Topic: Media Research Center
See how many extraneous ideological labels the Media Research Center's Matthew Balan sticks in his Dec. 2 post on the new film "Spotlight." We'll help by putting them in bold:
CBS Celebrates 'Very Powerful,' 'Fantastic' Liberal Reporter Movie
Wednesday's CBS This Morning raved over the new movie Spotlight, which touts the work of the investigative reporters at the liberal Boston Globe who chronicled the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. Gayle King gushed, "Gosh, that movie was so good." She later labeled the movie "very powerful." Fill-in anchor Kristen Johnson asserted that the new release was "such a fantastic movie." [video below]
The morning newscast brought on left-wing actor Mark Ruffalo and the Boston Globe correspondent he played in the movie, Mike Rezendes. Johnson set up Rezendes to praise the movie, along with his profession: "When you saw the movie, were you pleased with how real it was?" The guest replied, "Yeah. I think the movie is incredibly authentic....I love the message that it gives about investigative reporting. I love the message it gives about clergy sex abuse."
Anchor Charlie Rose followed up by underlining that "there are two stories here. One is a story of reporting; two is a story about something like this could go on for so long." Rezendes returned to praising the movie: "I like the movie, because it keeps public attention focused on this issue, which is still really important." Rose asked him to clarify: "Meaning that the Church has not done anything, or hasn't done enough?" The journalist responded, "I think the Church has...taken several meaningful steps. I think most victims/survivors will tell you that the Church has not done enough."
King then prompted Ruffalo to give his take on the issue, as she continued her praise for the motion picture. The left-wing actor included his inaccurate summary of Catholic theology on the priesthood:
[...]
Near the end of the segment, the Obama-supporting TV personality asked Rezendes, "Did it change, Mike, how you felt about your religion, when you were reporting the story — working on it?" The journalist answered, "Yeah. Even though I was a lapsed Catholic at the time, I still considered myself a Catholic. I still identified Catholic. And it did change how I felt about the Church — no question about it." King and Johnson ended the segment with their "very powerful" and "fantastic" superlatives about the movie.
For all the label-tossing Balan does, he never explains why he's doing it -- perhaps it's an attempt to dismiss the film as a "liberal" enterprise, something the MRC has been doing for a while. But even if the Boston Globe is the "liberal" paper he claims it is, does that make the story it reported on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church any less accurate? Does Ruffalo being a "left-wing actor" -- something Balan is compelled to state twice -- have any bearing whatsoever on his role in this movie? And what does Balan's labeling of Gayle King as an "Obama-supporting TV personality" have on anything in his post? Obama has nothing to do with either the events depicted in "Spotlight" or the contents of the interivew.
Witih no actual hook to base his criticism, Balan is effectively complaining that a film he doesn't like is being promoted. That's not "media research" -- that's an attempt at censorship.
