NewsMax's Meta-Hypocrisy
Topic: Newsmax
The July 30 edition of NewsMax's "Insider Report" details the rehabilitation of Armstrong Williams, who earlier this year was caught in a mini-scandal after it was revealed that he had refused to disclosed the fact that he had received $240,000 from the Bush administration to promote its educational policies. After quoting Williams as saying that ""None of the conservative [groups] came to my rescue. I was alone", NewsMax adds:

Hmmmm. I guess he forgot to mention NewsMax which published a number of items detailing the press' hypocrisy in attacking Armstrong.

At the time of the Williams' flap, NewsMax noted that there was no disclosure on any major networks that frequent interviews of movie and TV stars on major networks of paid advertising from the movie production firms.

We also noted that CBS's "60 Minutes" promoted several anti-Bush authors and books, including Richard Clarke's "Against All Enemies" - without disclosing that the publisher was Simon Schuster, a division of Viacom which also owns CBS.

We're still waiting for NewsMax to add a disclaimer after every David Horowitz and Richard Poe article stating that Richard Mellon Scaife, who heavily funds the Horowitz-operated, Poe-employing Center for the Study of Popular Culture, is also an investor and shareholder in NewsMax. Then again, NewsMax refused to even admit Scaife's financial support on its website until just very recently.

NewsMax also notes that Williams was "acting as public relations agent, a fact he never hid." Um, yes, he did; he hid the fact that he was paid to flack the opinions he was spouting in the media, which was the whole reason for the controversy.