Topic: Newsmax
DirecTV dropped Newsmax from its TV lineup, and it has been loudly playing the victim ever since, recruiting every right-winger it can find to help it complain -- but the Media Research Center is not really helping. Read more >>
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
NEW ARTICLE: Newsmax's Victimhood Blitz
Topic: Newsmax DirecTV dropped Newsmax from its TV lineup, and it has been loudly playing the victim ever since, recruiting every right-winger it can find to help it complain -- but the Media Research Center is not really helping. Read more >>
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:40 AM EDT
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Newsmax Tried To Defend Republicans Over Cutting Social Security, Medicare
Topic: Newsmax
When the speech turned out not only to be not boring but also featured Biden calling out Republicans for their desire to cut Social Security and Medicare, Newsmax sprung into defense mode. Charlie McCarthy had a roundup of Republicans attacking the speech, including far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene calling Biden a "liar" for making that claim. Then it was time for Newsmax to have a parade of Republicans attacking the claim (despite the fact that numerous Republicans are on the record as expressing their desire to cut Social Security and Medicare):
Newsmax's columnists whined about this as well. Michael Dorstewitz denounced the claim in his Feb. 8 column: "This is a common claim made by Democrats. But it’s unfounded for one simple reason — it would be disastrous to the party." Larry Bell complained in his Feb. 10 column:
A Feb. 10 article by Charles Kim served as Scott's PR guy, helping him clean up the mess that Biden called out:
By Feb. 13, however -- a week after the speech -- Newsmax was adding qualifiers to those attacks, tacitly admitting Biden was right: "Sen. Mike Rounds: 'Vast Majority' of Republicans Don't Want to Sunset Social Security." A Feb. 17 article by the apparently unironically named Charlie McCarthy, meanwhile, documented more Scott backpedaling:
Living up to his name, McCarthy served only as a shill for Scott and avoided mentioning the obvious point that Scott would never had bothered to amend his plan if it was actually true that "Americans outside of Washington knew what he intended." Newsmax followed this with an anonymously written article noting that the Biden White House was making fun of Scott for amending his plan. Biden's strategy was so successful, however, that a Feb. 20 article by Theodore Bunker highlighted Republicans trying to fight the claim:
Bunker didn't mention that Scott's plan to sunset all federal programs was the impetus for Biden claiming that Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare.
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:58 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, March 21, 2023 2:11 PM EDT
Friday, March 17, 2023
Newsmax Promotes Dubiously Sourced Attack On COVID Vaccines
Topic: Newsmax
Allison didn't mention that not only is the Epoch Times an anti-vaxxer publication, the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research leans anti-vaxxer, so it's not clear how good the journal's purported peer review is. There is one improvement over WND's approach, though: Allison did actually note Provost's anti-vaxxer leanings and that he "was suspended by Laval University for eight weeks last summer after he said publicly that there’s no real benefit to vaccinate children against COVID-19," and she did note criticismof Provost's results:
This was all buried at the bottom of the article, however, with the questionable study claims given more prominence.
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:47 PM EDT
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Newsmax Continued To Hammer Biden Over Classified Documents -- Until They Were Found With Pence
Topic: Newsmax
Meanwhile, Newsmax kept up the article onslaught in the second week of the story:
These 21 articles make for a total of at least 59 articles critical of Biden that Newsmax cranked out in the two weeks since the story broke. It did run one article on the other side of the story, a Jan. 17 wire service piece on the White house's response, as well as a Jan. 22 article noting the executive privilege issues in play in both the Biden and Trump cases -- but there wa also a Jan. 18 article letting Trump spin away his own classified document controversy (which Newsmax naturally defended) by claiming that some of the folders seized were empty and kept only as keepsakes. Newsmax also published a Jan. 20 column by Fred Fleitz -- whom it had featured in five articles over those two weeks -- going on a Biden-bashing tear:
But then, classified documents were found in the possession of Pence -- and, like the Media Research Center, Newsmax suddenly changed its tune. Its first story on the revelation was a wire story, followed by an article touting Trump claiming that "Mike Pence is an innocent man. He never did anything knowingly dishonest in his life. Leave him alone!!!" There was also an article featuring Rand Paul fretting about "the overclassification of documents." A couple days later, there was a wire article in which Pence is literally quoted as saying "mistakes were made." There was also an article featuring FBI Director Christopher Wray lecturing all politicians about classified documents, In addition, there was a paywalled piece by Marisa Herman claiming that "President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence each may want to consider issuing a mea culpa to former President Donald Trump after it was revealed that both men found classified documents that should not have been in their possession in their personal residences – and in Biden's case, in other locations, too." Needless to say, Newsmax didn't mention to its readers that in the wake of the Mar-a-Lago raid, it published a wire article featuring Pence denying that he took any classified material with him after leaving the White House. And, like the MRC, Newsmax largely lost interest in the classified-document story after that
Posted by Terry K.
at 8:18 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, March 15, 2023 10:14 PM EDT
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Newsmax DirecTV Victimhood Watch
Topic: Newsmax
These 15 articles bring the total number of articles Newsmax has published attacking DirecTV since it was dropped Jan. 25 to at least 258 -- and, of course, none of them mentioned the fact that DirecTV replaced Newsmax with another right-wing channel, The First. This time around, however, there were no Newsmax columnists mounting a defense.
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:58 PM EDT
Friday, March 10, 2023
Newsmax DirecTV Victimhood Watch: The Big Slowdown
Topic: Newsmax
That's right -- only five articles. That makes at least 243 "news" articles attacking DirecTV since it happened on Jan. 25. There was also a March 7 column by Perkins, who heads the right-wing Family Research Council, making some of the same (discredited) arguments:
As we noted the last time someone at Newsmax brought up this letter, it was in response to the indisputable fact that Newsmax, Fox News, and OAN spread falsehoods and misinformation about the 2020 presidential election that helped incite the Capitol riot. Perkins' lame talking points continued:
As we've also noted, many of those channels are carried as part of package deals to carry multiple channels from a media company. Perkins closed by ranting:
But Perkins did his own bit of censorship -- he refused to tell readers that DirecTV replaced Newsmax with another right-wing channel, The First, meaning that there is no viewpoint censorship happening.
Posted by Terry K.
at 5:53 PM EST
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Newsmax Obsessed Over Biden Classified Documents
Topic: Newsmax
That's 37 articles in the first week of the story, for those counting at home. There were opinion pieces as well. A Jan. 13 column by Michael Dorstewitz rehashed much of what Newsmax had already reported while also defending Trump, insisting that "the records in Trump’s possession were covered under the Presidential Records Act, and he had the power to declassify those records. As vice president Biden had no such power, and there’s no 'Vice Presidential Records Act' for him to fall back on." Again, vice presidents do have declassification powers. Larry Bell pushed the same falsehood to protect Trump in a column the same day:
Bell concluded by whining, "Don’t count on an armed raid on Jill Biden’s wardrobe closet as happened to former first lady Melania Trump any time soon." He forgot to mention that Trump's failure to cooperate is the direct cause of the raid.
Posted by Terry K.
at 8:36 PM EST
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Newsmax DirecTV Victimhood Watch, With Added Ruddy Falsehoods
Topic: Newsmax
With these 10 articles, Newsmax has published at least 238 articles attacking DirecTV for dropping it since Jan. 25, when it occurred. Meanwhile, the head of Newsmax went to CPAC to mislead about his victimhood. Luca Cacciatore wrote in a March 2 article:
Ruddy is lying. DirecTV replaced Newsmax with another right-wing channel, The First. In part of the video Cacciatore didn't transcribe, Ruddy repeated the talking point that there are as many as "two dozen" news andinformation channels he calls "liberal." As we've pointed out, Ruddy's definition of a "liberal" channel is wildly and dishonestly overbroad, given that it includes things like the Weather Channel and Comedy Central
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:43 PM EST
Friday, March 3, 2023
Newsmax DirecTV Victimhood Watch
Topic: Newsmax
This list is a little deceiving because it hides how much things had slowed down in week 5. Of these 15 articles, nine were posted on Feb. 28; the other six were posted on Feb. 25 and 27 (no articles were posted on Feb 26).This brings the total number of "news" articles attacking DirecTV since it dropped Newsmax on Jan. 25 to 228. Again, Newsmax columnists attempted to help make Newsmax's case. James Hirsen complained in a Feb. 24 column:
Of course, DirecTV replaced Newsmax with another rightwing channel, The First, meaning there is absolutely no "ideological discrimination of speech" happening here. But Hirsen didn't tell his readers that, because that would have blown up his entire column.
Posted by Terry K.
at 6:47 PM EST
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Newsmax's Own Arguments Against DirecTV Fail
Topic: Newsmax One of Newsmax's arguments against being dropped by DirecTV -- about which it has spent the past month loudly whining about -- is that, as stated in a Feb. 4 article, "DirecTV continues to carry 22 liberal news channels, many with low ratings and all get paid hefty license fees." But it rarely released the list of those "22 liberal news channels." But it would show them on the TV screen every once in a while:
What? The Weather Channel is a "liberal news channel"? Comedy Central is a "liberal news channel"? As the Daily Beast summarized:
The Daily Beast also pointed out that including all of those "22 liberal news channels," as Newsmax insists on describing them, Newsmax would rank 12th in ratings -- not the "fourth highest-rated cable network" it frequently claims to be as justification for DirecTV keeping it. The Daily Beast further blew up Newsmax's argument that DirecTV pays for each individual "liberal news channel" it offers, noting that some come as part of packages; for instance, Vice is part of A&E Networks, and it's included in a package of other A&E-owned channels. When the right-leaning Wall Street Journal published an editorial accurately pointing out that the Newsmax-DirecTV was a licensing dispute and not a "censorship" debate, going on to note that it's "bewildering why many Republicans are getting involved" by threatening government interference in a private business decision -- adding that "Political coercion of business is as distasteful from the right as it is from the left" -- Newsmax devoted an unsigned Feb. 20 editorial to complaining about it, claiming that the Journal "failed to mention some important facts":
If Newsmax is demanding a fee and DirecTV dropped it instead of paying it, that means this is, in fact, a fee dispute. Also, it's ironic that Newsmax would complain about the Journal's conflict of interest here when Newsmax routinely refuses to disclose its conflicts of interest when it promotes books by Dick Morris and David Horowitz that were published by Newsmax's book division. The editorial then went on a lengthy tangent about Fox News' own fee dispute with a DirecTV competitor, Dish Network, while not mentioning that 1) Fox News has much higher ratings than Newsmax and can therefore justify the carriage fees it wants, and 2) Newsmax has more streaming and OTT options than Fox News does, which would seem to obviate the need for Newsmax to actually be on DirecTV. Of course, the editorial repeated its own debunked talking point:
Finally, the editorial failed to disclose to readers the fact that DirecTV replaced Newsmax with another right-wing channel. The First, meaning that its argument of viewpoint "censorship" is inoperative.
Posted by Terry K.
at 7:00 PM EST
Updated: Wednesday, March 1, 2023 7:02 PM EST
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Newsmax DirecTV Victimhood Watch: Slowing Down The Pace
Topic: Newsmax
That's just eight articles in a three-day span -- a drastic slowdown from its pace of more than 50 articles a week in the first four weeks after it was dropped. With these articles, Newsmax has published at least 213 articles complaining about DirecTV's decision since it was dropped on Jan. 25. Newsmax also continued to have columnists help make its case. Dishonest Catholic Bill Donohue had a very lazy rah-rah piece on Feb. 21, right down to directly and uncritically quoting its talking points:
That's it. No, really. Ralph Benko put in more effort in his Feb. 23 column, but he slavishly stuck to the corporate line:
Benko censored the fact that DirecTV replaced Newsmax with another right-wing channel, The First, meaning that there is no viewpoint censorship. That didn't stop him from whining on his publisher'sbehalf, or from endorsing government interference into a private business decision:
We thought conservatives hated government interference in private busineess decision. Not if they can use them to advance an agenda, apparently.
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:26 PM EST
Friday, February 24, 2023
Newsmax DirecTV Victimhood Watch
Topic: Newsmax
With these 14 articles, Newsmax has published at least 205 "news" articles attacking DirecTV for dropping it in the four weeks since it happened on Jan. 25. Newsmax's columnists similarly whined as well. Steve Levy complained in a Feb. 17 column:
You know, maybe portraying Newsmax as akin to persecuted neo-Nazis isn't the best analogy he could have used. Jerry Newcombe similarly complained in a column the same day:
Both Newcombe and Levy failed to mention the fact that DirecTV replaced Newsmax with a different right-wing channel, The First, meaning that no viewpoint discrimination is going on here, or that Newsmax is readily available on streaming, meaning that its speech has not been abridged.
Posted by Terry K.
at 3:31 PM EST
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Newsmax Columnist Pushes Conspiracy Theory To Bash Capitol Riot Committee
Topic: Newsmax
Dorstewitz gets a couple things wrong right off the bat. First, it's a legislative committee that never claimed to be anything else, which means that the "adversarial system of justice" does not apply. Second, Republicans were given the opportunity to appoint members to the committee, but then-House minority leader Kevin McCarthy refused to participate at all after then-House leader Nancy Pelosi refused some of his appointees for being pro-insurrection. (Would Dorstewitz have demanded that members of Al-Qaeda be appointed to the 9/11 Commission?) Dorstewitz the complained that some witness testimony will not be made public, which prompted him to go into conspiracy mode:
As evidence of Sund's claims, Dorstewitz linked to an article featuring ... Sund promoting his new book in which he presumably detailed exactly that, arguably making release of his testimony redundant. Regarding the Columbus Doors stuff, that's a bogus conspiracy theory. As a fact-checker found:
It wasn't until nearly the end of his column that Dorstewitz finally admitted McCarthy's snit about refusing to participate in the committee after Pelosi rejected his pro-insurrection nominees, which he benignly described only as "strong Trump supporters." He then declared: "Although he was criticized for this, McCarthy was right in pulling his remaining committee choices." Dorstewitz concluded by whining; "It’s un-American when any 'fact-finding' body acts as judge, jury and prosecutor, and the results are always predetermined." Yet pro-insurrection Republicans never set up a credible alternative, something Dorstewitz makes sure not to mention.
Posted by Terry K.
at 6:19 PM EST
Updated: Wednesday, February 22, 2023 6:20 PM EST
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Newsmax DirecTV Victimhood Watch
Topic: Newsmax
With these 21 articles, Newsmax has run at least 191 articles attacking DirecTV for dropping it since it happened on Jan. 25.And none of these articles mentioned that DirecTV replaced Newsmax with another right-wing channel, The First, which means no viewpoint "censorship" is happening. Meanwhile, Newsmax unironically ran a wire service story on Feb. 15 stating how that "For the first time ever, U.S .adults will spend more time this year watching digital video on platforms such as Netflix, TikTok, and YouTube than viewing traditional television, Insider Intelligence forecast Wednesday." Newsmax has pointed out that "it offers its feed for free on its website, on YouTube and on multiple streaming platforms such as Roku, so viewers with DirecTV service will still be able to watch it -- which would seem to show that Newsmaxdoesn't actually need to be on DirecTV and that everyone who really wants to watch it has found a way to doing so. Newsmax also continues to have columnist complain on its behalf. Kenny Cody ranted in a Feb. 14 column:
Cody censored the fact that DirecTV replaced Newsmax with another right-wing channel, so no "conservative voices" are being "silenced." But the victimization narrative is a hard one to break, so Cody just kept ranting, with an added bit of pretending it's not government interference into private business matters if the government looked into this particular private business matter:
Dennis Kneale cheered Newsmax's strategy of screaming loudly over being on the bad end of a business decision in his Feb. 15 column:
He too failed to disclose thatDirecTV replaced Newsmax with another right-wing channel.
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:42 PM EST
Monday, February 20, 2023
NEW ARTICLE: Morris And The Midterms
Topic: Newsmax Newsmax pundit Dick Morris spent his time during and after the midterm elections making more failed predictions, fawning over Donald Trump and spitting out the occasional dumb hot take. Read more >>
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:51 AM EST
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