Topic: NewsBusters
A Nov. 23 NewsBusters post by Noel Sheppard highlights how "Palin documentarian John Ziegler has called for NBC to fire" Norah O'Donnell, noting, "So contemptuous of the former Alaska Governor is O'Donnell that she actually went to a Palin book signing event last week armed with crib notes to attack fans of the outspoken conservative." Ziegler himself similarly notes the incident in the item on his personal website to which Sheppard links: "This query is especially relevant given her shameful performance while covering a Palin book signing in Michigan where she went out of her way to embarrass a teenage girl who was just there to see the political superstar up close and personal."
Sheppard failed to note that what McDonnell did -- ask people in line at a Palin book-signing about Palin's view on political issues, which the fans were generally unaware of -- was essentially what Ziegler did last year, commissioning Zogby to do a poll asking Obama voters about issues related to the election and declaring that "Just 2% of voters who supported Barack Obama on Election Day obtained perfect or near-perfect scores on a post election test which gauged their knowledge of statements and scandals associated with the presidential tickets during the campaign."
Of course, given that Ziegler is a right-wing supporter of Palin, the questions were misleading, and he is a foul-mouthed thug with anyone who challenges him.
Ziegler, needless to say, doesn't see the similarity. From his website: "For the record, while some have tried to compare the two, my interviews with Obama voters on election day were fundamentally different from what O'Donnell did, if only because I am not an alleged 'news' reporter and they were backed up with scientific data."
Still, it's a stunt that Ziegler has pulled in the past, and Sheppard should have noted it.
NewsBusters and other Media Research Center divisions have served as enthusiastic shills for Ziegler's biased projects.
