Earle Gets Borked Topic: Newsmax
NewsMax jumps on the Republican bandwagon to smear Ronnie Earle, the prosecutor who filed charges against Tom DeLay, as a partisan -- and worse. A Sept. 28 article, for instance, quotes Dick Morris as saying that Earle "makes Garrison - the guy who made that whole deal about the Kennedy assassination - look like a model of respectability."
A Sept. 29 article by Dave Eberhart purports to answer the question, "Who really is Ronnie Earle?" but instead mostly engages in making unsupported claims against him. And Eberhart attempts a lame dismissal of the fact that Earle has prosecuted many more Democratic officeholders than Republicans: "But DeLay defenders note Texas has only recently become a Republican stronghold and that the liberal prosecutor has even engaged at political prosecutions of fellow Democrats."
Another Bogus Poll Topic: Newsmax
Yes, it's that time again: NewsMax is begging readers to vote in yet another meaningless opt-in poll, this one about Tom DeLay.
"Your vote does count!" NewsMax claims. Wrong; Opt-in polls mean nothing.
MRC In A Nutshell Topic: Media Research Center
In its coverage of the Tom DeLay indictment on NBC's "Today" show, reporter Chip Reid played a clip of DeLay saying, "This is one of the weakest, most baseless indictments in American history. It's a sham, and Mr. Earle knows it," a clip introduced by Reid saying that "In a blistering attack, DeLay called [Texas district attorney Ronnie] Earle, who is a Democrat, a partisan fanatic." Reid followed that by saying that Earle "vigorously denied his investigation of DeLay is motivated by politics," followed by a clip of Earle: "We prosecuted four times as many Democrats as Republicans. This is not about Democrats and Republicans. This is about cops and robbers."
At the Media Research Center's NewsBusters blog, MRC staffer Geoff Dickens wrote of the above report: "Chip Reid attempted to play down Tom DeLay's charges of partisanship in Texas Democrat prosecutor Ronnie Earle's indictment."
That Dickens thinks a report that allowed a Democrat to respond to charges made by a Republican equals "playing down" the Republican's charges is pretty much all you really need to know about the Media Research Center.
UPDATE: Another NewsBusters post, by Tim Graham, claimed that on "Hardball," Chris Matthews "downplayed" Earle's alleged partisanship, but Graham failed to note that the first segment of "Hardball" was Matthews' interview of DeLay, in which DeLay repeatedly bashed Earle as a partisan and Matthews made no attempt to challenge DeLay's accusations.
Graham's claimed source for his "Hardball" item? Geoff Dickens.
You Gotta Sin to Get Saved Topic: WorldNetDaily
A Sept. 29 WorldNetDaily article describes "a sexy commercial for the National Hockey League featuring a bare-chested man being dressed by a scantily clad, buxom woman."
In keeping with its policy of offering both sin and salvation, the WND article provides not only links to the video but also a plug for David Kupelian's "The Marketing of Evil," under which this commercial presumably qualifies. But isn't WND now an active participant in this marketing?
Arrogant Massie Topic: The ConWeb
Project 21 issued a press release quoting Mychal Massie denouncing Rep. Charles Rangel for saying "George Bush is our Bull Connor" -- even though Massie himself has used the exact same slur against Sen. Harry Reid.
The Daily Les, 9/26 and 9/28 Topic: The Daily Les
On Sept. 26, Les Kinsolving asked Scott McClellan to respond to comments made by Rep. Charles Rangel who said that "George Bush is our Bull Connor": "Since The New York Post says Rangel should be ashamed of himself, I'm wondering if the White House agreed?"
Kinsolving does not note any outrage that his fellow WorldNetDaily columnist, Mychal Massie, similarly likened Sen. Harry Reid to not just Bull Connor but Orval Faubus as well.
On Sept. 28, Kinsolving asked about President Bush's pick for a new Supreme Court justice:
"President Bush has suggested his pick to replace Sandra Day O'Connor will likely bring diversity to the court. Does he mean diversity in color, gender or philosophy? Or is he more concerned with the look of the new justice, rather than the substance?"
All Gay, All the Time Topic: Media Research Center
In a Sept. 28 post at NewsBusters, Lyford Beverage insists that the Boston Globe is "referred to by some as the "all-gay, all the time" Boston Globe," purportedly because "the Globe has consistently found ways to put stories on the front page that focus on 'gay' issues, whether they're legitimate front-page news or not (most often, not)."
You Knew This Already Topic: The ConWeb
Initial ConWeb coverage of the indictment of Rep. Tom DeLay is going predictably. Reports by WorldNetDaily and CNSNews.com played up accusations by DeLay and his spokesman, Kevin Madden, that the Texas prosecutor who filed the charges, Ronnie Earle, is a partisan seeking political retribution against DeLay without noting that Earle has prosecuted more Democratic officials than Republicans. (WND earns extra points for using the term "Democrat Party" even though there is no such thing.)
NewsMax put the following headline on an Associated Press article: "DeLay Calls Prosecutor a 'Partisan Fanatic'."
UPDATE: NewsBuster's Greg Sheffield also makes a big deal of Earle being a Democrat without noting that Earle has prosecuted more Democrats than Republicans.
Posted by Terry K.
at 6:05 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 6:37 PM EDT
Begging for Money Topic: WorldNetDaily
A Sept. 28 WorldNetDaily article by Joe Kovacs disparagingly details Air America Radio's attempt to seek donations from listeners. The headline of Kovacs' article calls it "Panhandle broadcasting," and Kovacs plays up the comments of Michelle Malkin, who claims Air America is "crumbling."
Kovacs fails to point out, however, that Air America is hardly the first for-profit media organization to beg for money from its listeners or readers. One organization whose efforts precede Air America's is ... WorldNetDaily.
Regular appeals by WND editor Joseph Farah, like this one in April, seek donations from readers in the form of "voluntary subscriptions," which are available as one-time or monthly payments.
"To supplement the revenues from the sales of products and advertising, we need additional financial support from those readers who understand what we're up against," Farah wrote.
WND also solicits money for its legal defense fund, which is mostly tied to a defamation lawsuit regarding an 18-part series WND ran in 2000 bashing Al Gore (and which WND has been rather quiet about of late, as ConWebWatch has noted).
WND's history of begging for money is really no different from Air America's, except that WND doesn't throw in any cool swag.
Bull Topic: Newsmax
NewsMax notes that the Republican National Committee is upset that Rep. Charles Rangel said that "George Bush is our Bull Connor."
No similar statement of outrage has been registered by any conservative over Project 21's Mychal Massie, who last December not only likened Sen. Harry Reid to both Bull Connor and Orval Faubus, he claimed that Reid was a racist because of his "inbred familial heritage" as a Mormon.
What Silence? Topic: Newsmax
"Ann Coulter Breaks Her Silence," shouts the headline on NewsMax's front page promoting Phil Brennan's Sept. 28 article.
I know what you're thinking: When was Coulter silent? Did we miss that she stopped appearing on TV and writing her column?
No, you didn't -- it's just hyperbole. NewsMax is merely deceptively touting the fact that this article is, apparently, "her 'first interview' for the paperback edition of her blockbuster bestseller, 'How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must).'" It's nothing more than Brennan lobbing softballs at Coulter and salivating at her presence, which is really creepy when you realize that Brennan is, like, almost 80.
We Get Letters Topic: CNSNews.com
We heard from CNSNews.com's Randy Hall, who had a few things to say. Highlights of my response:
-- Duly noted that Nagin's political registration pre-mayor is disputed. But reputable news sources (for non-conservatives, anyway), like the BBC, have reported that Nagin was a Republican before running for mayor. In addition, Nagin is on record with a donation to George W. Bush's 2000 election campaign, as well as donating to another Louisiana Republican, Billy Tauzin. Overall, I think my original analysis -- that Nagin didn't raise all that many eyebrows by endorsing Bobby Jindal -- still stands.
-- I have corrected an Aug. 15 item to accurately reflect that Hall wrote it, not Susan Jones.
-- Will this passion for factual accuracy extend to CNS apologizing to Paul Begala for putting words in his mouth?
WND Lets Michael Schiavo Speak Topic: WorldNetDaily
We may have a first here: the first time WorldNetDaily has dedicated an article mostly to Michael Schiavo, and the first time any article including Michael's side of the Terri Schiavo case wasn't "balanced" with slanderous accusations by Terri's parents.
WND does crib its Sept. 27 article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune (a fact disclosed for once, though it's still a form of quasi-pagiarism, of WND getting "original" content that it doesn't pay for), and the article does slip in references to protesters outside the venue where Michael Schiavo was speaking at a conference honoring Ronald Cranford. But it's not the overheated, disproven accusations from Terri's parents, the Schindler family, that WND dutifully inserted in every article mentioning Michael earlier this year (as ConWebWatch has noted).
Perhaps that was an oversight, something overlooked by the WND minion in charge of cribbing the article. After all, we still have Diana Lynne's WND-published "Terri's Story" to look forward to, where it appears the Michael-bashing will continue to run rampant.
Accountability Topic: Accuracy in Media
Accuracy in Media's Cliff Kincaid serves up some irony in a Sept. 26 column. Claiming inaccurately once again that "Newsweek caused anti-American riots and 17 dead in Afghanistan, after running that false 'Koran in the toilet' story," Kincaid also once again fails to disclose that his own organization, America's Survival, is trying to get Newsweek's Michael Isikoff extradited to Afghanistan over the article.
Kincaid's demand for accountability is as "extremely selective" as he claims the media's is.
Quote of the Day Topic: Newsmax
"If one were ever able to make a good case for a trial deployment of a neutron bomb – the kind that gets rid of people but leaves the buildings standing – last Saturday's Rally Against the War in Iraq on The Ellipse in Washington, D.C., would probably have been it."
