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Saturday, November 13, 2010
MRC's Tally of CNN Guests Has A Flaw
Topic: Media Research Center

We've noted that the Media Research Center released a report claming that guest on CNN programs skewed liberal, but didn't release the list it compiled to support the claim.

Well, Politico managed to shake the list loose, and it reveals some flaws -- namely, that it tallied the political ideology of guest who were not talking about politics. From Politico:

CNN took issue with MRC’s methodology.

“Simply using partisan labels on guests who are not even talking about politics is not helpful to the national discourse,” said Barbara Levin, vice president of media relations at CNN. “And counting a newsmaker/headliner guest who gets twice the airtime as a roundtable guest, distorts the true overall picture. As our promo says, CNN doesn’t play favorites and is proud to be the only cable news network without partisan primetime programs.”

Several of the people listed as “Democrat/liberal” in study, such a Wanda Sykes, Kathy Griffin and Sean Penn, were on the air talking about non-political topics, such as bullying and the disaster in Haiti.

And CNN’s booking a liberal guest did not always pan out well for liberals. NAACP President Ben Jealous, for example, showed up on the “Democrat/liberal” side of MRC’s list, but the interview he did with Anderson Cooper – in which Cooper challenged the NAACP’s report pointing to racism within the tea party – ended up being celebrated in the conservative blogosphere the next day.

The MRC's Rich Noyes responded to Politico, admitting that the MRC focused only on perceived ideology, not the content of the appearance: 

“If a guest (such as The Nation's Ari Melber) comes from a strong ideological perspective, we did not parse each interview,” he said. “National Review's Will Cain sometimes talked about non-political issues on Parker Spitzer, but he was consistently labeled as "conservative/Republican."

He also responded to the charge that weighing each guest equally, regardless of how long they were on, distorts the picture.

“We did not weigh interview length, but just tallied guests," he said. "Given the lengthy amount of time given to liberals like Michael Moore on Larry King Live (October 13), it is our belief that timing each interview would have exacerbated the disparity, not reduced it.”

Noyes also added a comment to the Politco article:

FYI, the guests CNN claims were really nonpartisan made liberal points. For example, Kathy Griffin on LKL, talking about bullying, unleashed against conservatives: I think that the way that we had trickle-down economics in the 80s, this is trickle down homophobia. And I really want people to connect the dots. And that's why I believe there's a connection between Prop 8, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and now the string of teen suicides. It's almost sanctioned to bully gay people and treat them as second-class citizens. That's why we classified her as a liberal.

Because only liberals oppose bullying of gay teens, apparently.

UPDATE: Looking over the list, we see that the MRC has labeled Jesse Ventura a "Democrat/Liberal." Really? the guy who thinks (along with NewsBusters' very own Noel Sheppard) that global warming is a conspiracy is a "liberal"?


Posted by Terry K. at 12:33 PM EST
Updated: Saturday, November 13, 2010 9:51 PM EST
WND's Klayman: Obama Is 'Mullah In Chief'
Topic: WorldNetDaily

As if President Barack Hussein Obama had not yet learned his "lesson" from a week ago Tuesday's mid-term election results, our fearless leader has unabashedly pressed ahead with his public-relations "jihad" to further Islamic interests, both at home and abroad, with his pilgrimage last Wednesday to the Istiquil Mosque in Indonesia.

Gushing over his protracted stay in Indonesia during his boyhood – as Obama's stepdad was Indonesian – the president used the occasion to profusely praise Islam and take yet another swipe at what many Americans believe is his adopted country, the United States. Here are the latest words of wisdom from regrettably a president who has become seen as our "mullah in chief":

"If you ask me – or any of my schoolmates who knew me back then – I don't think any of us could have anticipated that I would one day come back to Jakarta as president of the United States."

Then, vowing a "new beginning" with Islam in the most populous Muslim country in the world, and proclaiming years of distrust created by the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama then praised the "great world religion (of) Islam."

[...]

We then have to ask ourselves: Was our president paid off by Islamic foes to bow down and pander to them and their professed radical religion? Only time will tell, but I for one am not going to rock back in my easy chair and not try to get to the bottom of this outrage.

The future of our nation, Israel and our other Western allies and is at stake!

No, it is not time, even as we celebrate Veterans Day, to allow our mullah in chief to do as he pleases.

-- Larry Klayman, Nov. 12 WorldNetDaily column

 


Posted by Terry K. at 12:37 AM EST
Friday, November 12, 2010
CNS' Starr Falsely Suggests Federal Money Pays For Abortions
Topic: CNSNews.com

A Nov. 11 CNSNews.com article by Penny Starr plays a disingenuous bit of guilt by association. Under the healdine "Planned Parenthood Got $349.6 Million in Tax Dollars, Performed 324,008 Abortions, Paid Its President $385,163," Starr writes:

Planned Parenthood received $349.6 million in tax dollars in the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2008, and it paid its president, Cecile Richards, $385,163, plus another $11,876 in benefits and deferred compensation.

According to a “fact sheet” published by the organization, Planned Parenthood Affiliate Health Centers performed 324,008 abortions in 2008.

Starr never comes right out and says it, but the implication is clear: federal tax money goes toward abortion.

That, of course, is false. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funds from paying for abortions.

But the point of Starr's article is not to inform, it is to inflame -- by her own admission. Starr concludes her article by noting efforts in Congress to defund Planned Parenthood, and, on her Twitter account, Starr linked to her article with the message, "Let the de-funding begin!" 


Posted by Terry K. at 1:22 PM EST
Graham: It's NBC's 'Fault' That Kanye West Called Bush Racist
Topic: NewsBusters

Did you know it was NBC's fault that Kanye West said that President Bush doesn't care about black people?

It's right there in the headline of Tim Graham's Nov. 11 NewsBusters post: "Matt Lauer Walks Rapper Kanye West Through Bush Apology -- But Utterly Ignored NBC's Fault in Airing His Racism Charge." Writing about Matt Lauer's interview of Bush, Graham elaborates:

Lauer failed to note at any time in this interview or the promotions of it that West said these scandalous, hurtful, and untrue words on the airwaves of NBC, at their invitation, and their refusal in any way to interrupt him or dispute him during their telethon for Katrina victims. While he walked West through an apology, Lauer offered no apology on NBC's behalf. 

Saying someone is at "fault" for a behavior means that someone committed or directly contributed to that behavior. But the only evidence Graham offers that NBC is at "fault" for West's statement is that he said it on NBC. There's absolutely no evidence that NBC knew West would say that, let alone that it encouraged him to say it. In fact, NBC made it clear that West "departed from the scripted comments that were prepared for him."

So, according to Graham, the fact that West said something that NBC didn't tell him to say is the fault of ... NBC. That's the kind of logic that has made the Media Research Center -- of which Graham is director of media analysis -- the powerhouse of incisive media criticism it is today.


Posted by Terry K. at 10:54 AM EST
Updated: Friday, November 12, 2010 10:56 AM EST
MRC Presents ... The Girls!
Topic: Media Research Center

Ever wonder what The View would be like if everyone thought like Elizabeth Hasselbeck (and had far less on-screen charisma)? Wonder no more! The Media Research Center has answered your question with ... The Girls!

MRC video producer Bob Parks explains the premise in a NewsBusters posting of the first episode last week:

MRC's newest production 'The Girls' counters the impression created by other lady-led talk shows like 'The View' that the left-wing mindset is the only one worth discussing. Maria, Melanie, and Penny will take on current issues from a conservative perspective, and their insights may not always be what viewers expect.

Despite agreeing to appear on camera in videos made for public consumption, "The Girls" are curiously shy about letting you know who they really are, providing only their first names. In fact, they are all MRC employees: CNS reporter Penny Starr, CNS evening managing editor Melanie Hunter, and MRC development employee Maria Ciarrocchi.

And while "their insights may not always be what viewers expect," most of the time they are exactly what you expect. The first episode discusses, in Parks' words, "Sarah Palin's impact on politics, and the liberal media's visceral loathing for her." There's a lot of predictable fawning over Palin; Starr complained about how people in "the left blogosphere" are "so horrible to a woman, treat her with such disrespect." Starr might want to have a conversation with her boss, Brent Bozell, who has disrespected both Christiane Amanpour and Nancy Pelosi. The only opinion that might be unexpected was an agreement that Palin's quitting as Alaska governor was a bad decision.

The second episode discussed celebrities in rehab. It's not that interesting.

The third episode, posted Nov. 11, follows in this week's gay obsession at the MRC: gays. Specifically, the pressing issue of a lesbian dancing with another woman in the Israeli version of "Dancing with the Stars." In yet another unsurprising conclusion, they don't approve.

Starr said "it seems like they're mixing up two things, gay rights and dance. Because ballroom dancing, if you're a real dance fan, it's for a man and a woman, the whole art form. And it's just interesting to see them turn that into a gay-rights issue."

Ciarrocchi complained that the show is "a family show in America," and such an occurrence here would force "a conversation that needs to happen with the children per se, and a conversation that you as a parent might not be ready to have yet." Hunter concurred.

Starr complained about shows that "are really seeming to go over the top," adding that it goes beyond entertainment to "a messaging tone." Starr went on to declare that if she had young children and there were same-sex dance partners on "Dancing with the Stars," "they wouldn't be watching it. And to tell you the truth, they wouldn't be watching 'Glee' either." Starr did add that she enjoyed "Glee" for the music.

In other words, exactly what you'd expect from employees of a conservative organization that has been generally hostile to gays.


Posted by Terry K. at 12:37 AM EST
Thursday, November 11, 2010
NewsBusters Upset By Accurate Description of Palin, Rally
Topic: NewsBusters

A Nov. 11 NewsBusters post carries the headline "CBS: 'Polarizing' Palin Speaks At 'Anti-Abortion Rights Rally.'" This indicates that Drennen opposes both terms, and indeed he does:

On Thursday's CBS Early Show, news reader Erica Hill used loaded liberal terms to describe a Texas pro-life event that Sarah Palin attended on Wednesday: "Palin shared the stage in an anti-abortion rights rally with Texas Governor Rick Perry."

Hill touted how despite making no announcement to make a 2012 presidential run, Palin "was looking an awful lot like a candidate," adding that the appearance with Governor Perry represented "a dream ticket for some tea party supporters." However, after playing a brief clip of Palin, Hill noted how "A just-released Associated Press poll finds of all the potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates, Sarah Palin is the most polarizing."

How can  "anti-abortion rights" be a "loaded liberal term" when that's exactly what the event was about? Pro-lifers do, in fact, oppose abortion rights.

And "polarizing" is exactly what Palin is. As the AP reported:

Forty-six percent of people questioned in the poll, which was released Wednesday, say they have a favorable opinion of the former Alaska governor, with 49 percent saying they have an unfavorable view of the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee. Only five percent say they don't know enough about Palin to form an opinion, a percentage much lower than registered by any other possible White House candidate tested in the survey.

That is the very definition of "polarizing." But Drennen has decided he doesn't like the word

NewsBusters and the MRC just hate it when things are accurately described.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:41 PM EST
Updated: Thursday, November 11, 2010 2:46 PM EST
Seems Like Old Times: Kessler Fluffs Bush Again
Topic: Newsmax

Ronald Kessler began his tenure at Newsmax by being one of the biggest Bush fluffers in the media, promoting his administration and explaining away his failures.

Now that former President Bush ahs a new book out,Kessler is ready to fluff Bush anew, and he does exactly that in his Nov. 9 column:

In press conferences, Bush was stiff, closed, and combative. He often mangled his words.

The real Bush was just the opposite: In a small group, he was candid, articulate, and displayed a mastery of the issues.

In his book “Decision Points,” the real Bush comes out.

[...]

Bush acknowledges obvious mistakes: Doing an Air Force One fly-over of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Standing in front of a banner that said “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. Failing to recognize the pitfalls in nominating Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

But what is far more revealing is the character of the man, the thinking behind his decisions, and his command of the issues as revealed in the engrossing pages of this book. When Laura asked if he could remember the last day he hadn’t had a drink, he got her point and soon gave up drinking.

“Quitting drinking was one of the toughest decisions I have ever made,” Bush writes. “Without it, none of the others that follow in this book would have been possible.”

While President Obama has made criticizing his predecessor into a cottage industry, Bush never says a negative word about him. In contrast to Obama, who unleashed the Justice Department on CIA officers who followed instructions to use enhanced interrogation techniques, Bush says he did not want to criticize “the hardworking patriots at the CIA for the faulty intelligence on Iraq.”

Bush’s character, in turn, enabled him to take the bold steps needed to prevent another attack. That included approving waterboarding, which elicited information that led to plots being rolled up. That included taking out Saddam Hussein, who would be threatening the U.S. today and murdering innocent Iraqis if he were still in power.

[...]

Many think the fact that we have not had a successful attack since 9/11 is an accident or luck. They are wrong. The reason we have not had a successful attack is the infrastructure Bush put in place to detect plots and the hard work of the men and women of the FBI and CIA.

[...]

Just as Ronald Reagan was portrayed by the media as a fool and is now recognized for having been instrumental in ending the Cold War, I believe Bush one day will be seen as a great president.

He may have done it his way, but it was the right way.

Ah, just like old times...


Posted by Terry K. at 2:21 PM EST
Show Your Work, MRC
Topic: Media Research Center

A Nov. 11 MRC item by Rich Noyes states:

MRC analysts reviewed all of the guests and commentators on CNN’s primetime weekday programs from October 4 through October 29, the last four full weeks before the November 2 elections. Guests were grouped into three categories: “Democrat/liberal,” “Republican/conservative,” and “Other.” The latter category included all non-political guests, as well as guests who were not associated with a clear political point of view.

The results show that liberal guests outnumbered conservatives by a more than three-to-two margin, 61% to 39%. Our analysts found 88 “Democrat/liberal” guests to just 56 “Republican/conservative” guests. All three of the network’s primetime programs — Parker Spitzer, Larry King Live, and Anderson Cooper 360 — featured more liberals than conservatives among their politically-affiliated guests.

To be clear, CNN offered opportunities for conservatives and Republicans to speak during the crucial final weeks of the campaign. But as for not “playing favorites,” the data show the networks provided clear advantage for liberals.

But Noyes curiously doesn't post the list it compiled of the guests and the ideological tags the MRC put on them.

If you're going to tout your "data," it should be posted. Noyes hasn't done that, so there's no way to see just how accurate the MRC's research really is.


Posted by Terry K. at 12:26 PM EST
Erik Rush: America's A Drunk Sorority Girl, Obama's Trying to Date-Rape Her
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Yes, Erik Rush wrote this in his Nov. 11 WorldNetDaily column:

Like the sorority girl who fell asleep drunk, awakening to an opportunistic frat boy peeling her clothes off, Americans let their guard down in a big way. Fortunately, the fear roused us from that torpor and insensibility, and we were able to fend him off before the deed was done. But we have a responsibility now to determine that he doesn't have the opportunity to harm anyone else.

This is not the first time Rush has likened Obama to a rapist.


Posted by Terry K. at 11:56 AM EST
It's Anti-Gay Week At the MRC
Topic: Media Research Center

It's apparently Anti-Gay Week at the Media Research Center. It started off by complaining that that a magazine honored a gay teen -- being nice to gays is irrefutable evidence "liberal bias," as far as the MRC is concerned -- and it's only ratcheted upward.

A Nov. 9 NewsBusters post by Matt Hadro was perturbed that CNN show graphic footage of gays attending church and featured "a Christian pastor who accepts gays and lesbians in his congregation and disputes historic, biblical teaching on the immorality of homosexuality." Hadro seemed even more disgusted that "CNN also featured clips of congregants praising the church's affirming stance on gay and lesbian relationships." Apparently, such graphic footage of non-homosexuals praying to a Christian God is utterly offensive to Hadro.

This, presumably, is what the MRC's Tim Graham was referring to when he tweeted: "CNN: We're the objective, nonpartisan network. (Except for offering hours and hours of propaganda time to the GeLBoT cause)."

"GeLBoT"? What does that even mean?

Then, in a Nov. 10 MRC Culture & Media Center article, Erin Brown was outraged a lack of outrage, asencapsulated in her headline, "Media Apathetic About Glee’s Gay Kiss":

The November 9 episode of Glee titled “Never Been Kissed” was quite the show stopper – unless you’re the media. The unexpected homosexual kiss between male high school students was nothing short of jaw-dropping, and yet the liberal media were “ho hum” on the controversy.

Glee’s stereotypical jock character Karofsky, who has bullied openly gay character Kurt all season, planted a kiss on Kurt in last night’s episode.  Kurt, played by actor Chris Colfer has been heralded as nothing short of a superhero for his sensitive portrayal of the difficult high school experience of gay high school students.

The “groundbreaking” musical comedy-drama has never shied away from debate, as it has aired episodes featuring teen pregnancy, oral sex, and high school students discovering their sexual identity, among other hot topics. But it’s curious that the media would simply report the gay kiss as merely “the other kiss that made news was the same sex smooch,” wrote CBS.

Teen pregnancy is apparently not a problem for Brown since there are no gays involved.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:06 AM EST
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Is Molotov Mitchell Encouraging Violence Against Gays?
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Molotov Mitchell uses his latest WorldNetDaily video to ratchet up his already prodigious hatred of gays by appearing to encourage Christians to commit violence against them, complete with the factual misrepresntations we've come to expect from him.

Mitchell says:

A few years back, a homosexual art exhibit "Ecce Homo" came to Sweden. "Ecce Homo" contained 12 photographic portrayals of Jesus Christ, often in the nude, surrounded by leather fetishists and cross-dressers. It was so vile it even offended many of the homosexuals in Sweden.

In fact, only one of the 12 photos in the exhibit depicts Jesus in a state of graphic nudity; the others include depictions that would not be out of place in religious imagery, which the photos by artist Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin were trying to emulate.

Of course, the point of Wallin's exhibit was to depict Jesus in the company of societal outcasts as a commentary on how some religious people and institutions have treated homosexuals. But since Mitchell thinks gays are icky, that point was presumably lost on him.

Molotov continues:

But the bridge-building gay artist didn't just set up in Swedish art houses or museums. That would be too considerate, that would be too normal. No, "Ecce Homo" was displayed in churches. Yes, big churches, churches like the Uppsala National Cathedral, the leading cathedral in Sweden, with the permission of the Protestant Bishop Hammar of Uppsala. May God grant that guy everything he deserves.

Well, the "Ecce Homo" tour across Sweden was going gaily until it reached a Christian center in the evangelical stronghold of Jonkoping. There, zealous Christian youth said enough and started setting things on fire outside the gallery. When the museum staff showed up to stop it and put their hands on the kids, they bit off more than they could chew. A riot erupted. Roughly 30 Christians were in there throwing punches and kicks. The police had to be called. It was a Swedish free-for-all.

Molotov declares this to be violent behavior worthy of emulation:

Of course, we gentle American Christians would never behave in such a hateful, un-Christ-like manner. I mean, would Jesus do that? Actually, he did. Look it up. What's the one time in Scripture that Jesus got so angry, so furious, that he actually went and made a whip, went into a building and started a one-man riot? When the temple, the church was being defiled. Ah, yes, you may be thinking, I do seem to recall some business with a whip.

Yes, Jesus, the most loving person to ever walk the face of the earth, even he didn't hesitate to run up in there and wreck the place. So for all of you politically correct American Christians, I ask: What's your problem?

Nothing like a little violent censorship -- the logical extension of which is violence against people he hates -- to liven up ol' Molotov's day.


Posted by Terry K. at 4:16 PM EST
Newsmax's Silly, Skewed 2012 Polling
Topic: Newsmax

Polling today for the 2012 presidential race is an exercise in futility since it cannot possibly predict how things will turn out two years from now. So anyone who does it likely has an ulterior motive.

See if you can detect the ulterior motive in the headlines of Newsmax's 2012 polling:

Newsmax Poll: Gates, Buffett and Trump Could Beat Obama in 2012 Race

Newsmax Poll: Gen. Petraeus Would Defeat Obama

Newsmax Poll: Hillary Would Easily Beat Obama

An attempt to reinforce the meme that Obama is unpopular, you say? You're a winner!


Posted by Terry K. at 1:12 PM EST
NewsBusters' Juvenile 'Media Criticism'
Topic: NewsBusters

This is what passes for "media criticism" at NewsBusters. From a Nov. 9 post by Noel Sheppard.

Keith Olbermann on Tuesday almost dislocated his shoulder patting himself on the back for all the attention he got after being suspended by NBC last Friday.

Like a kindergartner bragging to his parents about the fabulous day he had in school, the "Countdown" host told his viewers how many people signed a petition for his return, the number of tweets he received, and the various television programs that wanted to interview him[.]

[...]

Readers probably noticed only a brief clip of these disgusting festivities was provided. This was intentionally done to protect computers from the damaging effects of the nausea most would have experienced if subjected to the entire segment.

In the history of television, no man has ever spent so much time congratulating himself while the cameras were rolling.

After giving his side of the story, again like a kindergartner, Olbermann played video clips of various TV personalities discussing - you guessed it! - him.

Having done so, and obviously feeling uniquely proud of himself, MSNBC's biggest star concluded by saying how this incident was a fine example of democracy in action, for people quickly after he made his political contributions found out about them.

By contrast, if he had donated to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, America would never have known.

Show of hands: who wishes he had contributed to the Chamber thereby saving us from this pathetic and embarrassing display of juvenile self-congratulation?

For those that are curious, this seeming six-year-old was actually born in 1959.

Yep - he's 51.

Tough to believe, isn't it?

Sheppard's contemptuous screed demonstrates that if there's anyone who knows about behaving like a kindergartener, it's him.

(We're mildly surprised he didn't lazily work in "smackdown" somewhere.)


Posted by Terry K. at 10:36 AM EST
Kincaid's Favorite Economist Is A Vaguely Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Freak
Topic: Accuracy in Media

A Nov. 8 Accuracy in Media column by Cliff Kincaid plugs the claim by writer Zubi Diamond that the Federal Reserve is "interfering in free markets through currency manipulation," which is "the type of stuff we accused the communist and socialist governments of doing," adding that the Fed's policy of quantitative easing is in alignment with "George Soros’s agenda to destroy global capitalism."

Kincaid has done numerous columns featuring Diamond, whom he touts as a "financial expert," and Diamond himself his written two AIM columns. Diamond is also the author of the curiously punctuated "Wizards of Wall Street: & Washington Lap Dogs; The Scam That Elected Barack Obama: The Economic Crisis."

But who is Diamond beyond thte "writer-composer" and "entrepreneur investor by trade" he claims to be? As it turns out, he's a conspiracy theorist with apparent anti-Semitic leanings.

As Media Matters details, the self-published "Wizards of Wall Street" engages in smears of George Soros that are rooted in anti-Semitic stereotypes, including calling Soros the "mastermind" behind of a "cabal of slithery rich" who "visited financial violence on the American people to get Barack Obama elected."

Diamond goes on to state that Soros "chose Obama" to be president because he "wanted somebody that hates the traditional America, and its constitutions, a left wing radical, like himself."

No wonder Kincaid likes Diamond so much -- Diamond's as much of a conspiracy freak as Kincaid is.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:33 AM EST
Updated: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 2:39 AM EST
Quote of the Day
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Obama and company remind me of certain groups in the Middle East who are only interested in working together and compromising when it buys them time to secretly regroup and rearm.

-- Mychal Massie, Nov. 9 WorldNetDaily column


Posted by Terry K. at 12:13 AM EST

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