For most of the last year, Congressman John Murtha has been placed on a pedestal by the major media, painted in red, white, and blue hues as a "hawkish" Democrat who courageously declared we needed to "redeploy" (read: withdraw) from Iraq. 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... continue reading
The late Steve Allen used to cite a delicious analogy to describe why the public airwaves should be kept free from offensive content. If a stranger walked into your house, stood before your children in the living room, and started stripping and cursing, would you feel their innocence had been violated? Why then, he'd ask, should TV networks be allowed to do the same, using the airwaves owned by those very parents? NBC/Universal CEO Robert Wright might offer a different perspective. Faced with this scenario with his grandchildren, he might instead praise the intruder's "creative integrity." In his distinguished capacity... continue reading
In mid-August, Sen. George Allen used the word "Macaca" to describe an Indian-American staffer for his Democrat opponent who'd been filming his campaign appearances. Little did he realize that this would cost him his Senate seat and any hopes for the presidency in 2008. Local liberal elites long have believed the Washington Times to be an oafishly right-wing rag while viewing the Washington Post as the dictionary definition of detachment and straight-forward reporting. The 2006 campaign proves this to be nonsense. When it came to Allen, the Post completely lost its bearings, treating Allen with left-wing aggression and loathing, as... continue reading
If we rigidly applied truth-in-advertising laws to the national media in their coverage of the 2006 campaign, we would have first declared that the stuff between the commercials wasn't "news" as much as a boatload of free infomercial advertising for the Democrats. The news reports should have led with the sentence, "I'm Nancy Pelosi, and I approved this newscast." Republicans made a lot of mistakes, and caused themselves a pile of problems. Their house is a mess; it's time to tear down and start over. But I will say this unequivocally: In 25 years of looking at the national media,... continue reading
People who do a lot of business travel find themselves killing time by watching a lot of airline movies. Since the flying public includes a lot of children, the movie studios courteously provide the airlines with the movies edited for sex, language, ultra violence, and the like. And here's the curious thing: I've never watched one of these movies and concluded at the end that it was cheapened by a lack of "gritty" (and I'm being kind here) material. Never in my life have I met a fellow passenger who suggested as much. What these edited movies prove is that... continue reading
Looking back at the fall campaign, it's yet another cycle in which the Republican political brain trust sidestepped the issue of America's growing concern for indecency oozing out of almost every perfumed pore of Hollywood. This time it may have been the fatal mistake. The number one issue of importance coming out of the '04 elections was "moral values," thus presenting the GOP with the opportunity to pounce on the indecency issue during the '06 campaign. I visited with one Republican incumbent running for re-election and suggested that this would be an ideal theme for his campaign. He responded that... continue reading
There are occasions in the news coverage of campaigns where fevered imagination kicks in and calm, comparative reason takes a holiday. Here we go again, and this time it's Harold Ford Jr., the Democratic contender for the Senate in Tennessee who is getting the red carpet media treatment. Ford is an attractive black "rising Democratic star," whose only obstacle is Tennessee's inability to get beyond its sordid racist past. The East Coast media recently parachuted into Tennessee to explore if the state was still so backward as to elect yet another Republican. On its front page, The Washington Post began... continue reading
Speaking at a recent black-tie dinner sponsored by the Media Institute, Viacom executive chairman Sumner Redstone harshly condemned the Federal Communications Commission for imposing fines against indecent television. He claimed it's all a violation of constitutionally-protected free speech. "Give the government the tools to punish those it doesn't like or silence what is doesn't want to hear and you undermine democracy." He also blasted the owners of the public airwaves for the temerity to protest his programming. "We find ourselves in a world where increasingly and alarmingly a couple thousand form complaints from people condemning a show that they have... continue reading
Our news media have long lectured us that their role is not to be "stenographers to power." Theirs is the pursuit of truth, we are told. But when it comes to networks like CNN, those ethical rules are crumpled and tossed into the nearest trash bin. Editorial writers at the Washington Post and elsewhere have raged against the Pentagon placing positive stories in Iraqi newspapers, thus violating the journalistic sacristy of objectivity. But they have no rage at all for CNN placing glorifying publicity from terrorists on a global television network. On the October 18 edition of "Anderson Cooper 360,"... continue reading
Middle age has been disturbing for people of the baby-boomer rock-and-roll generation, waiting with dread for the day when Mick Jagger wanders on stage with a walker. Rock music of the Rolling Stones vintage is now in danger of being seen as Muzak for retirees. You can certainly hear it at the supermarket. Rap music and the hip-hop culture is about 25 years younger than rock, and believe it or not, it's happening there, too. Today's children are now beginning to look askance at their parents for liking "old school" rap rather than today's truly toxic stuff. The Washington Post... continue reading