Topic: Media Research Center
Mysterious Media Research Center blogger Jay Maxson just can't stop ranting about the existence of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Read more >>
Thursday, January 31, 2019
NEW ARTICLE: MRC's Years of Kaepernick Derangement Syndrome
Topic: Media Research Center Mysterious Media Research Center blogger Jay Maxson just can't stop ranting about the existence of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Read more >>
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:28 AM EST
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Newsmax's Ruddy Still Defending Trump
Topic: Newsmax As a good friend of Donald Trump, Newsmax chief Christopher Ruddy has been a staunch apologist for the president. Now he's venturing toward ridiculous-defense territory. Ruddy's Dec. 29 column is devoted to trying to shoot down the idea that Trump is acting like a mob boss. He insists that "Over many years of speaking privately with the president, in the most unguarded of moments, I don’t recall him ever referencing" mob-related films like the "Godfather" movies or "Goodfellas." He then tells us all the reasons Trump mob-esque behavior are really just the opposite:
Ruddy spun hard again in his Jan. 28 column, insisting that Trump's cave on the border wall during the government shutdown he forced wasn't a cave at all:
Ruddy clearly knows on which side his bread is buttered.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:44 PM EST
CNS Labors to Downplay Roger Stone Indictment, Touts Trump's CNN Conspiracy Theory
Topic: CNSNews.com It's telling of the right-wing bias of CNSNews.com that its first reaction to the arrest of longtime Trump friend Roger Stone was to distance him from President Trump and allegations of Russian collusion and to spread a conspiracy theory about how Stone's arrest was covered by CNN. Susan Jones kicked off the distancing in her initial story on the arrest:
Jones used the last paragraph of her article to play some partisan whataboutism demonstrating that she's not a fair and objec ctive reporter:
Jones didn't mention that nothing in that paragraph was a crime, unlike Stone's dealkings with Wikileaks and lies under oath. Jones followed up later in the morning by uncriticallly repeating what White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had to say: "I can tell you the specific charges brought against Mr. Stone don't have anything to do with the president," White House spokewoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNN’s “New Day” on Friday morning, shortly after longtime Trump associate Roger Stone was arrested at his Florida home on charges of obstruction, making false statements and witness tampering. Asked for her reaction, Sanders said, "Real simple, this has nothing to do with the president and certainly nothing to do with the White House. This is something that has to do solely with that individual, and not something that affects us in this building." By midday on Jan. 25, Jones was doing her best to promote Trump's conspiracy theory about CNN's presence at Stone's house at the time he was arrested:
Jones spent one paragraph on how CNN pointed out it had been alerted to a possible Stone arrest because of "unusual grand jury activity," and nine paragraphs of random conservatives falsely speculating that CNN was somehow tipped off by special counsel Robert Mueller himself. Promoting presidential conspiracy theories is no way to present yourself as a legitimate "news" organization.
Posted by Terry K.
at 4:27 PM EST
WND Peddles Alveda King's Lies About Margaret Sanger
Topic: WorldNetDaily Jerry Newcombe writes in his Jan. 22 WorldNetDaily column:
But King is lying. As we've documented with others have made the same claim, there is no record of Sanger describing "colored people" as weeds. And since Newcombe is being a sympathetic host, he has no interest in fact-checking King as long as she keeps spinning the anti-abortion narrative he had her on his radio show to peddle in the first place. (WND is not the only right-wing outlet to give King's lie a pass; a 2016 CBN article also uncritically quotes her making the same bogus claim.) King is not the only misinformation peddler that Newcombe privileges and fails to fact-check. He also repeats right-wing historian Paul Kengor's biased, inaccurate framing of Sanger's speech to a women's Ku Klux Klan auxiliary: "Why would the KKK be so interested in Ms. Sanger? The reasons are obvious, a natural fit. It was because Sanger was a passionate racial eugenicist with grandiose dreams of 'race improvement.'" As we've also documented, the KKK in the 1920s had a broad appeal beyond racism, to the point where it could almost be considered a mainstream conservative organization today. Further, Sanger spoke to a women's auxiliary of the KKK, not the KKK itself, and seemingly contrary to Kengor's portrayal of the speech as a "smash hit," she later called the speech "one of the weirdest experiences I had in lecturing." There's also no evidence that Sanger had any special fondness for the Klan, and it's clear from her writings that she would speak to any group that would have her. (Kengor walked back his portrayal of Sanger as a racist after we called him out on it.) Newcombe also wrote:
That's another right-wing distortion. Anti-abortoin activists love to take that statement -- made in reference to a so-called "Negro Project" to target black women for birth control efforts -- out of context; in fact, it refers to an attempt to recruit black leaders for the effort in order to allay suspicions blacks might have had about whites like Sanger being involved. But Newcombe wasn't done with pushing misinformation. He also writes: "To see for yourself the ongoing racism of Planned Parenthood in action, notice how often their clinics are still in very poor neighborhoods. Alveda notes some of those Planned Parenthood neighborhoods have streets nearby named after her uncle." As we also documented, the Guttmacher Institute found that 60 percent of abortion providers are, in fact, located in majority-white neighborhoods. Newcombe seems to be alluding to an anti-abortion group's claim that a majority of abortion providers are "within walking distance" of a minority neighborhood -- which is defined as two miles. Newcombe also refers to King at one point as "Dr. Alveda King," which is yet another bit of false privileging. As we've pointed out, King's doctorate is honorary, not earned. You'd think that WND would have learned by now not to publish so much fake news.
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:35 AM EST
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
MRC Snowflakes Traumatized By Challenges To 'Toxic Masculinity'
Topic: Media Research Center Conservatives love to mock liberals as "snowflakes" for allegedly being unable to handle points of view that differ from their own. By that definiton, the Media Research Center is an organization filled with snowflakes who freak out over any view that counters their right-wing agenda. When challenges to the harmful side of traditional masculinity appeared earlier this month -- in the forms of a list of guidelines from the American Psychological Association and a Gillette commercial -- the MRC went into full snowflake mode. Gabriel Hays sneered that the Gillette ad was "brimming with PC condescension" and "held men in general accountable for the existence of 'toxic masculinity,'" further huffing: "The most insulting part of the whole thing may be that a razor blade manufacturer believes men -- especially fathers raising boys -- need its advice on masculinity." Hay also insisted that Gillette wants "to join every bitter feminist and cosmopolitan soyboy who wants men to be something more acceptable in faculty lounges, big city newsrooms and, it seems, the offices of razor manufacturers." Hays weirdly based his rant on a BBC article about the Gillette ad, despite the fact that it was targeted at an American audience. Kyle Drennen tried for an irony angle, twisting an NBC report on the Gillettte into claiming that the network morning show that employed an alleged sexual harasser for 20 years thought it was great that shave company Gillette produced a commercial condemning 'toxic masculinity.'" Drennen linked to a Fox News article about the ad -- presumably because outrage about challenges to "toxic masculinity" is more on-brand for the channel whose male employees seem to be nothing but sexual harassers. Drennen also complained that initial coverage of tte ad on NBC was limited to "two female co-hosts and female reporter" and that "it wasn’t until the 9:00 a.m. ET hour that the male hosts were given the chance to react to the story." The MRC got mad at the APA guidelines as well, with Clay Waters deliberately issuing an overbroad assessment that "courage, risk-taking, and achievement are now black marks on a man’s character under the APA's guidelines" and that a in New York Times article on the guidelines, "liberal academics put positive spins on the controversial guidelines, and let them criticize the conservative point of view without rebuttal." Waters also played a bit of anti-elitist elitism, grumbling that "The guidelines themselves are suffused with sex-blurred 'non-binary' terms de rigueur in today’s intelligentsia circles." Matt Philbin also groused about the APA guidelines with some stereotypical whining:
Of course, MRC bigwigs Tim Graham and Brent Bozell couldn't help but and their two cents in a column-length rant:
If an academic paper and a razor company's ad triggers right-wingers so ferociously, who are the real snowflakes here?
Posted by Terry K.
at 8:26 PM EST
WND's Kupelian Repackages Ancient Interview As 'News'
Topic: WorldNetDaily A Jan. 21 WorldNetDaily article by David Kupelian, tagged as a "WND Exclusive," carried the proud headline "My interview with the doctor who gave America legalized abortion: David Kupelian's revealing conversation with NARAL co-founder Bernard Nathanson." And it is indeed pretty lengthy -- of course, the right-wing Kupelian would not devote so much space to the co-founder of NARAL if had hadn't flipped and become an anti-abortion activist. He even gave Nathanson space to defend the misleading anti-abortion film he made, "The Silent Scream," with Kupelian lamenting that the film "provoked a massive campaign of defamation on the part of the pro-abortion movement." But Kupelian obfuscates a bit on the newsworthiness of his interview with Nathanson. It's not until the fifth paragraph that Kupelian gets around to mentioning that the interview actually took place in 1990 -- almost 30 years ago. And it's not until the very end of his article that Kupelian makes clear that "Bernard Nathanson passed away on Feb. 21, 2011, at the age of 84." This is followed by an editor's note: "The preceding interview with Bernard Nathanson, M.D., is excerpted and adapted from David Kupelian’s bestselling book, 'The Marketing of Evil.'" In other words, Kupelian's interview is not only ancient, it's effectively copied-and-pasted from a book he wrote more than a decade ago. It has no news value whatsoever beyond its appearance around the time of the anti-abortion March for Life. It may be very old news, but to WND's credit, it's not fake news.
Posted by Terry K.
at 6:28 PM EST
Shocker: CNS Reports Actual News
Topic: CNSNews.com CNSNews.com is so dedicated to pro-Trump stenography that it's news when CNS reports actual news -- and even bigger news when CNS reports original news that isn't reflexively pro-Trump. So, it's worth noting that a Jan. 10 article by Emily Ward found a State Department message marking Pride Month in June 2018 and expressing support for LGBT rights didn't appear on the websites of U.S. embassies in countries that are notoriously hostile to such rights. Unfortunately, Ward wasn't able to pursue the story much further; the State Department declined comment because much the department was closed because of the government shutdown. It's not a lot, but it's something, and it shows that CNS actually has a bit of talent and can accomplish something when it chooses to act like journalists instead of stenographers.
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:21 AM EST
Monday, January 28, 2019
WND Columnist Concedes Trump Is Amoral, Gives Him A Pass Anyway
Topic: WorldNetDaily Adriana Cohen complains in her Jan. 13 column:
Cohen goes on to complain about "the cesspool of liberal Hollywood hypocrites" and "President Bill Clinton’s numerous affairs – including with Monica Lewinsky, a young, impressionable intern he engaged in extramarital sex acts with in the Oval Office" that purportedly get less attention than Trump. But while Cohen apparently concedes Trump's "amorality," she says nothing more about it -- nor does she explain why conservatives who were vocal about Clinton's affair with Lewinsky are silent about Trump's three marriages and his paying off a porn star to cover up their affair. Further, skimming through Cohen's WND archive, we could find no column that she devoted to addressing Trump's amorality. It seems that Cohen is pushing the flip side of her opening line: Immorality for Trump, but not for thee.
Posted by Terry K.
at 8:52 PM EST
Updated: Monday, January 28, 2019 8:54 PM EST
MRC Embraces Trump's Scary-Illegal-Immigrant Crusade
Topic: Media Research Center President Trump has been pushing the idea that all illegal immigrants are scary, if not actively coming to kill you, and the Media Research Center wants to help that narrative along. A Jan. 17 post by Brad Wilmouth complained that "CNN senior political analyst John Avlon presented another of his infamous "Reality Check" segments, which is more akin to liberal spin than an actual effort to clearly inform viewers about the issues. The CNN analyst argued against a border wall as he cited Politifact to dismiss claims of 2,000 homicides being committed by illegal immigrants in one year being reported by ICE for FY2018." Wilmouth went on to convolutedly rant about the PolitiFact fact-check:
Actually, the PolitiFact article debunks the claim a lot more than Wilmouth would admit, further explaining that "those offenses could have been accumulated over many years — not just 2017 — and didn’t necessarily happen the same year ICE arrested these people. In addition, a homicide could be a murder, but it could also be an accidental killing. Finally, ICE didn’t pick any of these folks up for murder; it picked them up for being in violation of the nation’s immigration laws." The number also doesn't reflect when homicide charges are dropped. The next day, the MRC dropped any subtlety on the issue with a headline screaming "Seven Horrific Crimes by Illegal Immigrants that Networks BURIED." In it, Bill D'Agostino insisted that all crimes by illegal immigrants demand national news coverage -- no matter how minor, apparently -- because, duh, they're illegals:
As usual, the MRC "study" is limited only to CBS, NBC and ABC -- because it's easier to monitor only a half-hour of programming a day -- and ignores its favorite channel, Fox News, completely.
Posted by Terry K.
at 4:50 PM EST
WND Unhappy With Call To Impeach Trump, Forgets It Demanded Obama's Impeachment
Topic: WorldNetDaily An anonymous WorldNetDaily writer appears upset in a Jan. 17 article:
We would remind WND that it didn't even wait the two years the Atlantic did, or that there was no special counsel investigation whose results needed waiting for, before calling for the impeachment of President Obama. As we documented, WND promoted a call for impeachment of Obama in October 2009 -- less than a year after Obama was elected -- then teamed up with the Brown-operated Western Journalism Center (which WND editor Joseph Farah had founded in the 1990s) the following year to churn out "The Case for Impeachment," a shoddily written screed filled with misleading claims and outright falsehoods -- and, of course, birther conspiracy theories -- that purported to make the case for Obama's impeachment. In other words, one could argue that the Atlantic is following in WND's footsteps. Shouldn't WND be proud of that, or something?
Posted by Terry K.
at 2:01 PM EST
Sunday, January 27, 2019
MRC's Allen West Rants About Media 'Borgs' -- While Acting As A Borg For Trump
Topic: CNSNews.com Allen West spins a conspiracy theory in his Jan. 14 CNSNews.com column:
But West himself is involved in Borg-like regurgitation. A few days before his column appeared, President Trump said during a visit to the Texas-Mexico border: In other words: West is projecting. He took a Trump rant and turned it into a column -- like he was told what to say and what to think. He is a Borg creature hypocritically ranting about the Borgs he doesn't like.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:32 PM EST
MRC's Double Standard on Being Haunted By The Past
Topic: Media Research Center The mysterious Jay Maxson ranted in a Dec. 12 post about Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray's homophobic tweets as a teenager resurfacing:
Maxson attacked Gleeson as "obsessed with the LGBT agenda to search and destroy adult athletes for youthful remarks," then lamented of Murray: "No matter where he plays in the future as a professional athlete, it's not likely the progressive media will let him escape the "homophobic" taint. (You might recall that Maxson's Media Research Center colleague Michael Morris, of CNSNews.com, similarly targeted Gleeson for exposing Murray's homophobic tweets.) But just a month earlier, Maxson was cheering an athlete's youthful behavior coming back to haunt him. Just a month earlier, Maxson was gleefully touting an unverified claim that former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick "allegedly mistreated women in the past," citing a blogger who said she received communication from an anonymous woman who claimed to know Kaepernick during his college years and that he allegedly was "disrespecting women, my friends and people I grew up with." The blooger herself admitted the claims are unverified. Maxson demanded: "The questions we're left with are these: will other media explore the claims of Salome about Kaepernick's history? Or will they sit on this and protect him and his social justice cause?" Maxson has long been obsessed with Kaepernick.
Posted by Terry K.
at 2:25 PM EST
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Democrat Derangement Syndrome, Charlie Daniels Edition
Topic: CNSNews.com
-- Charlie Daniels, Jan. 15 CNSNews.com column
Posted by Terry K.
at 10:01 AM EST
Democrat Derangement Syndrome, Jesse Lee Peterson Edition
Topic: WorldNetDaily Jesse Lee Peterson hit the ground ranting in his Jan. 13 WorldNetDaily column:
Peterson then felt the need to explain exactly what alleged offenses to immorality these Democratic women committed, complete with graphic: And, yes, tops on Peterson's scare-quote-laden list is marrying a man who already has a child, because having a family is somehow bad:
(Sorry, Jesse, the charges for which Arpaio was convicted are very much true, and the judge's alleged politics are irrelevant.) Peterson went to make up stuff about President Trump:
Peterson offers no proof Trump is a "moral man" who "moved past his errors in life," or that he has ever repented for his rampant immorality.
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:55 AM EST
Friday, January 25, 2019
The MRC's Continuing War on Fact-Checkers
Topic: Media Research Center Because President Trump and his administration are constantly spreading falsehoods, the Media Research Center must try to discredit fact-checkers. Let's take a look at a few recent MRC posts to see how that war is going. Tim Graham, in ragebot mode yet again, was very mad that Trump was fact-checked during his Oval Office address regarding his government shutdown over border wall funding. He further whined that Trump's statement that Sen. Chuck Schumer "has repeatedly supported a physical barrier in the past" was found to be misleading because it ignored the context that the barrier Schumer supported has already been built. Graham went on to huff:
Well, actually, yes, Tim, if you do not make the full context of a statement clear, a statement that's "true" on its face can also be misleading.Graham shouldknow this because the MRC he helps run regularly attacks non-conservative media for allegedly taking the words of conservatives out of context. Graham took offense to another fact-check on Trump's speech, this time insisting that Trump's false statement that "Democrats will not fund border security" should not be judged factually because it is "a political statement blaming the Other Party." Nicholas Fondacaro then rehashed a Fox News appearance by former Border Patrtol chief Mark Morgan attacking fact-checks of Trump's speech. Morgan claimed that, in Fondacaro's words, that"it was the media that didn’t know what they were talking about" and that he "ripped the liberal media for acting as their own 'self-appointed experts' who spout off their own opinions." Fondacaro also wrote:
Morgan's not looking to hard to find those studies. The MRC knows they exist, if only beause it's laboring so hard to discredit them with an even more discredited study claiming the opposite. Brad Wilmouth touted how "On Wednesday's Tucker Carlson Tonight, veteran Fox News analyst Brit Hume called out journalistic 'fact checkers' who assume that liberal opinions on the illegal immigration issue are facts, and therefore that the conservative counter-opinions are claimed by those journalists to be not factual." Invoking his current favorite bugaboo, Wilmouth added: "A bit later, Carlson brought up the recurring tendency of journalists to make questionable claims that illegal immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than U.S. citizens, leading Hume to point out that, even if that were true, it would not contradict President Trump because he is not claiming that illegals have a higher rate of committing crimes -- only that some do commit serious crimes." Corinne Weaver then lectured:
You might remember that Facebook's oppo research on Soros -- presumably done to placate its right-wing critics -- undercut the MRC's shaky narrative that social media outlets like Facebook are run by liberals determined to censor conservatives. Weaver did not name any conservative fact-checkers who could be considered credible and not motivated by politics over journalism.
Posted by Terry K.
at 2:04 PM EST
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