The Media Downplay the Unabomber-McVeigh Parellels by L. Brent Bozell III April 11, 1996 The discovery of Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski does more than signal the end of an exhaustive federal manhunt - it provides a fascinating parallel to the apprehension of Oklahoma City bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh. The extreme of militia-loving, government-hating ideology meets an opposite extreme of nature-loving, technology-hating ideology. Why is the parallel so fascinating? Because of the media's different rules in the game of connect-the-dots between isolated, violent loners and mainstream political figures. Everyone remembers the flurry of accusations (led by national healer Bill Clinton) that... continue reading
Cronkite's Old-Fashioned Liberalism by L. Brent Bozell III November 30, 1995 As America heads into a very incremental conservative direction - containing the growth of government to a few points ahead of the rate of inflation - our media decry an age of shrieking extremes. But in reality, they only see one extreme. Take the following from the nation's most trusted ex-news anchor, Walter Cronkite, as a case study in the other "shrieking extreme." In a recent discussion on Tim Russert's CNBC talk show, Cronkite suggested extremists - i.e., conservatives - threaten the future of the Republican Party: "I've thought... continue reading
Pandering to the Gay Media Elite by L. Brent Bozell III October 20, 1995 Republican presidential candidates are often accused by journalists of pandering to the religious right and its "harsh" positions on social issues like homosexuality. But pandering is a perfect word to describe the national media's treatment of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), which held their annual convention in Washington recently. We are supposed to believe that an association of journalists would not have an ideological agenda because its members insist they are objective. George Stephanopoulos can tell you otherwise. He drew boos from the... continue reading
Mainstreaming the Million Man March by L. Brent Bozell III October 19, 1995 Watching live and unedited the entire footage of the Million Man March, some things could have touched the hearts of the whole country. When two young boys asked for black men to be their fathers and their grandfathers, to love them and discipline them, you could feel the anguish of two out of every three black children in America today. When black men told interviewers that they came to Washington to show the nation that they aren't just negative stereotypes of drug dealers and wife abusers, of... continue reading
Capitalist Media Monopoly? Think Again by L. Brent Bozell III September 7, 1995 In the 1980s, left-wing media critic Ben Bagdikian predicted in his book "The Media Monopoly" that "If mergers and acquisitions by large corporations continue at the present rate, one massive firm will be in virtual control of all major media by the 1990s." Bagdikian no doubt thinks his nightmare is coming true. Disney buys Capital Cities/ABC. Westinghouse buys CBS. Time Warner pursues Turner Broadcasting. News Corp. and TCI lurk. "Consumers are the losers," he proclaimed. Bagdikian and other liberals suggest that left unregulated, the market will restrict... continue reading
The Obvious Politics of the Gaffe Patrol by L. Brent Bozell III April 13, 1995 Sen. Alfonse D'Amato has never won a Congeniality Award from the national media. His annoying tendency to get re-elected no doubt disturbs the many New Yorkers who are responsible for delivering our national news. Add to that his role in retiring media hero Mario Cuomo, and his determination to investigate the Clinton finances from his chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee, and you have a man the media would enjoy bringing down. So when Senator D'Amato mocked Judge Lance Ito on a radio show, sporting... continue reading
Strange Justice: The Selling of Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson by L. Brent Bozell III November 17, 1994 Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson have set a new standard. I refer not to the two Wall Street Journal reporters' weak new book, "Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas," but their perfect embodiment of the liberal media's arrogance. Two women write a book with the thesis that the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Joe Biden, are pathetic cowards who failed to destroy the Thomas nomination, who failed to question Thomas on whether he rented the porno movie "The... continue reading
Is It "FAIR" To Attack Rush? by L. Brent Bozell III July 14, 1994 It's predictable to hear Bill Clinton's whining about Rush Limbaugh. What's surprising is the degree to which the media jumped on the bandwagon. Following on the heels of attacks by Clinton and Washington talk show host Diane Rehm, the national media are promoting a "study" by the self-proclaimed "Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting" (FAIR) charging that Rush is guilty of "sloppiness, ignorance, or fabrication" and has a "finely honed ability to twist and distort reality." Let's put the FAIR manifesto in proper perspective. It documents 43... continue reading
Woodward and Bernstein: Whitewater Wimps by L. Brent Bozell III April 14, 1994 Call it the Whitewater Wimp Factor. Suddenly many of those Dobermans of scandal, with teeth bared at the minutest ethical impropriety (or even its appearance ) in the Reagan and Bush eras, are Man's Best Friend, lamenting their role in Clinton's Whitewater problems. Slowly but surely the media were forced to cover the story, but the kicking and screaming is incredible. Whitewater coverage has been denigrated as a "lunatic cauldron" (Newsweek's Joe Klein), "too much, off-target" (Bryant Gumbel), "definitely overheated" (Walter Cronkite), "unprofessional and distasteful" (Marvin Kalb),... continue reading
Abortion Rights, Gun Rights: One's Sacred, The Other's Not by L. Brent Bozell III February 10, 1994 The cause of gun control is hot. Now that the Democrats have passed the Brady Bill, a federal waiting-period placebo on gun sales, the Clintonites are marching on to drive up the fees for federal gun licenses by 1,000 percent, and surprise - the media are marching with them. In December, a Media Research Center study showed that network coverage of the Brady Bill favored the gun-control side. Of 29 stories on the debate, 20 gave significantly more time to the gun control... continue reading