Journalist Howard Fineman, who previously slammed Rush Limbaugh as a "werewolf," who knocked Rick Perry and Sarah Palin as stupid, who smeared Tea Partiers as "secessionists," touted his non-partisan credentials on the website of the liberal Huffington Post . Fineman absurdly proclaimed, "I'm pretty well known for keeping an even keel ideologically and for steering clear of partisanship." Fineman, who once lectured Mitt Romney to tell Limbaugh, "stuff it," added, "I'm old-fashioned, even out of date, in this deconstructionist era, in which everyone is assumed to have an ulterior -- political -- motive. I don't. I really don't." Fineman's defense... continue reading
New York Times reporter Amy Chozick gave respectful attention Wednesday to President Obama's moonlighting as media critic: " Obama Is an Avid Reader, and Critic, of the News ." Chozick pushed the pro-Democratic idea of the media pursuing "false balance," while pumping up Obama as "a voracious consumer of news." Almost totally ignored: Media favoritism toward Barack Obama. Chozick started with Obama, who has been a frequent critic of conservative outlets like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh's radio show, complaining about a three-year-old story from a rival newspaper. A few months after President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package passed,... continue reading
In just a matter of days, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney will announce his choice for his 2012 running mate. No matter who Romney picks, however, the liberal media's line of attack is already clear. The Media Research Center reviewed news coverage of several potential picks, and found many have already been caricatured as too far right or outside the mainstream. Last year, for example, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz slammed Senator Marco Rubio as a "pretty boy" and a "hack," screaming that his "policies are downright ugly." A few weeks later, CNN sought out New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to... continue reading
All three evening newscasts on Tuesday and the morning shows on Wednesday skipped a new Super PAC ad (run by former Obama spokesman Bill Burton) that blames Mitt Romney for a woman's death from cancer. While ignoring that, NBC, ABC and CBS made sure to highlight negative news for Romney or White House complaints about the Republican's new campaign spots. By contrast, CNN on Tuesday demolished the Obama super PAC ad as "not accurate." Anchor Wolf Blitzer asserted it was "full of falsehoods." The spot misleadingly claims that Ranae Soptic passed away from cancer shortly after Bain Capital closed down... continue reading
It took NBC News nearly a week to mention Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's sleazy and unfounded charge that Mitt Romney failed to pay taxes, with chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd declaring on Nightly News Tuesday: "Reid has just as doggedly refused to divulge his source or back up his claim with documentation. And the White House has stood aside, letting the poisoned atmosphere fester." By waiting five days to get around to the Democratic mud-slinging, NBC was able to diffuse the low-ball tactics as just another part of a contentious campaign season, with anchor Brian Williams announcing: "Also,... continue reading
Despite admitting no direct evidence of Islamophobia behind the recent Wisconsin Sikh shooting, CNN's Carol Costello still tried to connect Islamophobia to the shooting and hype it as a national problem that needs to be discussed. "No one knows why Wade Page allegedly chose the Oak Creek Sikh Temple," she began before adding "maybe" the shooter mistook the Sikhs for Muslims. Then she took this hypothesis and tied it to America's national scandal of Islamophobia. "But as a society, how can we stem anti-Muslim sentiment?" she wondered before playing a clip of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Mark Potok stating... continue reading
ABC journalist Brian Ross, who on July 20 smeared the Tea Party as connected to a mass killing in Colorado, on Tuesday described the racist views of another shooter and his connection to Nazi, "right-wing" groups. After explaining Wade Page's link to violent, bigoted groups, Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos wondered how this murderer could have purchased a gun, Ross insisted that the FBI did not have "enough evidence to open a full field investigation because of his links to these right-wing, neo-Nazi groups. " [MP3 audio here .] Right-wing? Nazism, as some forget, is short for national socialism... continue reading
Introducing a report on the ongoing civil war in Syria on Monday's NBC Nightly News , anchor Brian Williams made sure to promote PR from the White House: "...the State Department and the Pentagon are now working together on plans for Syria after Assad, hoping to avoid the chaos they believe broke out because of the lack of planning for a post-Saddam Iraq." [ Listen to the audio ] However, the report that followed by chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel seemed to undermine the notion of a well-planned U.S. strategy in Syria against the Assad regime: "A rebel commander with... continue reading
On Monday's The Ed Show , host Ed Schultz suggested that the weekend attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin proves conservative commentator Michelle Malkin was wrong in 2009 when she criticized a Homeland Security report in 2009 which suggested an increase in domestic terrorism from right-wing groups in response to the election of the first African-American President. After recounting the shootings, the MSNBC host tied in Malkin. Schultz: A 2009 Homeland Security report warned us about this type of tragedy: "Lone wolves...embracing violent right-wing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States." The left-wing... continue reading
On Sunday's World News , ABC's senior Washington editor, Rick Klein, found it to be a "wildly unsubstantiated" and "irresponsible" claim for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to accuse Mitt Romney of not paying taxes for 10 years. He also asserted that Republicans are "taking the bait" by responding, suggesting that there is a "big risk" for the GOP in doing so. After anchor David Muir played clips from ABC's This Week show of RNC chairman Reince Priebus attacking Reid as a "dirty liar" and DNC chairwoman Debbie Wassermann Schultz trying to defend the Senate Democratic Leader, Muir posed the... continue reading