Bozell's Bitter Post-Election Column Topic: Media Research Center
Could Brent Bozell's Nov. 9 post-elecction column have been more bitter and whiny? We doubt it.
He leads off with the claim, "In 25 years of looking at the national media, I have never seen a more one-sided, distorted, vicious presentation of news -- and non-news -- by the national media," but he offers no objective evidence to support it. He then cranks up the whine:
When gas prices approached historic highs over the summer, the media couldn’t stop talking about the inept Republicans and failed Bush administration policies. Then gas prices plummeted. Celebratory coverage? Nah. Any credit to the Republican party or this administration? None whatsoever.
Bozell offers no evidence that Republicans or the Bush administration, in fact, did not contribute to the record highs (which, if you'll remember, the MRC expended copious energy denying that they were record highs when you adjusted for inflation) or had anything to do with the drop in gas prices.
Bozell then moved on to deny that the Mark Foley case was a legitimate issue in the campaign: " The dominant issue of the fall campaign on network television wasn’t the issues, unless you consider Mark Foley’s creepy Internet messages an “issue,” in which case, boy howdy, did the news media agree with you." He then complained that "nobody cares" about Rep. William Jefferson, "the Democrat caught by the feds stuffing some 90 grand in payola in the freezer at his Washington home."
He knows better than that: As the case of Bill Clinton, in which Republican smear-mongering didn't succeed until Monica Lewinsky showed, sex scandals almost always trump money scandals (even though 90K in the freezer was a nice hook). Further, the larger issue in the Foley case, which Bozell ignores, is that Republican higher-ups were apparaently aware of Foley's predatory behavior toward congressional pages but did nothing about it.
Bozell also makes the following claim:
Since Pelosi was elected as the House Democratic leader in November of 2002, all the way through to late October of 2006, the networks have not once described her as a “liberal.” You read that correctly. Not once. That’s not news coverage. That’s a four-year masquerade party.
That's a very selective framing of the situation. Media Matters framed it another way: In response to an assertion in ABC's The Note that the media will "fail to describe [Pelosi] as 'ultra liberal' or 'an extreme liberal,' which would mirror the way [former Republican House Speaker Newt] Gingrich was painted twelve years ago," a search of major media found no significant disparity between coverage of Pelosi in 2006 and coverage of Gingrich in 1994, which includes the respective ideological noting; in fact, there were numerous references to Pelosi as "unabashedly liberal" and one of the "more liberal Democrats."
Bozell has been in this kind of whiny mood ever since Republicans got thumped in Tuesday's election; he also issued a press release insisting that "the election was a loss for the Republican Party, but it was emphatically not a loss for conservatives or those on the political right," adding that "numerous conservative ideas and the principles of the political right were victorious all over the country." But to claim that, Bozell ignores that South Dakota voted down a near-total ban on abortion, two other states rejected parental notification laws, Missouri approved a ballot initiative in support of stem cell research, and six states approved initiatives to raise the minimum wage.
At the end of a Nov. 9 NewsMax column in which he engages in the typical conservative post-election Democrat-bashing blah-blah -- for instance, he calls Democrats "historically the party of the slave owners, Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow, and Bull Connor" -- Lowell Ponte called the "unelected liberal media" the election's "biggest winner," adding, "Our freedom now depends on honest alternative media such as NewsMax."
Here are some recent examples of that "honest alternative" news that NewsMax offers:
-- Ronald Kessler -- NewsMax's highest-profile writer, hired in an attempt to provide it with gravitas -- repeatedlymisled and engaged in scare tactics in order to attack Democrats and fluff President Bush.
-- NewsMax misled on the issue of John Kerry's "botched joke," downplaying or ignoring his apology.
-- NewsMax writers have made misleading claims about embryonic stem cell research.
-- NewsMax's James Hirsen treated as fact a facetious assertion that the "liberal" media "secret morning conference calls with Howard Dean and George Soros."
-- NewsMax spins polls to make Republicans look good.
A Nov. 8 NewsBusters post by Brent Baker recounted a 1991 Media Research Center claim that CBS "smear[ed]" defense secretary designee Robert Gates by linking him "to the Iran-Contra affair through tabloid-style innuendo" and reporting a (leftist, Baker says) analyst's claim that "The worst case is that Bob Gates participated in a coverup. The best case is that Bob Gates is a hear-no-evil, see-no-evil, speak-no-evil bureaucrat who watched all this information come through his office and looked the other way."
We're not sure exactly what Baker is opposing here. Gates was, in fact, a CIA official during the Iran-contra affair. If he needs more evidence of this, all he needs to do is toddle on over to MRC sister site CNSNews.com, where today's "Fact-O-Rama" is dedicated to Gates' role in Iran-contra:
Gates was an early subject of Independent Counsel's investigation … into the Iran-Contra activities of CIA officials. This investigation received an additional impetus in May 1991, when President George H. W. Bush nominated Gates to be director of Central Intelligence.
Gates consistently testified that he first heard on October 1, 1986, from Charles Allen, the national intelligence officer who was closest to the Iran initiative, that proceeds from the Iran arms sales may have been diverted to support the Contras. Other evidence proves, however, that Gates received a report on the diversion during the summer of 1986 from DDI Richard Kerr.
The issue was whether Independent Counsel could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gates was deliberately not telling the truth when he later claimed not to have remembered any reference to the diversion before meeting with Allen in October.
This investigation was substantially completed by September 3, 1991, at which time Independent Counsel determined that Gates' Iran-Contra activities and testimony did not warrant prosecution.
Were Baker's CNS brethren "smearing" Gates too by noting his Iran-contra role? He doesn't say.
The first post-election columns by WorldNetDaily columnists Jerome Corsi and Jack Cashill strangely stay away from politics, failing to address the fact that the candidates for whom they advocated -- Ken Blackwell and Curt Weldon, respectively -- were soundly defeated on Tuesday.
Instead, each return to previous obsessions: Corsi on Iran, Cashill on Flight 800 conspiracies.
We noted before the election that ConWeb writers had done enough work in support of specific candidates that they might as well have been on the campaign's payroll. Let's look at the fruit of their efforts:
Prelutsky Likens Gore to Serial Killers Topic: WorldNetDaily
In a flourish of rhetoric that is both bizarre and clumsy, Bert Prelutsky uses his Nov. 8 WorldNetDaily column to liken Al Gore to serial killers. Noting that a handful of infamous serial killers "all lived for at least 10 years after being found guilty of their heinous crimes," he then writes: "Which brings us to Al Gore. How is it he is still around, still having media attention paid to him, still trying to pass himself off as one of the big brain people?"
Prelutsky also recycled a couple of old discredited smears about Gore, writing: "It was bad enough when he was claiming to be the model for the boy in 'Love Story' and even worse when he was claiming credit for the Internet." As we pointed out a very long time ago, 1) Gore was merely repeating a newspaper article in which the claim was made and that was "all I know"; 2) "Love Story" author Erich Segal has, in fact said that Gore was a model for the lead male character; and 3) Gore actually does deserve some credit for the legislative role he played in laying groundwork for the modern version of the Internet.
Malkin Misleads on Voter Fraud Topic: WorldNetDaily
In her Nov. 8 syndiated column (which appears at WorldNetDaily and CNSNews.com), Michelle Malkin attacked the Democrats' purported "pre-emption strategy" of "[c]all[ing] into question the results of the midterms even before Election Day had begun," calling it "a phony vehicle to sow seeds of doubt, paranoia and chaos as substitutes for action."
But, as she did when she portrayed Democrats as "unhinged," Malkin ignored the fact that Republicans and conservatives have made the same exact claims, as seen here, here, and here. And before the 2004 election, NewsMax and Robert Novak were claiming that Democrats were planning to steal it.
Is Malkin saying that Republicans who accuse Democrats of voter fraud are also using "a phony vehicle to sow seeds of doubt, paranoia and chaos as substitutes for action"?
UPDATE: Joseph Farah does the same thing in his Nov. 9 column, claiming that "Democrats, and their allies in places of influence, reserve charges of voting fraud exclusively for elections in which they lose."
Kessler's Bush-Fluffing Kicks Into High Gear Topic: Newsmax
His scare tactics having failed, Ronald Kessler uses his post-election Nov. 8 NewsMax column doing what he does best: fluffing President Bush and comparing him to Abraham Lincoln, Warren Buffett, and Harry Truman:
Like Warren Buffett, Bush keeps his eyes on the horizon. Buffett invests in companies he believes have long-term growth potential and holds on to those stocks regardless of short-term price fluctuations, negative media coverage, and downgrades by stock analysts. Today, Buffett is the second richest American with $40 billion in assets.
Bush isn't particularly interested in his place in history, either. Like any good CEO, he simply wants results and views challenges as opportunities. But he is also aware of how transitory opinion polls can be.
When Truman left office, his approval rating stood at 25 percent. Yet today, because of his firm approach to national security, Truman — whom the press portrayed as a simpleton — is viewed as one of the great presidents.
Similarly, the media have portrayed Bush as a buffoon, a religious fanatic, or a monster with the temerity to topple a man who had killed 300,000 people, not to mention liberating 50 million people.
In the same way, Democratic papers and critics disparaged Abraham Lincoln as a "dictator, ridiculed him as a baboon, damned him as stupid and incompetent . . ." according to Stephen B. Oates' book, "With Malice Toward None."
This is the thing to remember about Kessler's work for NewsMax: He's not doing "reporting," he's creating Bush hagiography.
A Nov. 8 CNSNews.com article by Susan Jones on the rejection of a near-total ban on abortion in South Dakota describes supporters of the ban as "pro-life" but describes opponents of the ban as "abortion defenders" and "abortion advocates."
This follows CNS' longtime policy of using subjective and misleading terminology to describe those who advocate non-conservative positions.
A Nov. 8 WorldNetDaily article by Joseph Farah summarizing the midterm elections was objective and balanced. That's how we knew that Farah couldn't have written it. As it turns out, he didn't -- it's mostly a cut-and-paste job from wire-service stories that moved during the evening of Nov. 7; nowhere in the article are the wire services credited.
Some spot-checks of Farah's plagiarism:
Farah:
Two years after a decisive election victory for President Bush and Republicans, Democrats picked up more than the 15 seats they needed to recapture control of the 435-seat House for the first time since 1994.
Two years after a decisive election victory for Bush and his Republicans, Democrats picked up at least the 15 seats they needed to win control of the House for the first time since 1994, according to TV network projections.
* * *
Farah:
Democrats needed to gain six seats to reclaim control of the 100-seat Senate for the first time in four years, and so far had taken three seats from Republicans.
Democrats needed to gain six seats to reclaim control of the 100-seat Senate for the first time in four years, and so far had taken three seats from Republicans.
* * *
Farah:
Pelosi, 66, appears certain to be elected House speaker by fellow Democrats when the new 110th Congress convenes in January, replacing Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican.
Under U.S. law, the speaker is second in the line of succession to the presidency, behind only the vice president.
Pelosi has said she will not try to end U.S. funding of the Iraq war, will pressure Bush to shift course, begin a phased redeployment of U.S. troops and require Iraqis to take greater responsibility for their own nation.
Pelosi, 66, appears certain to be elected House speaker by fellow Democrats when the new 110th Congress convenes in January, replacing Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican.
Under U.S. law, the speaker is second in the line of succession to the presidency, behind only the vice president.
Pelosi has said she will not try to end U.S. funding of the Iraq war, will pressure Bush to shift course, begin a phased redeployment of U.S. troops and require Iraqis to take greater responsibility for their own nation.
* * *
Farah:
Democrats have promised votes on much of their agenda within the first 100 hours of taking power in January, including new ethics rules and a hike in the minimum wage.
Democrats have promised votes on much of their agenda within the first 100 hours of taking power in January, including new ethics rules, a rise in the minimum wage, reduced subsidies to the oil industry and improvements in border and port security.
* * *
Farah:
Democrats toppled Republican senators in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Rhode Island, with races too close to call in Maryland, Virginia and Missouri.
Democrats won gubernatorial races in New York, Ohio and Massachusetts for the first time in more than a decade.
Charlie Crist kept the Florida governorship now held by the president's brother Jeb in Republican GOP hands.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, running as an independent, won a new term in Connecticut – dispatching Democrat Ned Lamont and thus winning when it counted most against the man who had prevailed in a summertime primary.
Associated Press (with sections that appeared verbatim in Farah's article in bold):
Resurgent Democrats toppled Republican senators in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Rhode Island and gained ground in the House Tuesday, challenging for control of Congress in midterm elections shaped by an unpopular war in Iraq and scandal at home.
Aided by public dissatisfaction with President Bush, Democrats won gubernatorial races in New York, Ohio and Massachusetts for the first time in more than a decade.
Charlie Crist was a bright spot for Republicans, keeping the Florida governorship now held by the president's brother Jeb in GOP hands.
[...]
In a comeback unlike any other, Sen. Joe Liebermanwon a new term in Connecticut - dispatching Democrat Ned Lamont andthus winning when it counted most against the man who had prevailed in a summertime primary.
Why point this out (beyond the obvious, that plagiarism is wrong and that Farah should know better)? Because not only does Farah have a record of such plagiarism, he regularly throws fits when other news services use WND copy without credit. Hint to Mr. Farah: You get only the respect you earn, and not stealing the work of others and putting it under your name without properly crediting the original authors would be a good first step toward earning that respect.
A Nov. 7 WorldNetDaily article on Republican Ken Blackwell's loss in the Ohio governor's race to Democrat (and WND and Jerome Corsi punching bag) Ted Strickland actually notes that Blackwell is "author of 'Rebuilding America,' published by WND Books."
That's unusual, given WND's previous reluctance to disclose its financial interest in Blackwell when attacking his opponents.
In a Nov. 7 NewsBusters post, Rich Noyes complains about conservative Joe Scarborough's claim to Chris Matthews that "I have been bashing my party more than the Democratic party because I want to make sure that I am fair and down the middle":
So “far and down the middle” means hitting Republicans harder than Democrats? Too bad Matthews, a former staffer to Democratic President Jimmy Carter and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, doesn’t routinely attack Democrats to prove how “fair and down the middle” he is.
Well, as a longtime MRC staffer like Noyes should know (and as we've documented), Matthews routinely bashed President Clinton during the impeachment episode and has bashed John Kerry. But the MRC stopped noticing those things -- not to mention Matthews' praise of President Bush -- and cherry-pick comments in order to slam Matthews as liberal.
Noyes might want to check into the facts sometime.
Sheppard Misleads on Robo-Calls Topic: NewsBusters
In a Nov. 7 NewsBusters post, Noel Sheppard claims that "the media have been wrongly depicting" the use of "robo-calls" by political candidates "as exclusively being a Republican strategy, while ignoring the Democrat campaigns that are doing exactly the same thing."
But it's misleading for Sheppard to focus on the general use of robo-calls -- a strategy both parties use; the debate is over certain tactics used in them. The only relevant counter-example Sheppard cites in response to a CNN report claiming that the National Republican Congressional Committee was making robo-calls in which the message didn't identify the caller at the top of the call and include a phone number -- both required by the FCC -- is a robo-call against Montana Sen. Conrad Burns made by "the international firefighters union’s political action committee." But an independent PAC is not the same thing as a direct party operation, which the NRCC is.
Further, the CNN report Sheppard cited also noted the deceptive tactic of making the listener think at the start of the call that it's from one candidate when in fact it's from the other, and of making multiple calls to residences. Sheppard offers no examples of Democrats being accused of those tactics.
Corsi's Last, Desperate Shot at Strickland Topic: WorldNetDaily
Jerome Corsi's gay-baiting sex obsession with Ted Strickland didn't work -- in fact, it may have scared voters away from Corsi's buddy and co-author (and Strickland's opponent for Ohio governor), Ken Blackwell -- so Corsi is spending Nov. 7 column, his final election shot at Strickland, trying to tie him to John Kerry and bizarrely taking Strickland to task for not having served in the military.
The only thing for Corsi to do at this point is place a bet on just how badly Blackwell will lose.
A Nov. 6 CNSNews.com article by Dawn Rizzoni on a trip by relatives of slain U.S. soldiers to Iraq, organized by Move America Forward, doesn't disclose a lot of things.
First, it's cobbled together from press releases. The first section of the article details comments by the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan, which first appeared in a Nov. 5 MAF press release. Other quotes come from a Nov. 4 press release.
Second, Rizzoni fails to offer any description of MAF; it's a conservative-leaning, liberal-bashing political group.
Third, Rizzoni noted a previous CNS article that "a newly released book" claimed that John Kerry "tried to recruit them at their son's funeral to speak out against President Bush and the war in Iraq." But Rizzoni failed to note that the book was written by Melanie Morgan, chairwoman of MAF -- the group she featured in her Frankensteined article.
UPDATE: Why, lookie here! WorldNetDaily built an article around those very same MAF press releases.
