Topic: NewsBusters
In a Nov. 26 NewsBusters post, Tim Graham noted that in an appearance on Laura Ingraham's radio show, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw said that Rush Limbaugh "doesn’t want to hear another point of view, except his." Graham responded:
If Brokaw had ever "wasted" an hour of his life listening to Limbaugh, he'd learn that liberal callers are often featured on the Limbaugh program, some times for long periods of time that make conservative callers jealous. He should really learn from others who've made this factual error and actually listen to the program and apologize, as Washington Post columnist William Raspberry did. (See Brent Bozell on that.)
That Bozell column appeared in June 2000, after Limbaugh had been appointed to his (short-lived) post as a Monday Night Fooball commentator. Bozell does not indicate that Raspberry was referring specifically to Limbaugh's treatment of liberals, as Graham suggests; rather, Bozell wrote that Raspberry "several years ago penned a piece slashing Limbaugh to ribbons, then issued a follow-up apology in which he admitted that at the time he wrote the first column, he’d barely listened to Rush, and that once he did so at greater length, found out what he’d heard about him from friends – that Limbaugh was a bigot -- wasn’t true."
Bozell echoed Graham's claim in his Nov. 28 column:
This is beyond dumb. It’s like conservatives claiming that "the whole drill" about Tom Brokaw is he never allowed a female reporter on his newscast. It’s such a heaping pile of wrong that it serves only to discredit the critic as someone who is truly ignorant. Limbaugh regularly engages liberal callers -- always politely when they are polite, and usually politely when they aren’t -- and often at some length. If Brokaw had ever craned his pompous ears to listen to the show before proclaiming a verdict, he’d find....civil discourse.
So, um, where's the proof? Where are the audio clips demonstrating Limbaugh being "polite" to liberals? Where is the breakdown showing that Limbaugh is even more fair and balanced than Fox News?
Looks like it's time for Bozell and Graham's Media Research Center to do some, you know, media research and defend their favorite radio host with actual facts (if they do indeed exist) instead of unsupported assertions, especially given the fact that there's ample evidence demonstrating Limbaugh's hostility to liberals.
