Wall? What Wall? Topic: WorldNetDaily
Further evidence that WorldNetDaily cares not one whit about separating news from advertising: a July 6 "news" article that is, in fact, an ad for a purported gas-saving device called the VortexValve. Actually, this is the third WND fake-news VortexValve article since early May (the first two are here and here). None of these "news" articles, of course, state that they are advertising; instead, they are promoted as "WorldNetDaily Exclusives," and the latest even gets a "SportsNetDaily" header.
WND had better be raking in some serious cash on this; after all, sullying what journalistic reputation it has ought to come with some kind of price. Assuming, of course, that Joseph Farah and the crew still care about such quaint things.
Kessler Attacks McCain Topic: Newsmax
Demonstrating that he's all about the conservative cause of his new corporate masters at NewsMax, Ronald Kessler has been on the attack against not-conservative-enough John McCain.
In a June 27 article, Kessler featured the response of conservative activist Grover Norquist to a report by the McCain-led Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Norquist attacked McCain as "dishonest" and "delusional" and accused him of "lying" about the report's conclusion that Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform, served as a front to launder payments made to Ralph Reed, former Christian Coalition honcho and current lieutanant governor candidate in Georgia, for his Jack Abramoff-connected lobbying work. Kessler did not allow McCain to respond to Norquist's attacks.
Kessler continued the attack on McCain in a July 5 article asking "does McCain have the temperament to be president?" According to "insiders," Kessler writes, "McCain has an irrational, explosive side that make many of them question whether he is fit to serve as president and be commander in chief." Among those he quotes is former Rep. John LeBoutillier, who Kessler describes only as "a New York Republican." Kessler fails to point out that not only is LeBoutillier, like Kessler, a NewsMax employee, he has a longtime animus toward McCain that makes him less than objective on the issue. In a June 2005 column, LeBoutillier calls McCain "an arrogant, condescending prima donna," "a spoiled brat with a gigantic chip on his shoulder" and, last but not least, "a false image who, upon further reflection, is a total nothing. He stands for nothing; he says nothing; his record is filled with nothing." In a February 14 column, LeBoutillier called McCain "the angriest candidate of them all" and "the single worst human being any of us have ever met in the poilitical world ? period!" (Italics his.)
Further, LeBoutillier's buddy, discredited Hillary Clinton scandal-monger Ed Klein, is reportedly working on a McCain book.
On the other hand, such slanted reporting is NewsMax's style.
The ConWeb Job Board Topic: Newsmax
It's hard out there for a conservative news website. Not only has WorldNetDaily reposted its news editor position first advertised in May, there's this job posting at Media Bistro (registration required):
REWRITE EDITOR: Growing publishing company in West Palm Beach, Florida, seeks an experienced rewrite editor who can work on both magazine and Web copy. The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate an ability freshen, rework, and sometimes reimagine news and feature copy. Speed, accuracy, the ability to multi-task, and excellent use of the written language are required. So too is a broad-based knowledge of politics, economics, and cultural trends, all of which are covered in our Web sites, newsletters, and national monthly magazine. Applicants who?ve excelled on a metro desk will receive special consideration.
The company describes itself as "one of America's most dynamic news media companies. We have been headquartered in West Palm Beach for more than seven years and continues to grow at an outstanding rate. We offer multiple groundbreaking publishing products and merchandise including a news site, magazine, newsletters, books, audio tapes, apparel, framed artwork and many other items." Sounds a lot like NewsMax to us.
As with any ConWeb job, the usual caveats apply -- such as no longer being taken seriously as a journalist.
Coulter Kills the Messenger Topic: WorldNetDaily
How does Ann Coulter respond to plagiarism allegations raised by the New York Post? By not addressing them -- and by attacking the Post.
Since WorldNetDaily is such a Coulterphile -- to the point where it restored something to one of her columns that her syndicated edited out -- does this mean it will follow Coulter's lead and refuse to address the plagiarism allegations, even though WND may be one of her victims?
The Return of the Clinton Body Count Topic: The ConWeb
Ah, but it never really went away despite all the evidence that it was bogus, did it?
The Freepers and their fellowtravelers are having a high ol' time reliving their Clinton-bashing glory days by tying the killing of an Arkansas urologist, David Millstein, to Clinton. The connection? Millstein's wife's first husband was Jerry Parks, a person with tangental Clinton ties who was murdered in 1993 and holds a prominent spot on the Clinton death list. But as we (and Snopes) noted, there are much more likely suspects than Clinton.
Well, as long as they're spinning their wheels on fevered speculation, they can't be plotting to harrass or kill New York Times employees, so there's an upside.
Coulter and Plagiarism Topic: WorldNetDaily
In 2004, we noted that a passage in an Ann Coulter column was suspiciously close to a passage from a WorldNetDaily article that appeared a few days earlier. At the time, we leaned toward blaming WND for cribbing from Coulter, given WND's history of plagiarism.
We may have to rethink that. The New York Post has revealed Coulter's history of lifting quotes for her books and columns without attribution, and it appears that the syndicate that puts out Coulter's columns is going to investigate.
Hey, WND, how about weighing in on this: Did Coulter steal from you or not?
WND Writer Praises Book He Co-Wrote, Doesn't Disclose It Topic: WorldNetDaily
From Jon Dougherty's July 5 WorldNetDaily column:
Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo's new book, "In Mortal Danger: The Battle For America's Borders and Security," should be required reading for every high-school student, public official, elected representative, judge and presidential candidate, as well as every citizen and prospective citizen in America. It is that important. It is that valuable. And were its contents widely digested, I have no doubt it would radically alter the political, cultural and social landscape of our country.
[...]
Pick up a copy of Tom Tancredo's book. As a political manifesto, it is a once-in-a-lifetime find. Such rational, cogent clarity of thought doesn't come along in our public servants very often. I'd hate for you to miss out on the most important message of our time: That America is indeed in mortal danger, but there is a leader who knows how to deliver us from evil.
Dougherty fails to note anywhere in the column that he co-wrote Tancredo's book, as evidenced by the WND Books website putting Dougherty's bio on its page for the book.
Also, Dougherty's tagline shows that he has a new gig, as a policy analyst for Oliver North's Freedom Alliance.
New Article: The Bush Administration Research Center Topic: Media Research Center
As its promotion of a dubious WMDs-in-Iraq claim and its attacks on the New York Times demonstrate, the Media Research Center is much more interested in advancing White House talking points than engaging in media research. Read more.
Breaking: WND Admits Existence of Right-Wingers in Israel! Topic: WorldNetDaily
We've previously noted WorldNetDaily reporter Aaron Klein's aversion to labeling right-wing politicians in Israel as such. That may be changing: A July 4 article by Klein contains the following paragraph:
If Shas bolts, Olmert may then be forced to bring Arab parties into his government or form a coalition with the Knesset's right-wing bloc, which would likely only enter the government on condition a Judea and Samaria withdrawal is either cancelled or postponed.
This is a boilerplate paragraph Klein first used in a June 24 article on a dubiously slanted anti-Olmert poll (which he again cites in the July 4 piece). As far as we know, that's the first time Klein used the term "right-wing" to describe an Israeli politician or political party; he's usually whitewashing that sort of thing.
Congratulations, Aaron, on your ackowledgment of reality. Now, about your anti-Olmert bias...
NewsMax Attacks NYT for Running Story NewsMax Did Last Year Topic: Newsmax
On June 30, NewsMax repeated David Horowitz's overheated blog post claiming that by running an travel-section article on Donald Rumsfeld's and Dick Cheney's summer homes, "The New York Times points cranks, radicals, al-Qaida operatives and would-be assassins to the summer homes of Cheney and Rumsfeld."
NewsBusters Nonsense Topic: NewsBusters
-- Tim Graham dedicates twoposts to Dana Priest's allusion to Bill Bennett's gambling habit. In the second post, he's shocked -- shocked! -- that a political radio host would take pleasure in an political attack. It's undercut a tad by the post's first commenter; he attacks Priest for bringing up a "personal insult not relevant to the conversation," then states: "Priest is a dyke lesbo."
-- Mark Finkelstein insists that Michael Smerconish, who thinks the United States is "a nation of sissies" where "limp-wristedness" is "compromising our ability to win the war on terror," is not a conservative but, rather, just a "middle-of-the-road Republican." Such mislabeling, Finkelstein further insists, "exemplifies the MSM's truth-in-packaging problem." Since this appears to be a concern, Finkelstein might want to have a chat about labeling with his NewsBusters colleague Noel Sheppard, who called Chris Matthews a "San Francisco liberal" with an "ultra-left, San Francisco Chronicle columnist side" despite 1) Matthews being from Philadelphia and 2) Matthews' history of bashing Clinton and saying nice things about Bush.
'Legitimate Media' Topic: Accuracy in Media
In a protest designed mostly to be a conservative photo-op and mini-rally and to provide B-roll for TV news (CNN was there, along with a couple other obscure TV outlets and Michelle Malkin's Hot Air, as well as ex-Wonkette Ana Marie Cox), featuring a chant in which "Lichtblau" was rhymed with "Gitmo," I inadvertently provided the highlight.
Accuracy in Media's Cliff Kincaid started taking questions, so I thought I would ask one: Given his criticism of Ann Coulter's inflammatory statements, did he think his own statement that the New York Times' stories on government surveillance programs were "comparable to interfering with police operations to investigate and arrest child killers" was similarly inflammatory? I started to ask it, but Kincaid tried to cut me off, declaring that he would take questions only from "legitimate media." I raised my voice, he raised his, I asserted my right to ask the question, and I eventually was able to do so. He answered it (in short: no), and steered things to one of his talking points.
Funny -- we thought Kincaid liked alternative media and opposed the idea of "legitimate media." Apparently, media is "legitimate" only if they're not challenging him.
As a special bonus, here's what passes for celebrity citings:
Michelle Malkin (right) records Free Republic's Kristinn Taylor (left, in suit).
Kristinn Taylor (left) and Cliff Kincaid.
Michelle Malkin and Hot Air crew member (behind her).
UPDATE: MyDD has more pictures, and TPM Muckraker wonders about the protester who thinks the NYT would have revealed Anne Frank's hideout.
Dubious Assertion of the Day Topic: Accuracy in Media
"It's comparable to interfering with police operations to investigate and arrest child killers."
-- Cliff Kincaid, July 2 Accuracy in Media column asking, "What motivates the New York Times to publish information that helps the enemy kill Americans?"
On a related subject, in a little while we'll be here handing out this.
Update: Conservative Medicine Topic: The ConWeb
Last year, we wrote an article about the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and how its right-wing agenda dovetails with the likes of NewsMax and WorldNetDaily. The Neurodiversity weblog has a new article that serves up much more detail about the AAPS' political agenda.
