon.
Spinning Into Orbit. [Governor] Palin, of course, knows all about [media bias]. Obama-linked blogs like the Daily Kos invent charges out of whole cloth, like the time one claimed Palin wasn't the mother of her own baby. The media reported that as news. Meanwhile, ad agency personnel linked to the Obama campaign faked charges in videos that Palin belonged to an Alaska secessionist group. The media picked that up too. … The more we observe media bias in action, the more we're amazed by its new ways of distorting and concealing news.
The Media's Vendetta Against Palin: To be sure, the media tried to take out George W. Bush. His reelection was so abhorrent to the New York-Washington media axis that one member, CBS News, put obviously phony documents on the air to defeat him. Bush was never a movement conservative. He is not creating a new generation of young conservatives. But Palin can be.
Palin, Cloward, Piven and Kafka. The 18 ethics charges filed since [Sarah Palin] rose to prominence in Republican circles might be the first time the left has successfully used the Cloward-Piven Strategy to stop an individual politician on the national level. For those who do not know, the strategy was developed in the late 1960s by two sociologists at Columbia. In a nutshell it seeks to "hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse".
The castigation of Brit Hume
Brit Hume offered some free advice to Tiger Woods on a Sunday talk show [1/3/2010] and was pounced upon by leftist commentators all over thecountry east and west coasts.
If You Can Find a Better Deal, Take It! Someone mentioned Christianity on television recently and liberals reacted with their usual howls of rage and blinking incomprehension. ... [Brit] Hume's words, being 100 percent factually correct, sent liberals into a tizzy of sputtering rage, once again illustrating liberals' copious ignorance of Christianity.
Throwing Brit Hume to the lions. If there were doubt that much of the media is hostile to traditional faith, especially traditional Christianity, that doubt has been drowned in the wake of a vicious verbal assault on Fox News analyst Brit Hume. Histrionic fulminations against Mr. Hume's inoffensive expression of faith expose an ugly strain of anti-religious bigotry that is spreading inside this country's liberal establishment.
The Soul of Tiger Woods. The first rule of dinner-table conversation is no hot talk about politics or religion. Apparently, there's a rule regarding the discussion of religion during political talk shows, too.
What Obama Could Learn from Brit Hume. Tiger [Woods] would likely benefit from the advice of a decent man. Brit Hume is characterized by those from the left and right as one of the most principled individuals to ever work in network news. Yet when you consider his circumstances, his position, and how lost he genuinely is, President Obama would benefit equally if not more than Tiger by turning to the person of Jesus Christ.
The Crucifixion of Brit Hume. Nothing makes the left lose its collective noodle like an open proclamation of Christian faith. You don't see it when Muslims proselytize in government schools; the ACLU doesn't sue when Wiccans share their witchy ways; militant "gay" activists don't picket Buddhist temples with bullhorns while inhabitants grasp at Zen. No, there's something about Christianity that just drives 'em nuts. Always has. Always will.
Brit Hume, Tiger Woods and Buddha. My colleague Brit Hume has aroused the ire of some secularists, as well as some Buddhists, by advising Tiger Woods to seek redemption through Christianity in place of his mother's religion, Buddhism. ... Almost immediately, the far left began mocking Hume as a religious fanatic.
Bravo to Brit Hume: Why Faith Is Not a Private Matter. While pleasantly surprised, I knew that Hume was going to take heat for straying outside the Box of Tolerance, which is about the size of Get Smart's Cone of Silence. And the reaction came promptly.
Obama's Publicists: Have the feeling Barack Obama gets more favorable coverage than John McCain? It's not just a perception, it's a reality, according to yet another study confirming media bias. The right-of-center sector of the blogosphere has for months maintained that the mainstream media are "in the tank" for Obama. The observant bloggers were right.
The Media, Ahab Levin and Moby Bush. We've seen a lot in this campaign cycle, but the media hit a new low with the ABC Sunday love-fest between Hillary Clinton and George Stephanopoulous. For an entire hour, we were treated to an infomercial for the Clinton campaign. It's a perfect example of how the political activists who pose as journalists have seized control of the media battlefield. ABC News is now Hillary Clinton's most committed superdelegate. … Still loyal to Hillary, ABC chose to stage a one-candidate debate Sunday morning hosted by a former Clinton White House staffer.
Journalist Sympathizes With Illegal Immigrants. A reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Nazario started her career at the Wall Street Journaltwo decades ago. Her book, Enrique's Journey, recounts the perils faced by a young Honduran boy traveling north on the "train of death" to reunite with his illegal immigrant mother in the United States. … During her Commencement speech at Messiah College, Nazario carefully omitted any mention of these persons' legal status, referring to them instead "immigrants," "migrants," or, simply, women and children seeking a better life in the United States.
Magazine Madness: Al Gore is a victim of media bias and advocates of low taxes are "crackpots." These are two of the counterfactual theses advanced in major magazines this week.
Editor Defends Use of CodePink Members in 'Independent' Focus Group. A Detroit Free Press editor expressed regret Monday [9/8/2008] that left-wing and anti-war activists were included in a focus group of so-called independent voters the newspaper interviewed during the political conventions, but said he didn't see the harm in having a "radical leftist or two" in the group.
Seeking More Viewers, MSNBC Turns Left. With the promotion of Rachel Maddow, the Air America radio host, to a prime-time television spot this week, the longtime third-place cable news network MSNBC cemented its identity as a channel for a liberal audience. But is that what advertisers want it to be?
Republicans Jeer, Protest NBC News. About a year into MSNBC's strategy of refashioning itself into the network for Bush haters, some consequences are starting to emerge for the cable channel and its corporate parent NBC.
Nine Worst Business Stories of the Last 50 Years -- [#9] Food Lion. Food Lion was at the time the fastest growing grocery store chain in the nation, having implemented a revolutionary business model based on wholesale purchasing and distribution to its stores. But [Diane] Sawyer accused the company of being so driven by profits that it neglected health concerns in order to sell tainted meat.
The Media Descend to a New Low. Time's Mark Halperin has posted an advance copy of the cover of US Weekly magazine, the tabloid published by Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner. That cover shows a smiling Sarah Palin, holding her youngest son Trig. The screaming headline: "Babies, Lies and Scandal: John McCain's Vice President." Wenner has contributed $5300 to Obama's campaign since 2007. The cover was sent to select news organizations by Mark Neschis, the head of corporate communications for Wenner Media and former director of television in the Clinton White House.
Oprah exhibits unmitigated bias
Sarah Palin on Oprah Winfrey Show? Oprah "Adamantly Against It". Now that Sarah Palin has stepped onto the political scene and could become the country's first female vice president, will Oprah interview her? Oprah Winfrey, the talk show host queen who outwardly supports Senator Barack Hussein Obama, apparently doesn't want Palin on her show, despite numerous viewer requests.
Is Oprah Biased? Host Won't Interview Palin. She may have let Tom Cruise jump all over her couch, but Oprah Winfrey says that Sarah Palin can't even sit on it. At least not until after the presidential election, that is.
Storm as Oprah says no to Palin interview. Oprah Winfrey, America's favourite daytime TV star, has refused to have Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin as a guest on her talk show. Winfrey, a prominent supporter of Democratic nominee Barack Obama, has been facing pressure from conservative commentators and pundits who say that Palin would be a perfect interview for her female-heavy audience.
Oprah Says No to Palin, and Gets an Earful. Oprah Winfrey has said she will not interview Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, the hottest political star in the firmament, and the decision is drawing negative reviews from many fans of the doyenne of daytime television. A group of Republican women in Florida has announced a boycott of Ms. Winfrey's television show and called for cancellations of subscriptions to her magazine, "O: The Oprah Magazine."
Florida Republican Women Officially Boycott Oprah. On September 6, the Florida Federation of Republican Women called for a boycott of the Oprah Winfrey Show based upon Ms. Winfrey's refusal to have Governor Sarah Palin as a guest on Oprah until after the election, according to Linda Ivell, President of the FFRW.
NYT's Court Reporter Says Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a Centrist. The New York Times sent veteran Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse into retirement in grand style on Sunday, turning over to her the front page of the Week in Review for "2,691 Decisions," a title marking the number of court cases she had covered during her tenure. Unmentioned were her off-the-clock denunciations of conservatives, such as her infamous speech at Harvard in June 2006 when she tore into the Bush administration. What was included: Her clear belief that the world is a better place with Anthony Kennedy on the Court and Robert Bork not.
How to Lie With Statistics: With apologies to Darrel Huff and his famous book of the same title, today's papers provide a wonderful demonstration of how the mainstream press — in this case, The New York Times, can use real statistics to justify politically spun conclusions.
McCain vs. Obama: The Snoozer in Nashville. "This was the worst-moderated debate in the history of presidential debates," one McCain campaign insider told me just moments after John McCain and Barack Obama left the stage at Belmont University in Nashville. "The audience and the American people should feel robbed — that the one opportunity they had to ask questions of the presidential candidates was taken from them by Tom Brokaw."
NBC's Brokaw Asks No Questions on Iraq, Immigration, Abortion or Same-Sex Marriage. The pretext of the debate was that the questions would come from a "townhall" audience and from Americans all across the nation sending in questions via the Internet. All issues would be inbounds. Ultimately, however, all questions were screened and chosen by NBC's Brokaw, who kept the focus almost exclusively on the economy and foreign policy.
Some people have to be told. The editor-at-large of newspaper industry trade publication Editor & Publisher upbraids reporters at the political conventions for failing to stand when the National Anthem is played at the start of each night's session.
Jeremiah Wright's Controversial AIDS Charge. [Jeremiah] Wright isn't the first public figure to repeat the claim that AIDS is a U.S. weapon to kill people. The claim that AIDS was manufactured by the United States was reported by CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather on a March 30, 1987, broadcast. Rather was widely criticized for playing into a Soviet KGB disinformation campaign. The charge had appeared in a number of Soviet and Third World publications before Rather picked it up.
Convicted Ex-Governor to Speak at Democrat Convention. Convicted Alabama Governor Don Siegelman will speak at the Democrat National Convention. What would the media say if a GOP convention speaker was out on bond? The uproar would be tremendous.
TV One plans to cover Obama — but not McCain. TV One will cover the Democratic National Convention because — and only because — the party's nominee is black. And yet, oddly enough, some of the people who will be involved in that coverage took umbrage at the suggestion that the cable/satellite network is, um, covering the Democratic National Convention only because the nominee is Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. "Yes, Sen. Obama running for president is a huge deal at TV One, as it is in the African-American community," said Johnathan Rodgers, the CEO of the network that, in his words, "targets African-American adults."
[Will TV One also cover Cynthia McKinney's campaign?
Williams Tosses Softballs to Obama, Empathizes Over Elitist Image. Brian Williams, who slobbered over Barack Obama in their last interview in early January, did so again in a Thursday [5/8/2008] session excerpted on the NBC Nightly News. Williams didn't pose a single challenging question nor mention Jeremiah Wright in any of the ten questions aired.
'I Hate to Keep Being in the Position of Defending Obama, But...' Weeks before Linda Douglass announced she would be jumping aboard the Barack Obama presidential campaign as a senior strategist, the former CBS News and ABC News Washington correspondent was already aiding the Obama campaign.
Barack Clinton Obama. [Scroll down slowly] Reality is now shattering the myth. Obama turns out to be a Chicago politician — highly ambitious, extremely talented, and neither untainted nor uncompromised. Maybe it's time for the national media, many of whom (like Newsweek and MSNBC, for starters) are enraptured by Obama, to acquaint themselves with the real man. Is that too much to ask when selecting our next president?
MSOBAMA. It is not a compliment to human nature to say that there is something within us that is sometimes drawn to watching — for a limited period of time, anyway — the comically deranged on display. Which brings me to MSNBC's Keith Olbermann.
MSNBC's Doomed "Experiment": Outside of special events coverage, MSNBC's executives haven't really seen the light about how their Obamaholics Unanimous lineup is bad for ratings. Even as they yank Matthews and Olbermann away from the anchor desk, MSNBC's adding hard-left Air America radio host Rachel Maddow to consolidate the "progressive" carpet-bombing after dark. They think they're the Genius Channel.
Newt Destroys Joy's Argument. Appearing on the April 29 edition of "The View," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich proved his intellectual superiority to Joy Behar punching holes in her very shallow debate points. Also, in discussing the ongoing Reverend Wright controversy, Whoopi Goldberg placed Billy Graham in league with Wright and Louis Farrakhan.
Liars' Round-Up: The facts about your security are being torn to shreds by activist liars. And they think that you're too stupid to know the difference. Let's lay out the worst current examples of media make-believe and election-year truth-trashing.
Wright Speaks for the Left. The Rev. Wright's decision to allow himself to be interviewed by Bill Moyers was, from his perspective, an excellent one. It is difficult to imagine a less challenging, more fawning, interview. How bad was it? Given that one of the most egregious of the Rev. Wright's statements was his charge that the American government developed the AIDS virus and inflicted it on black Americans, one assumed that the first major reporter to interview Wright since the comments were made public would ask him about it. Not Bill Moyers.
Who Needs Friends Like the Rev. Wright? What is Jeremiah Wright doing? That's easy. He's helping himself. Trying to save his reputation. Smiling for the cameras. What can Barack Obama do about it? Not much. The only thing worse than Wright speaking out is the respect with which he is treated when he does. In numerous reports, Wright is being described as one of the leading African-American pastors in the country.
Salon Editor: Most Press Members 'Hate Hillary Clinton'. "I was struck when I got to Iowa and New Hampshire in January by how our media colleagues were just swooning over Barack Obama. That is not too strong a word. They were swooning. I was at a speech, I remember it, I will write about it some day, in Manchester, and every, the biggest names in our business were there, and they were, they could repeat some of his speech lines to one another. It was like a Bruce Springsteen concert where the fans sing along."
Some Media Forgetting to Mention Party Affiliation of Detroit's Embattled Mayor? Thursday [8/7/2008], when the Associated Press reported that he had been imprisoned for violating terms of his bond in his perjury case, the AP failed to mention his party affiliation. Kilpatrick is a Democrat.
Monkey business on the Edwards story? As a member in good standing of the mainstream media, I generally tend to be skeptical of those in the blogosphere who accuse us of liberal bias. But they sure seem to have a point with this John Edwards story.
Blagojevich-Rezko: Chicago Station Doesn't Name Party in TV Report. The feds seem to be closing in on Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich — and at least one Chicago television station seems determined to minimize exposure not only of his party affiliation, but of others who have received tainted campaign contributions.
CNN Doesn't Mention Pro-Union Guest Was Union VP. Author's former job explains her adoration of unions, but she is unopposed on 'Your $$$$$.'
CNN: 'Cheap' Corn Should Be Taxed to Fight Obesity. Medical correspondent presents tax on products with corn syrup as a convoluted solution to obesity and to 'offset' price of corn, ignoring that the price is already at an 11-year high.
Is CNN Pushing Kids to Ask For a Salary for First Lady Michelle? CNN has a segment that they call "CNN Student News" that is supposed to highlight the news of the day for the kiddie set. Pursuant to that, in a December 15 segment, CNN floats a question asking if Michelle Obama (or any First Lady) should get a government salary just for being First Lady?
The Editor says...
This brings up a series of questions: First of all, is CNN engaging in journalism or activism? Second, isn't it obvious that Michelle Obama knew before campaigning that the position of "first lady" was an honor -- not a job?
Election questions no one ever asks: After each debate, some network would convene a focus group of undecided voters who then preened over their lofty status. Pollster Frank Luntz, CNN's Soledad O'Brien or some other enabler would gush over how fascinating it was to talk to "real people." ... [But] These people are undecided because they don't do their homework. CNN profiled an undecided voter from Nebraska the day before the election who said he is "definitely pro-life" and a single-issue voter on abortion. But, according to CNN, he was still trying to figure out which candidate was pro-life. Um, really? Don't strain yourself trying to figure that one out.
(See also CNN's obvious bias in favor of Hillary Clinton.)
Bill Maher, Bigot. Last week, a few days before Pope Benedict XVI's visit to America, TV talk show host Bill Maher went on a profanity-laden tirade against the Pope and the Catholic Church. On his HBO Real Time program, Maher claimed that the Pope "used to be a Nazi," and called the Catholic Church a "child-abusing religious cult" and "the Bear Stearns of organized pedophilia."
Barnum & Bailey & CNN. We're not talking about the candidates here, but about the shamelessly high-pressure pitch machine that has replaced the Cable News Network's once smart and reliable campaign coverage. Was there ever a better backdrop than Las Vegas for the traveling wreck of a journalistic carnival that CNN's political journalism has become?
Jesse Helms and Mangled Manners: When Helms announced his retirement from the Senate in 2001, the media elite made their own distaste very clear. "He was so wonderfully odious," declared top Newsweek editor Evan Thomas. "He was very comforting to the east coast media establishment to know that there was an evil guy out there that you could really fear."
ABC and NBC, But Not CBS, Note Passing of Conservative Icon Hyde. While ABC and NBC noted [Congressman Henry Hyde's] death, at age 83, on their Thursday evening [11/29/2007] newscasts, and even managed to avoid any pejorative ideological labeling, the CBS Evening News ignored Hyde.
ABC Gushed Over Edwards 30th Wedding Anniversary; Ignores Bush's. ABC's Good Morning America, which aired two gushing profiles this summer on the 30th anniversary of John and Elizabeth Edwards, has found no time to air a similar story on the 30th anniversary of George and Laura Bush.
The McCain Mutiny: "No other modern politician has received as much favorable press as John McCain has in the past decade," write (plainly irritated) David Brock and Paul Waldman in "Free Ride: John McCain and the Media." "The rules are simply different for McCain." Boy, are they. Though he flip-flops and prevaricates like any politician, McCain all but has the phrase "straight talker" tattooed on his skull-plate. A lifetime Beltway insider and third-generation naval officer with an heiress wife and an heiress mother is still referred to, without irony, as a "Man of the People."
Media Try to Coronate McCain. It is presumptuous, of course, for the Post or any other media outlet or personality to assume that McCain will be the nominee. There is still a fierce battle going on. In the February 9 Washington State caucuses, to take one example, McCain reportedly got 26 percent, Mike Huckabee got 24 percent, and Ron Paul received 21 percent. The Huckabee campaign says that there were "obvious irregularities" in the counting of the votes and that Huckabee may still win if all of the votes are counted. It is also still possible that the Republican convention could be deadlocked among the candidates.
But then, after McCain was sure to get the nomination...
NBC's Ann Curry: John McCain is Old, He's 71. Did I Mention He's 71? The "Today" show's Ann Curry interviewed Cindy McCain on Thursday morning [5/8/2008] and got her to promise that the McCain campaign won't go negative. However Curry, herself, repeatedly pressed a point that is sure to be part of a, not-so-quiet, whisper campaign against the Arizona Senator this fall — that he's too old to be President.
Let's Get Journalists To Report The Truth About The 'Pregnant Man'. Thomas Beatie has gained worldwide attention for allegedly being the first "pregnant man." Mainstream media outlets are reporting Beatie's story as if were fact and referring to her as "he" instead of accurately reporting that Beatie is really a woman. Thomas Beatie is actually Tracy Lagondino who lived in Hawaii with her lesbian girlfriend Nancy. Lagondino and her girlfriend were lesbian activists who lobbied for "gay marriage" in that state. They are now transgender activists working to redefine what it means to be married, to be male or female and to be parents.
NBC Nightly News Finally Calls Spitzer 'Democratic Governor'. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, substitute NBC Nightly News anchor Ann Curry and reporter Mike Taibbi failed to identify disgraced outgoing New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as a Democrat, but on Thursday night [3/13/2008] Curry finally informed NBC viewers of the party affiliation — a fact network journalists always consider relevant when a Republican gets caught in scandalous behavior.
Eliot's Mess: [Scroll down] If you rely on the media, you may not even know it's a Democratic scandal. They are once again practicing the infuriating art of dropping the party label out of their reporting. As the story broke, ABC and NBC couldn't even mention the word "Democrat" in their Spitzer stories. ABC put a "D" next to Spitzer's name on a screen graphic. NBC couldn't even do that.
The First Affirmative Action Candidate. To the adoring eyes of the liberal mass media, Obama is the closest expression of a rock star, if not a "black messiah." While every white candidate is scrutinized and criticized, Obama remains "beyond criticism." Had any white candidate, with less than three years experience in the national arena declared himself a candidate for the presidency, especially at the tender age of 46, he/she would have been ridiculed. The media's collective white guilt with its derivative of "political correctness," does not seek articulation on policy or substance from Obama.
Less Tingling, More Reporting. We have come a long way since Chris Matthews told us his leg was "tingling" when he listened to Barack Obama. Well, sure, the liberal punditocracy is still playing defense for Obama … But more and more you see the MSM sharing tidbits of information that show him to be less than the Gandhi-like figure he originally was made out to be.
Guess He Liked It. So much for "Hardball" — MSNBC host Chris Matthews calls Barack Obama's speech on race "worthy of Abraham Lincoln," "the best speech ever given on race," and "one of the great speeches in American history."
Let's Play Hardball. Conservatives in Pennsylvania loaded their rhetorical muskets last week as reports circulated that Chris Matthews — Mr. Spittle himself — might run for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2010. Mr. Matthews is the commentator on the Peoples Republic of MSNBC who famously informed his viewers of the thrill running up his leg when listening to President-elect Barack Obama's disingenuous speech about race. This was way too much information for many of us.
Obamaholics Unanimous. Now that Barack Obama is closing in on the Democratic nomination, some are wondering whether the media will be tougher in their coverage. There's a better question: is it possible to be any softer? The media writ large have been sounding like they're covering a messiah more than a man. So was Hillary Clinton right to complain that Barack Obama has been more celebrated rather than vetted?
To the Washington Post, Bill Clinton is a Man of Character. In a front-page article Friday, the Washington Post provided redundant reminders of why many people no longer trust the Mainstream Media to give them fair political coverage. In bending over backwards to portray Bill Clinton in the best possible light, the Post story seems to prove that the media doesn't understand what constitutes good character.
Move On, Obama. There's one little three-syllable word that has been left out of most of the Democratic primary coverage on the TV: "liberal." We're constantly told by anchors and reporters how the Republican contenders are fighting over the "conservative" vote and who's more "conservative," and that's true. But exactly the same fight is taking place on the left side, with the Clintons trying to suggest Barack Obama's not sufficiently liberal….
Chelsea and the kid gloves. I must be woefully misaligned with family values or linguistically tone deaf to be so deeply offended by MSNBC's suspension of Emmy award-winning Washington correspondent David Shuster. His crime: uttering a word no one liked. … If "pimped" is offensive enough to get a commentator suspended, where was the famous delay button? And where — most importantly — is due process? The union members who waved their signs behind Hillary Clinton might ask how she feels about an employee getting suspended, fired, demoted or down-sized for uttering one cheeky word.
Conservatives Laugh at Media Bias. If Vice President Richard Cheney died, more people would live. Bill Clinton sounds like Jesus in the Temple. And the Republican Party caused the near-deathly stroke of Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota. Each year, the Media Research Center issues awards for the worst examples of bias in a nation full of outrageously leftist media. The awards, due out any day now, are a signal service to all who care about fairness in reporting.
Media myths about the Jena 6: The outside media made sure everyone knew the basics. There's just one problem: The media got most of the basics wrong. In fact, I have never before witnessed such a disgrace in professional journalism. Myths replaced facts, and journalists abdicated their solemn duty to investigate every claim because they were seduced by a powerfully appealing but false narrative of racial injustice.
Academic Dirty Linen Revealed in California Law School Case. Unsurprisingly, the way the controversy has been played in the press follows the usual left wing narrative of brave liberals threatened by troglodytes of the right, but beating back the forces of darkness. McCarthyism redux. And who can blame the libs from casting themselves as heroes?
Media Avoid Linking Democratic Party With NJ Scandals. New Jersey = Corruption. That is the conclusion when reading news stories about the latest round of criminal charges involving public officials in the Garden State, according to political scientists and media analysts. However, the political scandals that continue to beset New Jersey have not translated into negative press coverage for the Democratic Party, which has been disproportionately affected by the corruption charges and arrests.
Bush's 'Wins May Cost Him' — News or Wishful Thinking? The top headline in Saturday's ashington Post underlines the tendency for display bias by practicing future-tense journalism. … Why can't the newspapers simply report what has already happened, and not bog down the reader with their own biased impressions of what could or should happen next? Why must reporters always get out a crystal ball and wear a silly fortune-teller's hat?
Media glow on Jane Fonda ignores her treason. Here is one Vietnam veteran who is bothered far more by how the media portray her than by Fonda herself. Now that the threat of communism is gone, the Cold War stand against it is sometimes ridiculed, likened to looking for boogeymen under the bed. Fonda's own affinity for communism is brushed aside as paranoid rubbish. But it shouldn't be. Among those who protested the Vietnam War were many honorable, patriotic and faithful citizens. Fonda was not one of them.
2007: A Loony-Left Year. Left-wing lunacy was pretty common in 2007. Rosie O'Donnell talked her way off ABC's "The View" by spewing "655,000 Iraqi civilians are dead. Who are the terrorists?" Rosie had company on that set. Her co-host Joy Behar seriously claimed that Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson's brain hemorrhage could be a Republican conspiracy: "Is there such a thing as a man-made stroke? … I know what this party is capable of."
Hoist by Their Own Petard. For the past 20 years, the Media Research Center has been compiling its list of notable quotables. The quotes, from prominent members of the mainstream news media, provide a clear window into the leftist mindset that pervades most of America's large news organizations.
McCain spokesman John King of CNN: I'm asking this question literally, not rhetorically: if McCain's actual Press Secretary (rather than one of his many de facto ones in the press corps) had conducted this "interview," how would it have been any different? Maybe they would have at least tried to pretend the questions were a little more probing, less adulating, just for the sake of appearances if not basic dignity.
Media Canonizes McCain While Slandering Romney. The media manipulation inflicted on both sides during this primary season has been premeditated, dangerous, and outrageous. That two of the most far-left "news" organizations in the country would get together to draft a prejudiced question designed to illicit a preordained response in time to use it against Romney just before the critical Florida primary, demonstrates that they not only have no shame, but could care less who objects to their calculated tactics.
Questions about Carville and CNN. There are very few political analysts more closely associated with the Clintons than James Carville, who was a key adviser to Mr. Clinton in the 1992 campaign. So it's no surprise that Mr. Carville's appearance on a round table after last night's CNN-sponsored Democratic debate is arousing some morning-after controversy. "Would it kill CNN to disclose that James Carville is a partisan Clinton supporter when talking about the presidential race?" wrote Daily Kos.
Wolf Blitzer is No Tim Russert. Judging by the reaction to Thursday night's CNN debate, everything seems to be falling into place for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for president. After flirting with subjecting her to some scrutiny, the media seem to be coming to the conclusion that her nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate is inevitable.
Ugly Clinton Rising. If Hillary Clinton becomes president — get ready for everything we hated about our government to come springing back to life. CNN's Wolf Blitzer's less than robustly honest form of debate engineering reminded us of the old idea that when it came to being bought and sold in favor of the Clinton's — CNN's brand was head and shoulders above the crowd.
A Clinton Friend's Role Sets Off Intense Criticism of CNN. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton prepared for a battle with her Democratic rivals at the CNN-sponsored debate on Thursday night [11/15/2007]. She did not have much to fear from the postdebate round table. Among the experts trotted out by CNN to comment was James Carville, a Democratic strategist and CNN commentator who is also a close friend of Mrs. Clinton and a contributor to her campaign.
CBS Cooks the Books on Vet Suicide Numbers. The headline is sensational: "Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans" says CBS News. … But a deeper look at the numbers reveals something even more surprising; the suicide rate for vets is only slightly higher than it is for all males, both vet and nonvet, in the US.
Newsweek Scribe 'Deeply Uneasy' with 'Religious Believers'. On Saturday's Religion page in The Washington Post [12/15/2007], they highlighted the typical secular liberal reporter in his natural habitat — tremendously skeptical of letting religious people play a role in public policy.
Shock: Journalist Backs Mrs. Clinton! The Boston Globe reports — are you sitting down? — that former ABC News anchor Carole Simpson, now a professor of journalism at Emerson College, endorsed Hillary Clinton for president: … "I anchored for 15 years, and I defy anyone to have determined my political feelings from that," she said. Well, some people certainly tried….
Hsu's Your Daddy. Any other candidate would be a victim of the 24-hour news cycle. But Senator Clinton gradually renounced the funds in a crafty fashion. The first funds — Hsu's direct contributions — were renounced at around 6:30 PM on August 29, shortly after the evening news had begun. Then, on September 10, Clinton announced the return of around $850,000 in bundled donations. She did this on the day of the Petraeus report, the eve of 9-11 celebrations, and again, at 6:40 in the evening, virtually ensuring that the story got minimal press coverage.
Honoring Hillary For Media Manipulation. There is absolutely no doubt that liberals really do think of the Clintons in rock-star terms, and the "objective" media have not merely treated them that way with a long-running assembly line of dazzled profiles and shoe-polishing interviews. … No one should deny that if our political press decided to drop the syrup bottle and press the Clintons on their scandals, or their politics of personal destruction, or their leftist policy prescriptions, they would look like a lot less impressive — and a lot less inevitable.
Agenda Journalism: A Tale Of Two Papers. Every now and then, one has the opportunity to read the original story from one newspaper and the edited version carried by another newspaper. This can lead to responses ranging from amusement to outrage. Such was the case with a story that originally appeared in The New York Times and which the Houston Chronicle extensively edited for its print edition.
Prescription For Bias: Networks Downplay Drug Costs, Treat Medicine as an Entitlement. The Business & Media Institute (BMI) has found a recurring network news bias against the pharmaceutical industry, treating drugs as an entitlement rather than an expensive-to-create product, refusing to credit and often ignoring entirely the companies that made the medicine. ... BMI looked at 132 stories on prescription or over-the-counter drugs from the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscasts between January 1 and Sept. 30, 2006. ... The broadcast networks mentioned costs to consumers or drug company revenues 11 times more often than they mentioned drug development costs.
ABC Fails to Wonder Why Canadian Mom Forced to U.S. to Give Birth. On Wednesday's Good Morning America [8/22/2007], co-host Chris Cuomo completely glossed over the health care implications of a Canadian mother forced to give birth in the United States, not her own nation, to identical quadruplets.
The Liberal Suicide Pact. It seems we weren't the only one to notice that the New York Times buried news of a foiled terror plot against John F. Kennedy International Airport on page 37. … Every time law-enforcement authorities announce that they have stopped a terror plan, we hear Daley-like pooh-poohing from the left: The plot wasn't really that serious, it was nowhere near being carried out, the suspects were just a bunch of losers, that sort of thing.
NBC Promotes Bogus Russian Claim to North Pole. On the NBC Nightly News on Monday night [8/13/2007], Brian Williams introduced a story about Russian claims to the North Pole that featured an image of what viewers were led to believe was a small Russian submarine under the polar ice. The image originally appeared on the Russian television channel Rossiya. But the image was not of a Russian sub under the Pole. It shows a min-sub at the scene of the wreckage of the Titanic.
Time Magazine's Anti-Republican Bigotry. Joe Klein of Time demonstrates why the media are more unpopular than the President they despise. Klein has smeared secure-borders advocate Rep. Tom Tancredo, calling him anti-immigrant, while insinuating that the Republican Party as a whole is prejudiced. This is as cold and calculating as the media practice of referring to illegal aliens as "undocumented workers." It is deceptive rhetoric designed to manipulate news media consumers and confuse people about the real issues.
Chuck Schumer's Media: Sen. Charles Schumer is a legendary pursuer of television cameras. But look at the way the national media are covering Schumer's heavy-breathing pursuit to make Attorney General Alberto Gonzales cry uncle and resign. It makes you wonder just how hard Schumer has to work to get press attention. The media appear Schumer-owned and operated. One interview really captures how the press acts more like a Democratic goon squad than nonpartisan observers of the national scene.
CNN's Double Time for Democrats: CNN hosted three presidential debates last week, two for the Democrats and one for the Republicans. Democratic candidates were awarded twice as much airtime in a three-day period. CNN has its work cut out for it if it wants to be seen as impartial in the upcoming presidential election.
MSNBC Confirms Liberal Media Bias. An unusual source -- MSNBC -- has provided the latest documentation of the liberal bias in the mainstream media. It came in the form of a Bill Dedman article on its website looking at journalists who have given money in recent years to federal candidates, political parties, or political action committees.
NBC's Donation to Al Gore: This coming Saturday, July 7, NBC Universal will devote a record 75 hours of coverage to Al Gore's "Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis," to raise awareness about the alleged global warming "crisis" as defined by Gore. The coverage will air on seven NBC Universal-owned programs, and Today news anchor Ann Curry will host coverage during NBC's primetime.
Al Gore And NBC: Birds Of A Feather. Was what Al Gore called "the largest global entertainment event in all of human history" also the largest in-kind political contribution? And where's the Fairness Doctrine when you need it?
Planet of the Apes Redux: Are Darwin and God mutually exclusive? Like little boys called to the front of the class for public humiliation, Huckabee, Tancredo and Brownback immediately became targets of ridicule by the educated elite who, though Darwinists all, were presented with a contradiction: If Darwin was right, how did these knuckle-draggers make it to the presidential campaign podium?
Poor Planned Parenthood? As much as liberals decry major corporations that act as if they're above the law, there's always quiet when the subject is Planned Parenthood, America's No. 1 corporate provider of abortions. … This is one corporation the media hold in the highest regard. They're not "merchants of death." That would be the tobacco companies, or gun manufacturers, or hamburger joints. These are the heroic "providers" of "a woman's right to choose."
Undercover double standards. Where are the muckraking champions when you need them? Intrepid Lila Rose has learned the hard way: Not all undercover journalists are equal.
John Edwards Charged $55,000 to Speak About Poverty, Media Mum. If a Republican presidential candidate like Rudy Giuliani or John McCain charged a $55,000 fee to speak at a major university about poverty, would the media be all over it like white on rice?
A Mormon first? For once, the media aren't so thrilled by a "first." Usually being the first African-American, woman, Latino or anything else to run for a major office gives a campaign a frisson of excitement in the press. Such pioneering campaigns are said to hold important lessons about the tolerance of the American public. But former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney represents the first "first" that has elicited a lukewarm reaction from the media.
Scant Coverage of Brutal Crime Called 'Journalistic Malpractice'. The national news media demonstrates a double standard in covering "hate crimes," as evidenced by the lack of attention given to the murder of a white couple in Tennessee last January, a conservative columnist charged on Monday. However, a media analyst responded that a crime is not necessarily a hate crime simply because the victims are white and those accused of perpetrating it are black.
Falwell gone, evangelical movement alive and well. The Rev. Jerry Falwell's passing seems to have traumatized the mainstream liberal press. Absent in its coverage of the event is even the normal pretense of objectivity. … According to Time and others, the edge is disappearing and more evangelicals are buying into the so-called "progressive" agenda. Now remember that "progressive" is today's code word for "liberal." Suggesting that this increasingly defines today's evangelicals tells us more about the wishful hallucinations of left-wing journalists than reality.
Why Are They Lying About Ron Paul? In a desperate attempt to make Rudy Giuliani out to be the hero of Tuesday night's debate, Fox News is continuing to attack Texas Congressman Ron Paul for something he did not say. In the latest installment of this campaign, John Gibson of Fox News says that Paul "suggested that the U.S. actually had a hand in the [9/11] terrorist attacks." No, what he said was that U.S. foreign policy was a reason why Osama bin Laden attacked America. This is a fact.
Liberals demean blacks again. The recent release of census figures divided by race, with the eye-catching datum that 100 million Americans now are racial "minorities", has revealed a host of assumptions on the part of liberal journalists. … But a new mental habit by the so-called progressives is emerging that is even more noteworthy: the treatment of blacks as some sort of endangered species in various cities.
Hillary's Shill At CBS: With Rather's retirement last year, CBS Evening News lost its big Clinton fan to sit in front of the cameras. With former first lady Hillary now running for president, however, the network has decided to place one behind the cameras instead as executive producer. … CBS "Evening News" has become third in the network ratings since infotainer Katie Couric arrived as hostess. For some reason, CBS thinks having a bosom buddy of the Clintons turn it into a nightly commercial for Hillary's presidential campaign is the solution.
ABC Gushes: Clintons Are 'Masters at Turning Bad News Into Good'. In early October, ABC reporter Kate Snow sprang to the defense of Senator Hillary Clinton's much maligned laugh. On Thursday's Good Morning America [10/25/2007], the correspondent marveled over Bill Clinton's successes and also how his wife is able to make turning 60-years-old a good thing. While an ABC graphic wondered if the Democratic power couple are "masters of spin," Snow gushed: "The Clintons have always been masters at turning bad news into good."
Media Are Key to Hillary Victory. Another Hillary Clinton connection to the phony media "watchdog" group Media Matters has surfaced. Susie Tompkins Buell, a major fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, put $300,000 into the group through her Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation. Interestingly, while Tompkins Buell was swelling the bank account of Media Matters, which largely functions as a Hillary Clinton front group, her foundation was also putting $100,000 into The White House Project, an organization dedicated to promoting the election of a woman to the U.S. presidency. And we all know who that is.
All quiet on Hillary's plantation. With [Al] Sharpton proudly looking on, [Hillary Rodham Clinton] threw the race card on the table with a big, noisy thwack. "When you look at the way the House of Representatives has been run, it has been run like a plantation, and you know what I'm talking about." … Had Trent Lott uttered those words last week about Democrats, today he'd be unhappily retired in Mississippi. But it was Hillary attacking Republicans, so the news coverage was very, very different.
Humanizing Hillary, Canonizing Chelsea. Reporters are tripping over themselves to convince us how likable and human [Hillary Clinton] is — strong and yet nurturing. It's the same playbook the media used for Al Gore and John Kerry, both just as stiff, robotic and unlikable then as Hillary is now. So they're portraying Hillary not only as strong and invincible, but also as warm as a down comforter and as sweet as Mrs. Butterworth.
Bus story cries out for some perspective. It seems a white guy was attacked by a group of black people on a bus in Wauwatosa two weeks ago. The Wauwatosa police decided to seek charges including a hate-crime enhancer against one suspect because most of the people on the bus were African-American and someone reportedly used a racial slur. Some folks have jumped on the Great Bus Hate Crime story as the latest example of rampant black-against-white hate crime in Milwaukee that goes largely unreported because of liberal media bias.
There's more to be said about Hate Crimes.
Superior Stem Cells Shunned By Media. Each year there are stunning breakthroughs with adult stem cells, and 2007 has already brought its first. Adult stem cells cure and treat more than 70 diseases and are involved in almost 1,300 human clinical trials. Scientists also keep discovering that adult stem cells are capable of creating a wider variety of mature cells. ... This has caused great consternation on the part of those seeking increased taxpayer embryonic stem cell funds. The reason is that there are currently no practical applications for this type of cell.
Culture of lying: This saga is important for a number of reasons. ... It again exposed an unholy alliance between liberal politicians and the leftist big media who are quick to attack someone whose policies and party they don't like, but rarely correct errors of their own making, or investigate bogus charges when they help the policies and party the media prefer.
BBC pays £200,000 to 'cover up report on anti-Israel bias'. The BBC has been accused of "shameful hypocrisy" over its decision to spend £200,000 blocking a freedom of information request about its reporting in the Middle East.
40th Anniversary of Liberty Attack. This past June 8 marked the 40th anniversary of the attack on the USS Liberty by the air and naval forces of the state of Israel, resulting in the deaths of 34 American servicemen and a cover-up that has been maintained throughout the entire period. In remembrance of the day that — for many — will always be a day that will live in infamy, the Liberty Veterans Association (LVA) organized a reunion that included several ceremonies marking the event.
Why Roe vs. Wade is Losing Ground: Did you notice the decrease in news coverage of this year's March for Life in Washington DC last week? I tuned in to local and cable channels every day looking for news on the March for Life events I knew were being held in the nation's capitol for the 34th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. But I could find little coverage. The same thing was true for print news. Why? Because of the mainstream media's liberal bias, many would say. And I would agree with that.
NBC and the Cancer Vaccine that Isn't. Even in the title of the story, "Cancer Vaccine Controversy," NBC gets it wrong. Gardasil is a vaccine for HPV, not cancer, though HPV is one of the leading causes of cervical cancer. But NBC used the words "cancer" and "cervical cancer" six times in just under two minutes. Conversely the words "sexually transmitted virus" and "promiscuity" were only used one time each.
ABC World News Uses Scary Footage to Push Hate Crimes Bill. Want to use a news story to influence a House vote on a hate crimes bill? On the eve of the vote, lead with a close-up of skinheads presenting a Nazi salute. Run some scary shots of the Ku Klux Klan. It's a visceral, one-two punch. You don't need to mention any legislation; you just need to paint a picture of out-of-control hate in need of a government solution. That's just the manipulative trick that ABC News' World News with Charles Gibson played during its May 2 broadcast.
Media's Warning This Memorial Day: Step Away from the Grill. Journalists constantly attack the foods Americans eat and the companies that make them … Reporters hype food dangers, complaining about the obesity "epidemic" and bringing on "consumer" experts who try to scare viewers from eating just about everything. They also rarely include any comments from the very companies or industries they attack.
CBS doesn't air special report on President Ford. Unlike its network rivals, CBS News did not break into its programming for a special report on former President Ford's death, instead running a printed "crawl" at the bottom of the screen with the news.
Gerald Ford and Media Historians: The passing of President Gerald Ford drew a dignified, even warm farewell from the national press. There was near-consensus that he would be remembered for his decency and the risk he took, pardoning Richard Nixon from Watergate prosecutions in an effort to heal the nation. It is proper that the press is kind today. It ought to be remembered, however, that the press was not of this opinion when Ford took office.
Media erroneously label Ford as oaf-in-chief. Republican leaders get pigeon-holed by Washington's liberal media establishment as either evil schemers (Nixon, Gingrich) or idiot bumblers (Reagan, Bush 43). Gerald Ford got the idiot moniker, to the ever-grateful cartoonist community — but it was an unlikely label for the ex-college football star.
Bush's 'Omission' of Katrina Treated as Scandalous. A night after CNN anchors fretted about how Katrina and the recovering Gulf region were "thunderously missing" from President Bush's State of the Union address, CBS and NBC picked up the cause.
Bob Schieffer Plays Patty-Cake With Ray Nagin on "Face the Nation". There was nothing, first and foremost on the journalist's plate, about Nagin's wild exaggerations about a death toll of 10,000 and the rampant rape and murder he and his top cops gave to the national media. There was no question asking Nagin about his utter failure to order a mandatory evacuation until the last minute. There was no question asking Nagin about his failure to evacuate citizens by city bus or Amtrak train. There was no question asking Nagin about race-baiting and finger-pointing at FEMA and Team Bush.
Importing Socialists: It's funny how the conclusion of an election can completely alter media reportage. The day after the Democrat Public Relations Arm (DPRA) — euphemistically known as the "mainstream media" — got its party elected, they actually started broaching a couple of real issues. Such as amnesty for illegal aliens. … Why wasn't the DPRA telling you about this before the election? … If you look at the groups that constitute 85 percent of legal immigrants and virtually all illegal ones — those of Third World ancestry — you'll see that they supported the DPRA's candidates by overwhelming margins.
'GMA' Discourages Enforcement of Immigration Laws. The shortage of labor has some low-skill employers in a bind. According to "Good Morning America" co-host Diane Sawyer, you can thank U.S. immigration officials for doing their job and cracking down on illegal border crossers.
The Media's Double Standard on Race. In November 2005, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) had the audacity to hold a fundraiser for her Democratic colleague Sen. Robert Byrd — a former member of the Ku Klux Klan and a stalwart opponent of landmark civil rights legislation — at the home of civil rights pioneer Frederick Douglas. Suffice it to say, had Clinton and Byrd had an "R" next to their names, it's likely that this act of very questionable judgment would not have been ignored by the mainstream media.
Media Gaga For ObamaRama. In order to squeeze out every last possible drop of free publicity, Obama noted that his formal declaration of running will not come until Feb. 10, in Springfield, Ill., home of Abraham Lincoln. Everyone plays up the impending rivalry between the two candidates everyone assumes as frontrunners — Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.
CNN's Roberts: Obama's $162,100 Senate salary 'modest'. Only a network anchor could think that earning nearly four times the median household income is "modest." That was CNN "American Morning" anchor John Roberts' take on Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) annual salary of $162,100. He also called the Obama family incomes of "$470,000 up to $1.4 million" "pretty modest" during the May 17 report. Roberts used the word "modest" three different times to depict some part of Obama's financial life.
CNN Disguises Left-Wing Activist as Everyday Mom. On Thursday's American Morning [12/21/2006], CNN correspondent Dan Lothian reported on the controversy over a new Christian video game that, according to co-host Soledad O'Brien, "critics say" encourages "hate and religious intolerance." Who are these critics? Well, if you believe CNN, they are simply parents and concerned citizens. In reality, the experts are actually committed left-wing activists.
Target-Rich Environment: As we launch our Conservative Renaissance, we are blessed. By the Democrats and their media masterminds. By doing what comes naturally (and compulsively) they refuel our engines and goad our pit crews and drivers to greater speeds. The 527 Media won't let the libs pretend to be moderates, and the environment created by their internal conflicts will be one in which the Conservative Coalition can regain itself. We should thank them. For starters, thank you, New York Times.
Dirty Trick from the New York Times. In a last-minute dirty trick before the election, The New York Times took a story and twisted it in such a way as to damage the Bush Administration. This will go down as a case study of media bias intended to sway votes.
Bergergate, &c. Call me a right-wing paranoid — it's been done before! — but I think that, if Sandy Berger were a conservative Republican, the story of his criminality would be a really, really big deal. Bear in mind that the man was national security adviser. … If Berger were a Republican, the word "Nixonian" would be making a big, big comeback — at a minimum.
The media's dark role: Nov. 7 needs to be remembered for something even Republicans don't have the stomach to address at the moment: that the remnants of objectivity in the mainstream media were all but exterminated by some on the left. A chilling and ominous development that played some role in the Democratic wave that is still splashing around the red states. Make no mistake. Along with the multitude of Republican gaffes, and the hard work of the Democrats, there can be no doubt that the left-of-center mainstream media helped to manufacture this election victory for the Democratic Party.
Meredith Vieira Bemoans 'Same Old President Bush'. The longer President Bush refuses to completely accept the Iraq Study Group's recommendations the more irked NBC's Tim Russert and Meredith Vieira seem to get.
Disgraceful Media Coverage of Sen. Tim Johnson's Medical Condition: Ladies and Gentlemen, let's drop the partisanship for a second and recognize that the media coverage of Sen. Tim Johnson's (D-SD) sudden illness has been nothing but disgraceful.
ABC's Joy Behar Wonders If Sen. Johnson's Illness Is a Republican Conspiracy. Well, it certainly didn't take long for a member of the media to suggest that there's some kind of conspiracy involved with Sen. Tim Johnson's (D-SD) medical condition. On Thursday's "The View," co-host Joy Behar questioned, "Is there such a thing as a man made stroke? In other words, did someone do this to him?"
Murtha Scandal Time Arrives. The oohs and aahs began last November. "All of Washington listened," announced CBS's Bob Schieffer, since "on military matters, no Democrat in Congress is more influential." Murtha's words "followed President Bush halfway around the world," boasted NBC anchor Brian Williams. CNN's Bill Schneider declared Murtha's withdrawal mantra as the "Political Play of the Week," suggesting it might turn out to be a tipping point just as delicious as Walter Cronkite's call to get out of a "stalemate" in Vietnam.
Schieffer Forwards Canard about McCain. CBS's Bob Schieffer, on Sunday's Face the Nation, resurrected the media canard that John McCain's support of the Iraq war is what cost him the frontrunner status in the Republican presidential contest.
Time's insular take on Hillary: Hillary Rodham Clinton is featured in a flattering black-and-white photo on the cover of Time magazine this week — the 10th cover story for Hillary Clinton since she appeared on the national scene hitched to Bill Clinton's wagon in 1992. … If you think the whole thing reads like an internal memo at a Democratic club, you're not mistaken. In more than 4,000 words, there's not a single conservative or Republican detractor — not one — quoted.
Hillary may have to hide her brothers. Mrs. Clinton's brothers may yet play a role in her pursuit of the presidency. And she is indeed already in pursuit, if Time magazine's cover article this week is to be believed. … Time magazine wants to help. This is the tenth Time cover she's been on. Even Princess Diana didn't receive such royal treatment.
Jonah Goldberg's Column Is Curiously Redacted. What this newspaper did to Goldberg's column in the editing process is a case study in how editorial people omit cogent information that might clash with their own political views. Another reason, if one were to speculate on why the clever editing, is that liberal gatekeepers seek to protect their fellow liberals, and their megaphone, mainstream media, from bright, coherent conservative criticism.
Journalistic hysteria, Year 19. Each year for the past 19, I've served as a judge for the Media Research Center's awards for the year's worst journalistic outbursts. The winners will be announced later this month, and on my ballot MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Newsweek's Eleanor Clift are two of the leading candidates. Olbermann said on Sept. 11, at the site of the World Trade Center, "Who has left this hole in the ground? We have not forgotten, Mr. President. You have. May this country forgive you."
The Truth, John Kerry, and The New York Times. Now as then, the New York Times acts as if the issues involved were between Kerry's latest representations of his record and the "unsubstantiated" charges of the Swift Boat group. The Times used the term "unsubstantiated" more than twenty times during its election coverage and continues to make no discernable effort to examine any of the charges in detail.
Under the Influence of Liberalism. I find it interesting that, in today's maniacal media world, conservatives are taken to task for every syllable they utter, but liberals are given a pass. A GOP gaffe will be replayed ad nauseam on news broadcasts, news magazine programs, and comedy shows. Then, it may get a second round of play on liberal talk radio and ripped-from-the-headlines TV dramas. But when a liberal makes a rhetorical blunder, he or she is excused because, after all, he or she really didn't mean to say it. The guilty party is too erudite or too compassionate for the remark to be taken at face-value.
Democratic Win "A Good Thing". The media pour on the bias during the last days of Campaign '06: ABC's Sam Donaldson says he expects victorious Democrats to "delve into every nook and cranny of the Republican administration for the last six years. … It's a good thing," while Time's Joe Klein embarrassingly gushes over liberal Senator Barack Obama, writing that "Obama seemed the political equivalent of a rainbow — a sudden preternatural event inspiring awe and ecstasy."
Time Magazine Gets Caught Lying. Would an editor who had never visited the scene of a photograph deliberately contradict the photographer's account of events? Is it possible that someone would change a caption that ends up incorrectly describing what took place? Moreover, would a prominent media outlet accept the claims of a terrorist organization over that of its own photographer?
Judge's order reveals FEMA aid shortcomings. Those still receiving aid were most dependent before Katrina, mostly single mothers on welfare, while the rest are back on their feet, said Ronald D. Utt, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. … "A lot of people have simply found it easier to stay where they are, which are probably places of greater opportunity than New Orleans."
The Editor says...
The story above is loaded with political bias: The question is whether FEMA is dishing out taxpayers' money fast enough, to people who have no intention of paying it back. On one side of the argument, the article cites "anti-poverty advocates", and on the other side are "Bush administration defenders" at "a conservative think-tank". As if the conservatives are in favor of poverty.
CBS Spins Good News into Bad to Influence Voters. This is typical of how the liberal media operate, especially going into an election. They take extremely good news — unemployment at a low national rate of 4.4% — and focus on one angle of the story that can be spun in a negative way, in this case, the conditions of minimum wage workers.
Washington Post Ignores Canadian Censorship In "War on Christians" Reporting. Both Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank and religion reporter Alan Cooperman covered the "War on Christians" conference Tuesday [3/28/2006], but neither touched on one trend in Canada that American evangelicals are warning against: "hate crime" laws that make speech condemning homosexuality illegal.
The barrier method works. A Monday story by the Reuters news service should be required reading for anyone opposed to illegal immigration: "Experts see U.S. border fence plan as impractical" is a stunning example of the intellectual dishonesty of Big Media and apologists for illegal aliens. And surely the most stunning, how oblivious both seem to be about it.
New Study: TV Networks Have Pounded Bush for Five Years. For nearly all of his presidency, George W. Bush has been on the receiving end of mainly negative — sometimes highly negative — coverage from the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts, according to a new report from the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA), a nonpartisan research group.
Bush Exposes Liberal Bias of NBC's Lauer. On NBC's Today, co-host Matt Lauer pushed President Bush about Iraq with loaded questions and, as a result, allowed the President to expose Lauer's liberal bias as a journalist.
Anti-War Marcher Vieira Joins NBC's Today. On Wednesday, Meredith Vieira will replace Katie Couric as co-host of NBC's Today show. In 2004, Vieira declared that the "entire pretext for war" was "built on lies" and she marched in an anti-war protest.
Media Should Go After Criminals. In my opinion, some of the best shows on television involve hunting down criminals. "America's Most Wanted" on Fox led the way. But [Howard] Kurtz, on his CNN "Reliable Sources" show, asked, "Should NBC be cooperating so closely with law enforcement?" What followed was a discussion, not a debate, in which all three panelists … found fault with what NBC was doing.
$2 Trillion on Foreign Aid. "After fifty years and more than $2 trillion in aid, the West has strikingly little to show for its efforts in alleviating poverty." This was the blurb advertising an April 25 event at the American Enterprise Institute entitled, "Why Foreign Aid Has Failed-And How to Fix It." However, the Los Angeles Times on April 13 ran an editorial accusing the U.S. of being stingy in dispersing foreign aid. For the Times, $2 trillion still isn't enough.
Meredith Vieira, anchor/protester. Meredith Vieira came on the air on August 30, 2004, the Monday of the Republican convention, and declared — no, boasted — she had marched in an anti-Bush, anti-war protest in New York, a protest designed to ruin any political benefit for the GOP. NBC News is now hiring her to replace Katie Couric as co-host of "Today," and NBC's going to hand her an eight-figure salary each year to bring her leftist biases along with her, replacing Katie in more ways than one.
CNN Promotes Bush Assassination Flick — for Free. CNN's American Morning devoted four minutes of air time, and free advertising, to a faux documentary that includes a digitally created assassination of George W. Bush. The network, which has refused to air commercials for the controversial Death of a President movie, instead featured the film's director on the Friday edition of its morning show.
Falun Gong Protester: CNN Censored Me. The Falun Gong protester whose shrill outcries disrupted President Bush's White House reception for Communist China's leader Hu Jintao said Thursday [5/4/2006] that she was told not to discuss Beijing's gruesome practice of organ harvesting during a recent TV interview because it would disturb viewers during the dinner hour.
Hillary's political faith and the press. Can someone please explain why Hillary and Bill Clinton always get a pass from the secular left when they invoke God in their public discourse? Why is Dan Quayle ridiculed for championing family values while Hillary is glorified as a dutiful disciple of evangelist John Wesley? … Aren't we witnessing a glaring double standard here? When the Clintons brandish the Bible, where is Maureen Dowd to warn of an impending theocracy?
Dictator's Anti-Americanism Neglected by Media, Study Says. Higher oil prices generate more media attacks on oil companies and their executives, but the anti-American behavior and alleged human rights violations of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez receive much less critical coverage from network news, according to a free market group dedicated to challenging media misconceptions about free enterprise.
A Thieving Dictator Only U.S. Media Could Love. Despite his threat to American business interests, Hugo Chavez is still the 'friendly' darling of the network news.
Pro-military mom silenced by mainstream media. A grieving mother of a soldier killed in Iraq wants to voice her opinion. She has a message about the war in Iraq and feels the American people need to hear what she has to say. … Her message is exactly opposite of the over-exposed message of the well-known protesting mom.
Character assassination, media-style. Gasoline prices are rising, which means it's time for a new round of hysterical media stories about that dastardly oil industry, its obscene profits, and its nefarious ways. Now the media are at it again, but with a different target. They've turned their guns on Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens.
Black History Month — and the Black Heroes it Ignores. Malcolm X didn't mince words. "I'm not an American!" he sputtered, "America is a nightmare! America practices slavery! The white man is the common enemy!" Naturally, Time Magazine heralded him during Black History Month.
Matt Lauer sets his audience up for ignorance. The mainstream media positioned this story as a teacher who was disciplined, because, after listening to the president's State of the Union speech, he said Bush sounds a lot like Hitler. Unfortunately, the mainstream media failed to report the fact that on February 1st, while addressing his high school geography class, Jay Bennish sounded a lot like Osama Bin Laden.
More about the Jay Bennish incident can be found here.
Will the Miracle Baby Change the Abortion Debate? Is "Hurricane Amillia" about to blow the abortion village down? Not if the media can help it. ... ABC World News Tonight was the only broadcast news outlet to make the connection between Amillia's gestational age and laws governing abortion. The vast majority of the 21 broadcast stories that ran about Amillia last week merely dealt with the baby's homecoming.
CNN Analyst Won't Say "Partial Birth Abortion". On the February 21 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, substitute host John King discussed the issue with legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. The term "partial birth" was referred to only twice in the segment by King, who made sure to note that it was a term used by "critics" of the procedure.
Media Myths and examples of bias in the coverage of the abortion issue.
Abortion Rates Drop, Bias Doesn't. In reporting the good — nay GREAT — news that the number of abortions performed annually has continued to decline in America, The Washington Post couldn't refrain from infusing the Page One story with liberal bias. Reporter Rob Stein put the statistics up front in the story (the abortion rate dropped 9 percent from 2000 to 2005, and hit the lowest absolute number since 1976), before mentioning that the numbers come from the Guttmacher Institute. He failed to report that institute is a research arm of Planned Parenthood and an abortion rights advocate.
Wal-Mart: Always Under Attack. Always. When journalists start referring to "the retailing behemoth," a "giant" or a business that "destroys other companies," it's time for another Wal-Mart story.
An imperial presidency? You have to wonder where the likes of Jonathan Alter were when Bill Clinton openly flouted the rule of law. Was he not seeking to become a law unto himself? How about Hillary's penchant for secrecy and her frequent flights from accountability? What about Bill's "unilateral" bombings of Iraq and Serbia? No, it's not expansions of executive power that bother the left, but when they occur under a Republican presidency.
The tennis tempest at ABC: The subject was the ethics of judicial travel. As investigative reporter Brian Ross explained in the middle of the piece, "Justices at all ends of the political spectrum take plenty of these trips to lots of nice places, all paid for by somebody else." But this was no expose on justices "at all ends of the political spectrum." It was a shameless hit piece on conservatives, complete with hidden-camera cheap shots.
Probing ABC's Scalia probe: There's no shortage of historic and gripping Supreme Court stories for journalists to report on these days. Why, then, does ABC News' "Nightline" care where Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was the night Chief Justice John Roberts was sworn in? It cares because it mistakenly thinks it has caught him in a "judicial junket."
MRC Study: Evening News Shows Claim NSA Spies on "Americans," Not "Terrorists". Over at www.mrc.org, we've just posted a new study of how ABC, CBS and NBC have covered the NSA surveillance story. It's just as awful as you expected — most network stories were framed around the idea that the program is probably illegal and a shocking violation of Americans' civil liberties.
Sometimes in Polling, It's All in the Question. What does the public think about the Bush administration's wiretapping program? It depends on how you ask the question. A half dozen polls on the issue have turned up different conclusions, and a key distinction appears to be the way pollsters identify the people who might have their emails and phone calls monitored as part of an effort to fight terrorism. Recent poll questions have referred to "suspected terrorists," "people in the United States" and "American citizens."
More information about domestic spying can be found here.
"Today" show's Lauer calls Alito "ultra-conservative". If Lauer calls Alito an "ultra-conservative," does he ever use the term "ultra-liberal"? The liberal ADA — Americans For Democratic Action — scores members of Congress from 0 to 100, with 100 meaning most liberal. … Under the ADA rating, for example, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., receives an ADA rating of 100; Sen. Kennedy scores a 100; and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., rates a 100. Would Lauer refer to them as "ultra-liberals"?
Media Swallows Kennedys' Arrogant Presumption. Are we done worshipping the Kennedys yet? And what do you mean by "we"? That was quite a spectacle — the commentariat gushing superlatives over the alleged power of Ted and Caroline to deliver liberals to Barack Obama. Half the electorate wasn't even born when the sainted John F. Kennedy was assassinated — and few have any idea who Ethel is. Though the Kennedy brand is in steep decline, the wave of conformist opinion still thinks this endorsement is very big.
The Editor says...
Mary Jo Kopechne is unavailable for comment. If Ted Kennedy was a man of integrity, he would have resigned from the Senate in 1969.
MRSA Outbreak Among 'Gays' — Let the Whitewash Begin. You can't help but feel a little sorry for Amanda Beck. She's a reporter from Reuters who was among the first to cover a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, which warns about an outbreak of a virulent, drug-resistant, and potentially deadly strain of Staph infection afflicting certain segments of the homosexual community. … Here's where Amanda went wrong. She objectively provided scientific information to the public which cast "high risk" homosexual conduct in a negative light.
The Gay Propaganda Machine: In a blatant violation of journalistic ethics, Time magazine assigned a homosexual reporter, John Cloud, to write the recent Time cover story on homosexual teenagers but did not disclose his conflict of interest to its readers.
Homosexuals in the military: It seems virtually every story written or soundbite uttered involves supporting the ability of homosexual men and women to serve openly in the armed services, but remarkably few discuss the alternative point of view. Such an important issue ought not be decided based on such an out-of-balance ratio.
New Anchor's Record of Liberal Advocacy: Tomorrow, Ted Koppel signs off after 25 years as Nightline anchor. … But while the characters change, expect the spin to remain the same.
ABC promotes George Stephanopoulos. ABC News has appointed "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos as its chief Washington correspondent, adding duties to his weekly job at the helm of the Sunday morning political talk show. [Mr. Stephanopoulos was an adviser to President Clinton before joining ABC News.]
Old Media News In The Tank. Chris Matthews was a speech writer for Jimmy Carter and, later, a top aide to Tip O'Neill. Brian Williams dropped out of college to become an intern in the Carter administration. George Stephanopoulos was Bill Clinton's communications director. When they put together a "roundtable" it tends to resemble a groupthink séance.
TV Station Apologizes to Schwarzenegger. A television station apologized to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday [11/04/2005] after discovering that several Democratic activists were in its audience for a voter forum. … The Republican governor was peppered with questions with a partisan slant during Thursday's broadcast, and at one point a man in the audience tried to shout him down.
[Liberals are apparently unable to engage in a rational debate. When they begin to lose an argument, they just start shouting.]
They're Terrorists. "I know it when I see it" was the famous response by a U.S. Supreme Court justice to the vexed problem of defining pornography. Terrorism may be no less difficult to define, but the wanton killing of schoolchildren, of mourners at a funeral, or workers at their desks in skyscrapers surely fits the know-it-when-I-see-it definition. The media, however, generally shies away from the word terrorist, preferring euphemisms.
CNN: 'Be nice to Fidel'. So how does an American news giant tell its on air talent to handle Fidel Castro's resignation? By glossing over the truth of the tyrant's reign and pimping "social progress" under his brutal regime: In a memo to CNN anchors, CNN brass laid down the line that should be taken when talking about the resignation.
The U.S. Media's Decades of Cheering Castro's Communism: Castro's communist regime has executed hundreds of political opponents and driven tens of thousands more into exile; hundreds of dissidents today languish in Cuban prisons. ... Yet liberals in the U.S. media — who have rightly condemned such abuses when perpetrated by dictators such as Chile's Augusto Pinochet — inexplicably remain enchanted with Castro and his socialist revolution. For more than half a century, positive profiles of Castro have appeared in U.S. papers.
CBS Comes to Castro's Aid. CBS's 60 Minutes has run a segment on Elian Gonzalez, five years after the Clinton administration sent him back to the communist prison island. He had come to America as a refugee, without his father, who was back in Cuba and under pressure from the communist regime to demand him back. The Clinton administration complied, seizing the little boy at the point of a gun. It made a mockery of America's reputation as a free society open to refugees fleeing persecution.
Nets Obscure Earle's Partisan Affiliation; CBS Didn't With Starr. The CBS Evening News, which described Ken Starr as the "Republican" independent counsel, on Wednesday night [9/28/2005] went out of its way to avoid alerting viewers to how Ronnie Earle, the Texas county prosecutor behind the indictment of Tom DeLay, is a Democrat. Anchor Bob Schieffer twice described DeLay not by his title as House Majority Leader, but as the "House Republican Leader."
CNN Awards $100,000 To National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association. Pamela Strother, NLGJA Executive Director, said "This unprecedented gift from CNN is a milestone for NLGJA as the largest single gift from a news media company to the organization."
TV's trouble with religion: For an industry that claims to reflect reality, the results are not good. Religion is virtually ignored, and when covered, more often than not it's attacked.
USA Today Caught Altering Condi Photo. USA Today has been caught altering a photograph of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in order to make her look more sinister. … This is another reminder that we must cast a skeptical eye to anything published about conservatives in the national media.
The Democrats' own history with race. For decades, it has been a template of the major media that Republicans are the party of racism. It repeats uncritically any charges of Republican racism, no matter how unfounded. Democrats, on the other hand, are always given a pass whenever they commit racist offenses. Even a cursory review, however, will show that the media template is totally contrary to history.
Pacifist Hatfield supports Iraq war. Last week, former Oregon governor and senator Mark Hatfield, now 82, announced his strong support for the American effort in Iraq.
Firefighters Versus the Media. One of the biggest stories of the presidential campaign is being ignored by the major media. It's how the president of the firefighters union engineered an endorsement of John Kerry for president without asking his members about it. It turns out most of the members of the union are Republicans who support Bush.
There go those "controversial Catholics" again. You'd think Katie Couric would aspire to be an anchorwoman for all the American people now that CBS appears to be wooing her for the Throne of Rather. So why did she have to be so rough on Thomas Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza, for being a Catholic?
Wilson Discredited, Networks Silent. All three of the broadcast networks treated Joe Wilson like a rock star when he was bashing the Bush administration and its case for war against Saddam Hussein. But ABC, CBS and NBC haven't bothered to inform viewers that Friday's [7/9/2004] Senate Intelligence committee report showed how Wilson's own claims were false.
Tit for Tet: Abu Ghraib is the new Tet offensive. By lying about the Tet offensive during the Vietnam War, the media managed to persuade Americans we were losing the war, which demoralized the nation and caused us to lose the war. And people say reporters are lazy.
The Lies of Tet: Media misreporting of Tet passed into our collective memory. That picture gave antiwar activism an unwarranted credibility that persists today in Congress, and in the media reaction to the war in Iraq. The Tet experience provides a narrative model for those who wish to see all U.S. military successes — such as the Petraeus surge — minimized and glossed over. In truth, the war in Vietnam was lost on the propaganda front, in great measure due to the press's pervasive misreporting of the clear U.S. victory at Tet as a defeat.
Media's Selective Outrage, by the Numbers: To the casual observer, the situation in Iraq is bleak, the Iraqi people don't really want democracy, and the only worthwhile story is the brutality and intimidation of Iraqi prisoners. To the "casual observer" of the mainstream media, that is.
Judging from Iraq, the United Nations is no solution. Media pundits can't understand why all the negative news coming out of Iraq doesn't produce poll results that show Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., defeating President George W. Bush. That's probably because Kerry's solution to the Iraq problem is to turn over its management to the United Nations.
The news media and Nick Berg: For those who still doubt that ideology guides most of the world's major news media, the reporting of the Islamic ritual murder of Nick Berg provided textbook examples of an almost universally leftist bias. News media have essentially become propaganda organs for anti-Americanism.
Beirut, Waco or Oklahoma City? Tom Brokaw called the event "an evil act". But Tom never even suggested that there were evil actions of government in Waco.
Painfully unaware: Fetal-pain expert testifies on the "excruciating" partial-birth procedure as the government defends its ban against the industry's lawsuit. But as the trial produces sensational testimony, the courtroom remains virtually journalist-free.
Criminalizing business: part II. A recent column in the San Francisco Chronicle vividly illustrates the anti-business mindset of many Californians. It dealt with the fact that Wal-Mart lost a referendum to allow the retailer to put a store in Inglewood, California. According to the Chronicle columnist, Wal-Mart was "trying to bully its way into another targeted community." Putting an issue to a vote is called "bullying" when business does it, and the community where it wants to locate is called a "target."
USA Today's Deceptive Backgrounder. The online resource distorts fundamental historical events essential to understanding the day-to-day news.
Could you repeat that, please? After waiting months to question President Bush at a full-dress press conference, why did these reporters get up one after another and ask the same question?
Bait-and-switch media: My first inkling of how fundamentally ill-informed some of even the big names on television are came back in 1981, when I was interviewed on "Meet the Press." Back in those days, the interviews were done by a panel of reporters. Their questions and comments revealed incredible ignorance. The reporters in turn were incredulous when I said that Social Security was financially unsound. Now, 23 years later, everybody knows that.
New York Times' Bush Smear Campaign: On Saturday [4/10/2004], the New York Times — adhering to the P.T. Barnum school of journalism — screamed on its front page that President Bush was warned "that supporters of Osama bin Laden planned an attack within the United States with explosives and wanted to hijack airplanes."
Spain: a media flip-flop. Don't think that presidential candidates are the only political players who can be accused of flip-flops. Take a look at how the media elite have spun the election in Spain.
Tenet Says No Improper Influence, CBS Ignores It. CIA Director George Tenet specifically denied that the Bush administration improperly influenced intelligence on Iraq in a speech at Georgetown University. CBS News ignored the comments but ABC, NBC and Fox News all reported them.
Move on? Let's not. The radical haters at MoveOn.Org have used their Internet space to show ads comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler, and the media, so quick to condemn any negative ads produced by Republicans, are giving them a free ride.
The Playboy philosophy at 50: For the past weeks, the media have been gaga over the 50th anniversary of Playboy magazine and the "Playboy philosophy," whose guru, Hugh Hefner, began to mainstream pornography and de-couple sex from a committed marital relationship.
The Truth and Mr. and Ms. Clinton: Does the media treatment of former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton suggest a bias? Please, let us not engage in reckless, unfair, and cynical speculation.
First kids: The mainstream media chooses to portray our country's First Children either negatively or positively, depending on the political party of their parents, the President and First Lady.
Something Fishy at AFP: An AFP photographer uses a wide-angle lens to exaggerate his picture, and the AFP caption omits essential context.
CNN planted question at debate, student says. While covering a debate of Democratic presidential candidates, CNN planted a question in order to make the debate appear more "lighthearted."
Sponsor Pulls Ad from CBS News After Homeschoolers' Complaints. At least one sponsor temporarily withdrew advertising from the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, after advocates of homeschooling complained about last week's two-part report on the "dark side" of the "largely unregulated" home school movement.
Media reporting from Iraq is one-sided and flawed. If you rely on newspapers and TV networks for your news, chances are you have no idea that the controversial performance of Western reporters in Iraq is emerging as a big issue. The mainstream media have virtually ignored the stunning charges made by John Burns, the New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter.
True Grit: A man named Greg Packer "...is apparently the entire media's designated "man on the street" for all articles ever written. He has appeared in news stories more than 100 times as a random member of the public."
Greg Packer Is the 'Man on the Street'. While Packer says "honesty is very important to me," he does admit that about 5% of the time, "I'm making stuff up to get in the paper." A Boston newspaper, for example, quoted him as saying he had a ticket for the 1999 baseball All-Star Game there when he really didn't. "At times the media can be gullible, but they have to take people at their word," he explains.
Related article:
The Times' Designated Man in the Street: When the New York Times needs to find a man in the street to interview they never have to look very far - they have one on tap suitable for every occasion.
Katie Couric: "Hopefully" Saddam Made It to Syria: Is perky "Today" show host Katie Couric actually rooting for Saddam Hussein to survive the U.S. military's repeated attempts to take him out?
CNN Exec Admits Covering Up "Maniac" Saddam's Atrocities: Here's another fascinating item we'll dedicate to Jacques Chirac, Nancy Pelosi and the other humiliated appeasement activists: A CNN big is admitting his network covered up the atrocities of Saddam Hussein.
A Double Standard at CNN: The double standard at CNN is: when those on the right do something it is fishy and needs an expose. When the same thing is done on the left, it is just "the given."
The Castro News Network: To many Cuban Americans, CNN is the "Castro News Network" - an organization that lends legitimacy to a corrupt regime and sneers at the exile community in Miami.
Fidel Castro's Dupes: In Castro's Cuba, it is a crime to meet to discuss the economy, to write letters to the government, to report on political developments, to speak to international reporters, to advocate human rights, to visit friends or relatives outside your local area of residence without government permission.
Castro's Cult of Sycophants: Celebrities, journalists, and other illuminati have long gushed with admiration for Cuba's communist despot.
Media Mangle: Sometimes the mainstream media gets it so wrong we have to call them on it. (Numerous articles)
Pro-Marxist Slant Pushed at ABC, Retired Correspondent Claims. Having kept quiet for 14 years, a former ABC News correspondent has gone public for the first time with allegations that network anchorman Peter Jennings manipulated news scripts during the 1980s in order to praise the Marxist-backed Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
Let the Recriminations Begin! If the past is any indication, no one on the left is likely to own up to being so horrendously wrong about Operation Iraqi Freedom. That's why it's up those of us who have supported the war all along to point it out for them.
Where Helen Thomas's heart lies: Shame, shame, shame on Helen Thomas. The crusty ex-journalist turned White House heckler had only one thing on her mind when her favorite news stations, al Jazeera and Iraqi state TV, repeatedly broadcast those chilling pictures of scared American POWs and gleeful Iraqi soldiers hovering over dead American soldiers….
Major Media Ignores Polls, Rallies Showing Support for War Effort. Patriotic citizens in the tens of thousands have already attended rallies to support the troops, but the liberal media has demonstrated a preference for ignoring them and instead portraying sparsely attended anti-war rallies as the sentiment of most Americans.
The Viet Cong Admiration Society retreats. As American servicemen swept through Iraq, securing oil fields, rescuing POWs, risking their own lives to protect Iraqi civilians, Peter Arnett went on Iraqi television — the propaganda arm of the enemy — to proclaim that the Americans' "war plan has failed."
Administration adults vs. media snipers: Sorry, but I'm compelled to talk about the media war critics again. I won't quit fairly criticizing them until they quit unfairly and dishonestly criticizing the American war effort.
Time Retracts Anti-Bush Racial Smear: Sorry, Democrats, but your entire platform of racial demagoguery is blowing up in your faces by alienating voters.
How the Liberal Media Are Preparing For the Tax Wars: Despite commentators who have spent the days since November's elections accusing the media of being too conservative (really), there has been no let-up in the establishment media's prevailing liberal bias, especially when it comes to the issue of high taxes. Liberals believe government is an engine for positive social change, so it's always better for bureaucratic do-gooders to have as much money as possible.
Winona and the Wichita massacre: The press seem to be more interested in a rich shoplifter than the mass murders.
The Biased Sniper Aftermath: The suspects — caught with the smoking rifle — were John Muhammad, a 41-year-old black man with affections for the Nation of Islam (not to mention al-Qaeda) and John Lee Malvo, a 17-year-old black male Jamaican in the U.S. illegally. In both print and broadcast, the national media avoided the controversial labels of "Farrakhan fan" and "illegal alien." They were an "Army veteran" and "a teenager," the Gulf War sharpshooter and his Jamaican ward. Most ridiculously, the Miami Herald cast Mr. Muhammad as "an 'all-American' veteran of the Gulf War."
The Rush From Judgment: Like many people, it crossed my mind early in the Beltway Sniper case that this might be a terrorist attack. I reserved judgment, realizing — unlike the armchair experts who flocked to fill airtime on cable news channels -- that I did not know all of the facts available to the police. But the moment I heard the suspect's name, John Muhammad, the conclusion was obvious. These killings were motivated by a version of the same Islamic ideology that has inspired mass murder around the globe.
Fidel, The Dictator-Celebrity: Journalism is never more amoral than when dictators are the mandatory "get" for a news puff piece. For the 40th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the network anchors were all scrambling to get an interview with Fidel Castro, the dictator-celebrity. Which network superstar would get the first opportunity to reward the communists for their exclusive by lauding the achievements of the glorious revolution?
Analysis: Phil Donahue Owes an Apology. As the mysterious sniper was rampaging, Donahue went on his MSNBC program with a look of smugness and glee to say, and I'm paraphrasing, "You're not going to like to hear this, but this is a white guy." (As it turned out, the suspects are black.) Donahue's irresponsible mutterings are racial stereotyping, and that is wrong.
Leftist Media Try to Blame Military for Sniper Suspect: It figures: The left-wing media establishment is downplaying and even ignoring sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad's pro-terrorist sympathies and ties to radical Islam, the anti-American left and Louis Farrakhan — and is trying to blame the U.S. military.
The Media's Messed Up Priorities in News Coverage: On August 12, more than 700 mourners from across the country gathered to mark the tragic murder of Kris Eggle -- a 28-year-old National Park Service ranger who was gunned down near the U.S.-Mexico border last week. Not a single national network or cable news station mentioned the memorial service or the outrageous circumstances of Eggle's death.
A person of interest: The American media functions primarily as a pimp for government. The liberal media will blast conservative Republicans but never the government. …Consequently, every prosecutor with a high-profile case relies on the media to pressure the target into a plea bargain.
Larry Klayman: Bias Exhibit A: Life if full of surprises. Here's one. Who ever imagined that Larry Klayman would be the darling of National Public Radio?
Correction of Errors: It would take a revolution at the New York Times, the Washington Post and the TV networks to get them to tell their readers and viewers that they had deceived them about the dangers of DDT, global warming, nuclear power and the ozone hole.
Special subsection about Vice-President Cheney's hunting accident:
This incident showed the country a great deal about news media priorities, sensationalism and unmitigated political bias.
The people in the Washington news media are not accustomed to being ignored. They can't stand being left in the dark, even for a few hours, when something happens that falls into the scope of their supposed "right to know". They also don't understand how responsible adults can spend the day using shotguns to kill birds as a means of social interaction. That's why this story raised such a furor in the media, and why the media insists on passing the furor on to you.
Why weren't we informed? Isn't it obvious? One particularly eager journalist asked, "Under Texas law, is this kind of accidental shooting a possible criminal offense?" The transcript does not indicate whether he was rubbing his hands together at the time.
Why did Cheney go to the Fox network? This incident became a perfect storm for all that the mainstream media dislikes about the Bush administration — tax cuts, the war, his alleged secrecy, tax cuts, Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, the Katrina response, tax cuts, Justices Alito and Roberts, his home state of Texas (where they have the death penalty), tax cuts, his walk, his pronunciation of the word "nuclear," and tax cuts.
Cast of Characters: Part IV. Remember how the media carried on for weeks about Vice President Cheney's hunting accident? How a Time magazine reporter had a temper tantrum at a White House press briefing because the news wasn't released soon enough — as if this hunting accident had any significance for the nation, beyond those in the media who were frustrated at being deprived of a Sunday talk show feeding frenzy?
Old media shame: I see the vice president as an honorable, forthright gentleman who places the nation's best interests above his own. Others prefer to believe he would sell out his own mother to line his pockets with oil-slicked greenbacks. The Old Media, of course, fall into the latter category.
Spoiled brat media: The accidental shooting of Harry Whittington, while he was on a hunting trip with Dick Cheney, has nothing to do with government policy or the Vice President's official duties but the mainstream media have gone ballistic over it nevertheless.
The buckshot heard round the world. Vice President Cheney shot a friend of his — Harry Whittington — with buckshot in a bird hunting accident. While his friend was bleeding on the ground, Cheney failed to call the Washington press corps first. Instead he was worried about Harry Whittington bleeding on the ground and taking care of him, and then contacting Harry's wife and adult kids before the story got out on the wire service.
[Attention gun-hating news writers: It was BIRD shot. Buckshot would have killed the old man.]
The media's Cheney hunt. What really shocked people was the way our Cheney-hating press corps went crazy with it. The Big Three networks aired 34 stories in the first 48 hours of evening and morning newscasts. They treated this not as a mishap, and then a punchline, but as a brewing national scandal.
A Hunter's Take on Cheney's Mistake. Hey hysterical media chum suckers, if you want to obsess about a gun (or guns) in South Texas, why don't you travel a little further southwest from Corpus Christi to Laredo where U.S. authorities just snatched ready-to-detonate IEDs, materials for making 33 more, military style grenades, 26 grenade triggers, large quantities of AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles, 1280 rounds of ammo, silencers, machine gun assembly kits, 300 primers, bullet proof vests, police scanners, sniper scopes, narcotics and cash from Mexican dope dealers?
Killer Cheney. This commentator rations himself to only one prediction every 15 years. Mine now is that there is going to be a devastating backlash in the months and years ahead in the matter of Cheney and the quail shoot.
News magazines overdo Cheney-gate. Texas lawyer Harry Whittington getting peppered by Cheney was a cover story in both magazines. White House lawyer Vince Foster shooting himself dead in 1993 was not.
Washington Post Still on Bush Twins Beer Patrol: The prestige press continues to cover anonymous accounts of the drinking habits of President Bush's daughters, while ignoring actual photos snapped recently showing Chelsea Clinton so drunk that she had to be carried out of a London nightclub.
The case against James Riady: The media has failed to report the real extent of Riady's crimes and how light the punishment is.
In Washington, Hindsight is 20/400: In this context, the current media fetish over "What did Bush know and when did he know it?" back on 9/11 shows neither a left-wing nor a right-wing bias. Instead, it merely dramatizes the existence of an empty-headed media culture in which our intellectuals and leaders have simply run out of ideas.
Thinking The Unthinkable About Bush: The media should investigate and report on the seriously flawed intelligence apparatus that could have, and possibly should have prevented 9/11 from happening. But to suggest, to hint that the President (Bush or Clinton, doesn't matter) allowed it to happen is an outrage of the highest order.
Is PBS Making You Sick? The Los Angeles Times recently reported that the taxpayer-subsidized PBS television is suffering from serious ratings problems. Perhaps the problem lies with the fact that PBS leadership wants to preach a creed, rather than serve its viewers. But the public doesn't want a lecture; they want entertainment as well as balanced and intellectually challenging news programming.
The Taxpayer-Funded Dogma of PBS: American taxpayers have long subsidized the indoctrination efforts of the "Public Broadcasting Service" (PBS) via various combinations of historical revisionism, moral relativism, anti-Christian humanism, and pseudo-scientific evolutionism.
The rise of religious radio: A Variety magazine editorial lambasted Christian radio as "strident." "It is, like, nuts," complained one NPR general manager to The New York Times. What's nuts is for the publicly subsidized radio chieftains to lament the unfairness of hardball private competition while they continue to draw on taxpayer funds to fight back.
Media Deem Reporter Far More Important Than Missionary: Has anyone noticed how the media have given many, many times more attention to Daniel Pearl than to Martin Burnham?
The media's immigration blunders: "ILLEGAL ALIEN QUESTIONED IN CHANDRA LEVY CASE." Did you miss that headline in the news last week? Well, that's because no one ran it.
What is the New York Times Promoting? "Personnel is policy" is an old axiom in politics. It also applies to the world of journalism, as evidenced by recent developments at The New York Times, which has been trending even further left with recent appointments. First, the Times promoted crusading liberal editorial page editor Howell Raines, who once publicly mourned that "the Reagan years oppressed me," to editor-in-chief. Now, Richard Berke, the paper's national political correspondent since 1993, is being promoted to Washington editor, the number-two job in a bureau of more than 50 people.
If They Only had a Brain: The Hard-Left adheres to their liberal pacifist ideology even in matters of life and death. Our country is in a battle to the death with fanatical terrorists, and for a while, the Hard-Left was silent because they knew that if they openly criticized the president and his administration during a time of war, they would be toast. That is, until last week when a fairly impressive strike was launched against the presidency of George W. Bush, covered with the fingerprints of the Hard-Left. Key information was "leaked" and fingers pointed at the FBI.
Objective Journalism? Not! There's just something about Ashcroft, as fine a gentleman to serve in Washington as we've seen in many quadrennia, that PC journalists can't handle.
Media abandon Zimbabweans: Although conditions in Zimbabwe continue to deteriorate — with ongoing seizures of white-owned farms, state-sanctioned murder and harassment, and a dangerous famine — the misery has failed to gain the attention of the establishment Western media, leaving many inside the nation feeling hopeless and abandoned.
Blacks take over farms as whites flee police: At least 20 white farmers were rounded up and flung into police cells across Zimbabwe as hundreds of new black farmers, the beneficiaries of recently-appropriated white-owned land, celebrated their new opportunities.
Media Silent on Pipe Bomber's Leftism: The same media establishment that is quick to label right-wing extremists refuses to call admitted pipe bomber Luke John Helder a left-wing extremist. Helder, an art student from Minneosta who plays in a punk rock band, sent a rambling letter to the University of Wisconsin student newspaper expressing his radical environmental views and wish to legalize marijuana.
ABC's Terry Moran Distorts Armey's Remarks: Terry Moran, the ABC White House correspondent noted for his unpleasantly juvenile manner at press briefings, charged that GOP House Majority Leader Dick Armey echoed former Yugoslav president and indicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic in calling for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians – something Armey never said.
CNN Runs "Propaganda" for Castro: Cable News Network, the only American television news organization with a full-time bureau in Cuba, has "allowed itself to become just another component of Fidel Castro's propaganda machine," instead of "exposing the totalitarian regime that runs Cuba," Media Research Center charged in a report released Thursday [5/9/2002].
Distrust of Media Threatens Freedoms: Houston-based true-crime writer Vanessa Leggett's record 140 days, and counting, detainment as the longest-jailed journalist in US history has brought forth no shortage of support or editorials from media organizations. But, the true crime is not necessarily Leggett's lengthy detention, but the media's selective outrage in protecting their own.
Bush Drug Bust Makes Big News; Not So Clinton Rehab Report: The media are having a field day with the drug bust of 24-year-old Noelle Bush, daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose attempt to fake a tranquilizer prescription catapulted her to the top of the news Tuesday [1/29/2002]. But when the last name is Clinton – as it was when the ex-president's brother, Roger, checked himself into Arizona's Cottonwood de Tuscon drug rehab clinic in July – the media feeding frenzy never quite materializes.
TV as Ministry of Truth: The controversy over anti-drug messages on TV shows could only happen in a government-controlled medium.
"No Spin Zone": O'Reilly Tackles Jesse Jackson. For years and years, Jesse Jackson has not only gotten a pass from the mainstream media, he's been all but deified by them. This in spite of the Rev. Jackson's propensity to pop up wherever there's an opportunity for him to capitalize on some well-publicized tragedy, disaster or anything else he can transform into a publicity platform for himself. The phoniness of his publicity stunts, though obvious, is studiously ignored by his legion of supporters in the liberal media.
Would "Deep Throat" Play a Second Time? Enron failed early in Bush's administration. The mistakes and shenanigans that brought down the company occurred during the Clinton administration. The cooked books happened before President Bush was elected. But facts don't matter to a news media that serve as the propaganda arm for the Democratic Party. True to form, The Washington Post on Jan. 24 gave an entire page to a "primer" on Enron. Under the section "Political Interactions," the propaganda organ listed only Republicans.
New! Deep Throat and Watergate: Time to Come Clean. Deep Throat may not exist and Woodward and Bernstein may have been lying to us for all these years. In other words, Woodward and Bernstein may be far from ethical journalists who deliberately lie to their readers. Yet the liberal media has made these characters into folk heroes? Why?
Enron, Round 1: Bush: Let's be clear about one thing: Bush has two enemies, Democrats and the press. They both desperately want a major scandal. Democrats have been hurt by September 11 and its aftershocks. Suddenly they're confronted by an enormously popular Republican president, who now owns the national security, economic, and education issues.
Book Reveals How P.C. Media Are "Coloring the News": Bernard Goldberg's runaway best-selling book, "Bias," exposed the leftist slant of the network news corporations. Now William McGowan's "Coloring the News: How Crusading for Diversity Has Corrupted American Journalism" delivers another punishing body blow to the shocking manipulation of the news by the ultra-liberal U.S. media establishment.
Accuracy in Media: Imagine the outcry if a newspaper editor permitted a Catholic priest to revise — before publication – a reporter's story about a pro-life rally. Or if a columnist called in a tobacco executive to edit an article about the hazards of smoking. Or if a publisher gave an advertiser the opportunity to rework a piece about his industry. A loud chorus of media critics would condemn the miscreants. The journalist would almost certainly be fired.
Hillary the Hypocrite: School Choice for Chelsea, But Not for America's Low-Income Children: Hillary says vouchers don't improve student achievement. She's wrong. Hillary says vouchers don't help the kids who need help the most. She's wrong. Hillary says vouchers don't help improve the public schools. She's wrong. Hillary says vouchers don't help racial integration. She's wrong. Consistently wrong, which is what makes Hillary dangerous. She spouts the Left's disinformation so very effectively and without criticism from the mainstream media!
Media Bigs Suddenly Bristling Over White House "Enemies List": For the past eight years, most reporters stayed obediently silent while Clinton operatives succeeded in curbing coverage of inconvenient witnesses, potentially explosive investigative reports and assorted administration whistleblowers – obligingly deep-sixing one scandal bombshell after another. But now, the Bush White House's decision to blacklist Talk magazine over its so-called satire of the Bush daughters' underage drinking brouhaha has got some journalists wringing their hands over what they say is a Nixon-like "enemies list."
Jenna vs. Roger: Media Doubled Coverage on Bush Drink Charge: In the last six months, reporters gave underage drinking allegations against first daughter Jenna Bush more than twice the coverage received by former first brother Roger Clinton, who on Tuesday plea-bargained his February drunken driving arrest down to a reckless driving charge.
Review of "Staying Tuned: A Life in Journalism", by Daniel Schorr. There is a delicious irony to his book, one that this winner of countless electronic journalism awards probably doesn't appreciate. These pages typify the low level of understanding and analysis that too often dominate the journalism industry.
State-controlled media: The biggest threat to freedom in America or any society is and always is from government. Don't forget that.
Hillary Feature Reeks Of Bias: An article appeared in the July 10 edition of USA Today that simply oozed with undisguised and unprofessional partiality for the New York Senator Hillary Clinton.
Hillary's "village" is bombed: The largest study ever found a correlation between day care and aggressive, defiant and disobedient behavior in children, hallmarks of school shootings. Conservatives have long believed day care isn't good for children, and have advocated restructuring taxes so that it won't take two incomes to support a family. The liberal media immediately circled its wagons to protect the agenda of greater governmental control of child rearing. TV anchors Rather and Jennings interviewed liberal spokesmen without identifying their political cast; their solution was basically to spend more and get more government involvement.
Uniformity of opinion amidst freedom: In the freest press on earth, humanity is reported in terms of its usefulness to US power. |
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Image via CrunchBaseSpecific examples of biased news coverage
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