The best proof of the nearly lock step liberal
bias of the major news media has always been remarks from reporters
and media bigwigs themselves. We point that out on the occasion of
the Media Research Centers annual announcement of dubious awards
for obvious examples of liberal reporting in 2005. Judges from
around the nation - including this editorial page -
weighed numerous quotations from the past year to select the worst
of the worst.
Here are some winners and runners-up:
* Andrea Mitchell of NBC Nightly News pondered whether Irans new
president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was among the violent radicals who
took Americans hostage during the Carter administration. Brian
Williams responded, Andrea, what would it all matter if proven
true? ... (T)he first several U.S. presidents ... might have been
called terrorists at the time by
the British Crown, after all. Ms. Mitchell replied, Indeed,
Brian.
* Discussing President George W. Bushs criticism of the Yalta
agreement, in which President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British
Prime Minister Winston Churchill surrendered Eastern Europe to
Communist Soviet enslavement, Newsweeks Jon Meacham disgustingly
declared, Its like he (Mr. Bush) stuck a broomstick in his
(Roosevelts) wheelchair wheels.
* I think youre going to hear that word (impeachment) come up, and
if the Democrats ever capture either house of Congress, there are
going to be serious proceedings against this administration,
Eleanor Clift of Newsweek said on The McLaughlin Group.
* A headline over a New York Times article on Supreme Court nominee
Judge John Roberts read, An Advocate for the Right, while a 1993
headline on an article about far-left nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg
read, Balanced Jurist at Home in the Middle.
* The day I say Dick Cheney is going to run for president, Ill
kill myself. All we need is one more liar, said columnist and
former reporter Helen Thomas.
* The story is accurate, former CBS Evening News anchorman Dan
Rather declared of a story about Mr. Bushs National Guard service,
even after the key evidence for the story - phony memos - had
been debunked.
* MSNBCs Hardball host, Chris Matthews, asked radical anti-war
activist Cindy Sheehan, Are you considering running for Congress,
Cindy? When she said she wasnt, he pressed, Well, I have to tell
you, you sound more informed than most U.S. congresspeople, so maybe
you should run.
* On CBSs Early Show, co-host Harry Smith asked author and pastor
Rick Warren about families who were generously taking in refugees
from Hurricane Katrina: Do I need to be concerned that Im going to
go live with a church family, are they going to proselytize me, are
they going to say, You better come to church with me or else Im,
you know, youre not going to get your breakfast this morning?
* CNN founder Ted Turner told Wolf Blitzer of CNN, I am absolutely
convinced that the North Koreans are absolutely sincere. Theres
really no reason for them to cheat (by producing nuclear weapons).
... I looked them right in the eyes. And they looked like they meant
the truth. Asked about Communist North Korean dictator Kim
Jong-Ils savagery toward his people, Mr. Turner replied, Well, I
didnt get to meet him, but he didnt look - in
the pictures that Ive seen of him on CNN, he didnt look too much
different than most other people. ... I didnt see any brutality.
The MRC also noted a few times when journalists acknowledged bias.
Too often, we wear liberalism on our sleeve and are intolerant of
other lifestyles and opinions, Washington Post Book World editor
Maria Arana noted in an in-house critique. If you work here, you
must be one of us. You must be liberal, progressive, a Democrat.
Ive been in communal gatherings
in The Post, watching election returns, and have been flabbergasted
to see my colleagues cheer unabashedly for the Democrats.
We wish that candor prevailed throughout the industry.
To schedule interviews with a Media Research Center spokesperson contact Tim Scheiderer at (703)-683-5004, ext. 126. To see all the winning quotes and hear the audio visit
www.mrc.org.