Liberal Media Bias

[240 is Back]

180 falls in to this hook line ans sinker

WTF are you talking about?  The "liberal media" are tv stations that play what they want to play, just like "the conservative media" is allowed to talk about anything they wish.

it's entertainment TV, who use ratings to sell commercials.  Just like AMC, or BET, or Comedy Central. 

You assign some random, compeltely unrealistic "moral standard & obligation to the art of journalism..."  LOL they're companies, they're tv stations.  More liberals in uSA = more people want to watch liberal news.

Both stations do this shit, don't deny it. they're all just companies being shady as fck to appease their base.

[Dos Equis]

Press Was All Over GOP Gov. Candidate's 'Sweetheart' Comment in Sept., Ignores Dem's Nikki Haley 'Whore' Comment
By Tom Blumer | October 27, 2014

In late September, Charlie Baker, the Republican who is the party's gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts, told female reporter Sharman Sacchetti, who had already asked him a series of questions: "OK, this is going to be the last one, sweetheart."

That was enough to send the press into a tizzy. Jack Coleman at NewsBusters noted how Rachel Maddow at MSNBC turned Baker's statement into proof that the GOP is engaged in a "war on women," even though Baker quickly apologized directly to the reporter and indicated that, as paraphrased by the Associated Press, "the comment was a mistake and doesn't represent his work attitudes." This would be the same Associated Press which has, based on searches, not had a single national or local story on South Carolina Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen calling incumbent Republicn Nikki Haley a "whore" — even though Sheheen waited four days to (insincerely, in my view) apologize.

Though it might be justified based on the significant lead Haley has in the polls, it isn't like the AP has been totally ignoring the South Carolina governor's race.

On Wednesday, the day before Sheheen's offensive remark, the wire service's Jeffrey Collins filed a 13-paragraph story bemoaning how Sheheen, who lost to Haley in 2010, is "finding (his) second go at S.C. governor tougher":

... Sheheen is struggling to get traction from voters who already know him. While Haley has weathered several small scandals, there is no big issue to hang on her as she runs for a second term.

Sheheen also faces independent candidate in Tom Ervin. Their campaign war chests are similar – each has about $3.5 million – although Ervin is using his own money, while Sheheen had to raise his. Both offer a lighter brand of conservative than the governor, and both want South Carolina to take money for Medicaid expansion, want to increase teacher pay and think Haley is a poor manager who only reacts when there is a crisis.

... A survey of likely voters by Winthrop University at the end of September had Haley at 44 percent with Sheheen about 10 percentage points behind. Recent polls have looked worse.

And Haley has managed to get through her first term avoiding any big problems that stick in the minds of voters.

I've got news for you, Mr. Collins. If you are advocating Medicaid expansion, you're not conservative — "light" or otherwise — even though certain Medicaid-expanding Republicans like John Kasich are still pretending that they are.

On Thursday, apparently shortly before Sheheen's "whore" speech, Collins filed a brief story carried nationally covering former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's campaigning on behalf of Haley.

On Friday, the day after Sheheen's shenanigans, the AP's Meg Kinnard filed a 13-paragraph story carried regionally on third-party challenger Tom Ervin. At least she was more forthright about where Haley's opponents are on the ideological spectrum:

Even with low polling numbers, Ervin still having effect on SC governor's race

... Ervin, a former judge and legislator, entered the gubernatorial race this year as Gov. Nikki Haley's primary challenger. But he withdrew from the Republican contest days after filing to run, saying he needed more time to introduce himself to voters.

In July, Ervin secured a spot on the November ballot after collecting twice the required 10,000 signatures. He has spent millions of his own money to stay relevant, crisscrossing the state for events and showcasing his ideas in television ads.

On some issues, though, Ervin has seemed at times aligned with Democratic state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, who has in at least one instance echoed Ervin's message. Earlier this month, Ervin held a Statehouse news conference saying Haley shouldn't have taken campaign contributions from companies she was recruiting to do business with South Carolina. Days later, Sheheen critiqued the governor for the same thing.

Ervin also has criticized Haley for refusing to accept federal money to expand Medicaid, another issue on which Sheheen has seized. Both Ervin and Sheheen also have said teacher pay should be increased.

Ervin was a Democrat when he served two House terms representing Anderson County, starting in 1979, when Democrats ruled the state. Other Democrats he served with in the Legislature now lead the Senate's GOP majority, and Ervin says he's changed parties but not his views.

That messaging aside, political experts say Ervin could potentially carve votes away from Haley if voters see him as the "independent Republican" he's claimed to be, tipping the scales in favor of Sheheen.

Closer observers of Palmetto State politics would have to confirm this, but it would appear that Ervin might be a stalking-horse candidate whose mission is to take enough votes away from Haley to let Sheheen slip into the governor's mansion with a plurality of the vote. That kind of cynical strategy depends heavily on your favored guy not screwing up. Calling your female opponent a "whore," and then enjoying it as the crowd whoops it up, qualifies as a definite screw-up.

So the AP and the national press took an interest in and made an issue out of a Republican gubernatorial candidate calling a reporter "sweetheart," but has been almost completely uninterested in covering how a Democrat has called his Republican opponent a "whore," even though in the AP's case stories on the race are appearing on a regular basis.

What a mind-boggling double standard.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2014/10/27/press-was-all-over-gop-gov-candidates-sweetheart-comment-sept-ignores#sthash.WTnlETSl.dpuf

[Dos Equis]

Pervasive bias. 

Brent Bozell: ‘Big Three’ Ignoring Midterms Is ‘Journalistic Malpractice’
By Jeffrey Meyer | November 3, 2014
 
On Monday morning, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell appeared on FBN’s Varney & Company to discuss the 2014 midterm elections including a recent MRC study expsoing how the network evening newscasts have provided minimal election coverage compared to the 2006 midterms.

During the segment, Bozell argued that “the ideology of the far left that controls the networks has now gone into the arena of journalistic malpractice…I think it’s a direct threat to democracy itself. If you have a public that is not informed, or misinformed by the national news media, it really is hurtful to the democratic process."

The interview began with Bozell and Stuart Varney discussing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s failed attempt at mocking FBN over its analysis of falling gas prices. Maddow falsely claimed that “Fox has now decided low gas prices are a threat to America” when in fact Stuart Varney was merely asking if low gas prices would hurt the economy.

The segment then turned to the MRC’s midterm election coverage study which found that from September 1-October 27, the “big three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks had 209 midterm stories in 2006 compared to just 35 during the same period this year. Bozell insisted that the lack of midterm coverage “is a preposterous performance by the national news media. They simply do not want to report.” 

The interview concluded with Bozell and Varney criticizing the media for ignoring retiring-Senator Tom Harkin’s (D-Iowa) recent sexist comments directed at Republican Senate candidate Joni Earnst:

There’s sort of this sense that, ‘Well, I hear so much about Joni Ernst. She is really attractive, and she sounds nice. Well I gotta to thinking about that. I don’t care if she’s as good looking as Taylor Swift or as nice as Mr. Rogers, but if she votes like Michele Bachmann, she’s wrong for the state of Iowa.

Bozell insisted that “if the national news media--if you looked at what the left says about her, about Sarah Palin about Michelle Bachmann. If a conservative said that about a liberal, it’d be front-page news everywhere."

While the “big three” have so far ignored Tom Harkin’s offensive comments, in 2012 the networks pounced on Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women” comments during a presidential debate. In total, the networks gave Romney’s statement a whopping 22 mentions during a three day period have remained silent following a veteran Democrat's offensive attack directed at Republican Joni Earnst.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeffrey-meyer/2014/11/03/brent-bozell-big-three-ignoring-midterms-journalistic-malpractice#sthash.oXHBbrYY.dpuf

[Soul Crusher]

http://www.businessinsider.com/liberal-bias-in-media-chart-2014-11


boom

[Dos Equis]

Mika Admits: If Gruber Were Republican, MSM 'Would Be Exploding'
By Mark Finkelstein | November 12, 2014

Kudos to Mika Brzezinski for admitting the truth: if Jonathan Gruber were a Republican, the MSM "would be exploding."  Instead, noted Mika on today's Morning Joe, the MSM has been silent on the Gruber story, with only conservative sites [ed.: notably including Newsbusters] covering it.

Mika contrasted the current quietness on the MSM-Gruber front with the media "firestorm" that erupted when David Stockman made his infamous allegations about Reagonomics.

Howard Dean claimed the story "isn't a big deal," sniffing off Gruber as a mere "consultant."  Jon Meacham airily asserted that "you could spend a whole academic career studying why certain moments go viral." But then he gave away the game, admitting that the Stockman story fit "what the left-of-center press wanted to believe." Precisely.  And since the MSM ardently doesn't want to believe the Gruber story, or let the American people learn, about it, they've done their best to bury the story.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI:  This Obamacare story, which I saw yesterday and I'm surprised it didn't emerge . . . It's an interesting dynamic. This broke yesterday [ed. NewsBusters was reporting it four days ago], we kind of, were trying to get to it. Nobody covered it except for some right-wing outlets. Had this been a Republican, what do you think would have happened?

MIKE BARNICLE: Well, he is, this century's version of David Stockman, who was Ronald Reagan's original budget director. In 1981, in an extensive magazine piece in the old Atlantic magazine by Bill Greider, former Washington Post editor, David Stockman sat down with him. He was Reagan's budget director, sat down with Bill Greider for many, many times, to explain the budget. And he said, basically, none of us really understands what any of these numbers are all about, the federal budget.

BRZEZINSKI: [facetiously] So let me guess, nobody dealt with it, right?

BARNICLE: President Reagan had no idea what those numbers were all about.

BRZEZINSKI: Just a few left-wing bloggers brought it up, right? It wasn't covered? I think there was a huge firestorm, I believe.

HOWARD DEAN:  There was.

BRZEZINSKI: Exactly, that's my point!
 
HOWARD DEAN: David Stockman was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. This guy is a consultant. So it's a slightly different --

BRZEZINSKI: Well, he's one of the architects, is he not?

DEAN: Ehhh, it's not entirely clear.

BRZEZINSKI: You can't define him as an architect of Obamacare?

DEAN: He likes to think he was one of the architects. He did play a significant role as a consultant.  But he's a consultant, not the architect.
 
. . .

BRZEZINSKI: First of all, I was wondering why nobody jumped all over this, although we did at MSNBC--Ronan interviewed him. Meacham, is it fair to make a parallel to the huge firestorm after Stockman--we talked about this first hour--David Stockman, during the Reagan era, undermining Reagan's policies, and that we're just sort of not, except here, I don't know, I don't see it in the papers.

JON MEACHAM: You can spend a whole academic career studying why certain moments, we would now say went viral, and some don't. What often happens, I think the conventional explanation is, if something affirms a prevailing narrative, it tends to stick. So Stockman back in '81, '82 was saying the emperor has no clothes in terms of Reaganomics. That was what the left-of-center press wanted to believe. And so I think it probably made more of a difference.

. . .

BRZEZINSKI: That was a huge gaffe, right? We can all agree on that. I do think had it been a Republican, the media would be exploding.

DEAN: I think there's a big stature gaffe between the office, the Director of the OMB and a consultant for the -- that's why it's not a big deal.

BRZEZINSKI: Okay, that's fair.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2014/11/12/mika-admits-if-gruber-were-republican-msm-would-be-exploding#sthash.swLAfPc6.dpuf

[Soul Crusher]

Oh no - according to 180, option FAT, Straw, etc - there is no bias. 

[240 is Back]

Oh no - according to 180, option FAT, Straw, etc - there is no bias. 

dont be a dick - FOX/oreilly are proud to be the right-leaning bias that evens out the left-wing slant of msn and cnn.

remember?   seriously, you make up quotes like this.   of course theres a bias - and these companies are welcome to do so!

[Dos Equis]

ABC-NBC-PBS-NPR-NYT-LAT-AP Censor Gruber 'Stupid' Americans Video
By Geoffrey Dickens | November 13, 2014

 Just imagine the reaction of the liberal media if a video had surfaced of a George W. Bush administration official admitting that “lack of transparency” was “a huge political advantage” in selling the Iraq war and that they relied on the “stupidity of the American voter” to launch an attack on Iraq? That video would be everywhere.

However, the clip of ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber using those exact phrases in talking about the passage of the Affordable Care Act has yet to be reported on ABC or NBC’s evening or morning shows. The sum total of Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) network coverage was a 2 minute, 50 second segment on Thursday’s CBS This Morning - six days after the tape was first discovered. On the print side the Washington Post offered a front page story on Gruber on Thursday. But the Gruber comment has yet to show up in the pages of The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times or even the Associated Press.

Public broadcasting has been a no-show as well, with no Gruber mentions on PBS or NPR.

The media have been too busy bemoaning new Republican attempts to repeal ObamaCare. On the November 6 Today show, NBC’s Chris Jansing whined: “Well, what looked to be at least a temporary truce between President Obama and Congress lasted less than 24 hours. Republican leaders now say the focus of the new Congress will be to repeal the President’s signature accomplishment, ObamaCare.” On the November 6 Nightly News Brian Williams complained: “Digging in, how’s that cooperation going that everybody promised after the election results? Tonight, we have a reality check.” He then threw it to Jansing who reported “Republican leaders doubled down on getting rid of the President’s signature accomplishment, making a commitment to repeal ObamaCare.”

Since AmericanCommitment uploaded the video on November 7, the clip has gone viral thanks to major news outlets like the Drudge Report and Fox News picking up on it. FNC’s Megyn Kelly, on Tuesday night announced: “Breaking tonight, a scandal over what looks like an intentional effort to mislead voters explodes, with new video of a key White House advisor underscoring just how stupid he thinks Americans are...In the last 24 hours, a scandal involving a key White House advisor has blown up. And now we are waiting for some sort of on the record explanation from the administration. It started when video surfaced yesterday of MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the key architects of ObamaCare. Speaking at a healthcare forum last year, describing on camera the effort to hoodwink what he called ‘stupid American voters.’”

Kelly noted that while Gruber ducked an invitation to appear on The Kelly File, he did show up on MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow to defend himself:

KELLY: And today, Mr. Gruber, who declined our invitation to explain his remarks here on The Kelly File, went on a little watched daytime broadcast on MSNBC to say his remarks were “spontaneous” and, “careless?”

GRUBER (earlier today on MSNBC): The comments in the video were made at an academic conference. I was speaking, speaking off-the-cuff, and I basically spoke inappropriately, and uh, I regret having made those comments.

KELLY: It was off the cuff. He didn’t mean it. But now tonight, more video has surfaced, showing that this was not the first time Mr. Gruber called the American people “stupid” in an off-the-cuff remark. In this next clip, from, also last year, Mr. Gruber explains how Democrats played with the language of the Obama care law, so that it achieved their goals by, again, fooling the stupid public.

Even the liberal Mika Bzezinski, on Wednesday’s edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, was astounded by the double-standard: “This ObamaCare story, which I saw yesterday and I’m surprised it didn’t emerge...Nobody covered it except for some right-wing outlets. Had this been a Republican, what do you think would have happened?...That was a huge gaffe, right? We can all agree on that. I do think had it been a Republican, the media would be exploding.”

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2014/11/13/abc-and-nbc-censor-obamacare-architect-calling-american-voters#sthash.8yfSzEid.dpuf

[Dos Equis]

FNC’s Special Report Highlights MRC Study on Liberal Media’s Censorship of Gruber Video
By NB Staff | November 13, 2014

On Thursday night, the Fox News Channel’s (FNC) Special Report with Bret Baier spotlighted the latest study from the Media Research Center (MRC) and Newsbusters, which exposed the almost no coverage of ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber telling an audience in a 2013 video that “lack of transparency” and “the stupidity of the American voter” were critical in the law’s passage. 

During the show’s “Grapevine” segment, host Bret Baier noted that, while FNC and his program “feel this is something our viewers deserve to know,” the networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC “apparently, disagree.”

Baier then cited the findings of Newsbusters:

Despite this story growing throughout the week, as more and more clips of Gruber surfaced, showing him essentially bragging about fooling Americans, CBS did not cover the story until this morning. Neither ABC nor NBC have mentioned it, at all. The conservative website NewsBusters notes The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press have also avoided the story.

He concluded by reading a portion of a statement from Newsbusters Executive Editor Tim Graham: “The national media...have largely reacted to the Gruber story like it is a virus that should be carefully quarantined.”

Since the study was initially published by the MRC’s Geoffrey Dickens, it was updated to include the fact that The New York Times did publish a single story on Gruber on Wednesday, but was instead published on one of its blog sites (known as The Upshot).

Following Baier’s on-air mention of the study, the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley aired a report on Gruber’s comments that lasted for one minute and 49 seconds which, in addition to a 6-second tease earlier in the program, increased CBS’s total airtime on Gruber to four minutes and 45 seconds.


AD FEEDBACK
The relevant portion of the transcript from FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier on November 13 can be found below.

FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier
November 13, 2014
6:29 p.m. Eastern

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Stupidity Reigns]

BRET BAIER: As we first reported in the Grapevine Monday and have covered extensively ever since, ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber does not think too highly of American voters, saying, repeatedly your stupidity is the only reason the law he helped craft was able to pass.

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Newsworthy]

We feel this is something our viewers deserve to know. The three broadcast networks, apparently, disagree.

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Slow on the Uptake]

Despite this story growing throughout the week, as more and more clips of Gruber surfaced, showing him essentially bragging about fooling Americans, CBS did not cover the story until this morning. Neither ABC nor NBC have mentioned it, at all.

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Blackout]

The conservative website NewsBusters notes The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press have also avoided the story. Quote – “The national media...have largely reacted to the Gruber story like it is a virus that should be carefully quarantined.”

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb-staff/2014/11/13/fncs-special-report-highlights-mrc-study-liberal-medias-censorship-gruber#sthash.Qhm2l03B.dpuf

[Dos Equis]

ABC, NBC Again Skip Gruber; CBS Allows a Scant 13 Seconds

http://newsbusters.org/#sthash.cd2PuzQM.dpuf

[Dos Equis]

Author Sharyl Attkisson: Gruber Coverage Proves My Point
Tuesday, 18 Nov 2014
By David A. Patten

The failure of major networks to cover Obamacare consultant Jonathan Gruber's statement that healthcare reform involved systematic deception appears to reflect strong ideological bias on the part of media gatekeepers, former CBS investigative reporter and best-selling author Sharyl Attkisson says.

Several videos have emerged of Gruber, an MIT economist whom the administration paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to help design and sell the Affordable Care Act, saying "the stupidity of the American voter" played a role in the act's passage.

In the videos, Gruber stated that the law's labyrinthine complexity was used to hide the fact that the individual-mandate penalty was actually a tax.

Gruber also said "lack of transparency" about the law's funding provisions helped win it public support and congressional approval.

Attkisson, the author of the new best-seller "Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama's Washington," spoke with Newsmax in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

The mainstream media's ho-hum reaction to Gruber's remarks, she says, just validates the message in her book.

"I wasn't surprised," Attkisson said of the networks' decision to largely ignore the story.
"I feel it proved the 'Stonewalled' point, what I discussed in the book: [Media gatekeepers are] shooting themselves in the foot and actually alienating their chance to get viewers, when they claim that's what they're all about.

"Some of the decisions they make are so counterintuitive to what's good journalism and what's good for the viewers," she adds, "you have to wonder why they're doing something that's such a bad business decision."

None of the network nightly news broadcasts reported on Gruber's remarks when they first emerged. According to the conservative Newsbusters.org watchdog, as of Tuesday evening Gruber had not received a single mention on the nightly news broadcasts of ABC or NBC. Instead, those networks relegated the story to their Sunday morning political talk shows.

Attkisson says some editors have allowed their news judgment to become tainted by other considerations.

"I can only conclude that they are so sometimes ideologically entrenched, whoever's making the decision, that they'd rather shoot themselves in the foot from a business standpoint.

"They're insuring the demise of the very platform that they're trying to protect by doing this. But they're so entrenched that they either don't realize it or they don't care, because they can't bring themselves to put something on television that they don't agree with."

According to Attkisson, federal officials who spin breaking news in an effort to receive favorable coverage are no longer satisfied to get their side of the story presented to the public. Instead, they try to altogether censor the reporting of genuine news stories they see as politically unfavorable.

In "Stonewalled," Attkisson gives myriad examples of this "soft censorship," and relates stories of her first-hand experience covering the BP oil spill, scandals related to green energy, and the deadly attacks in Benghazi that the administration initially suggested was an angry reaction to an anti-Muslim video.

Attkisson says powerful gatekeepers who control what news is aired appear to be evaluating whether a story will have a desirable effect on the public, based on their own political worldview, before they decide to run it. In some cases, she says, rather than spin the story they simply refuse to run it at all.
Special: US Intelligence Adviser Exposes Covert Plan to Destroy the US Economy
"We've decided you don't need to hear this story about green energy because you might draw the wrong conclusion," says Attkisson, channeling the attitude of some media elites. "You don't need to hear about the Gruber story because we disagree with what it might make you think.

"So we're not going to report on it fairly. It doesn't exist. That's shocking.

"How crazy is that, for the press to be bringing up the rear on a story that's on the tip of everyone's tongues? Congress is talking about it, it's about a major policy initiative — and they won't even mention it on the news as if it doesn't exist."

http://www.Newsmax.com/Newsfront/Gruber-Obamacare-architect-stupidity/2014/11/18/id/608064/#ixzz3JSDHpXnK

[Dos Equis]

The discovery of the Gruber videos by an amateur is almost as much an indictment of the media as the videos themselves are of Obamacare. Even when forced to acknowledge Gruber’s remarks, the media have focused not on their substance, but on the GOP’s opposition to Obamacare. “ ‘Stupidity’ comments renew GOP vitriol on Obamacare,” was the actual headline on the Washington Post’s website. Obamacare’s architect calls voters stupid, and somehow it’s Republicans who are accused of vitriol. You’d think the media might be less inclined to defend Gruber after the New York Times appended a correction to a 2012 op-ed he wrote, noting that they might not have published his article had he disclosed that he was being paid nearly $400,000 by the White House to promote Obamacare.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/obamacare-s-throne-lies_819019.html

[Dos Equis]

Bozell & Graham Column: The Hypocrisy Over Presidential Kids
By Brent Bozell and Tim Graham
December 2, 2014

It’s an obvious rule: Never pick on a president’s family.

Elizabeth Lauten, the formerly unknown “communications director” for two-term GOP congressman Stephen Fincher resigned after a national-media feeding frenzy over some stupid words about the president’s daughters on her personal Facebook page.

No one came to her defense for this idiocy, and correctly so. Republican Party spokesman Sean Spicer decried her remarks, and then attacked the media for its hypocrisy, for launching into an obscure Republican staffer’s social-media statements, something it has never done for Democrats. Again, he was absolutely correct.

Political decorum demands that presidential children should be left out of political commentary. The same courtesy should be shown toward presidential spouses – unless the subject is their policy initiatives. You can evaluate or criticize Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign or Michelle Obama’s school-lunch program. It is never, ever fair to attack their children, and anyone doing so deserves the Lauten treatment and fate.

Liberals would agree – making them hypocrites. Wouldn’t it be nice if the liberal media observed this notion for all presidents and presidential contenders and their families? But they have failed repeatedly to be consistent on this principle. They have refused, time and again, to denounce liberal partisans who have verbally assaulted children of Republicans. Usually they don’t even cover it!

Take, for example, the radioactive crud that “comedians” have dropped on Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol. This is what Bill Maher had to say in 2011:

“In Bristol’s new memoir ‘Not Afraid of Life’ -- working title, ‘Whoops, There's a Dick in Me’ -- Bristol claims that the night she lost her virginity she had accidentally gotten drunk on wine coolers that she didn't know contained alcohol and then blacked out and didn't remember a thing,” Maher declared. “Oh, the Palins. I tell you, the s--t doesn't fall far from the bat.”

Or consider the Washington Post-owned website Slate.com in 2012 holding a caption contest for a picture of presidential candidate Rick Santorum's daughters Elizabeth (age 21) and Sarah (age 14). Sadly, liberal commenters predictably started mocking how these conservative Catholic daughters -- yes, including the middle-schooler -- were on contraceptives, or wearing chastity belts, or touching themselves sexually.

Denouncement? Coverage? Please find them for us.

The media mocked the Bush twins in the middle of 2001 when they were cited for underage drinking in Austin at age 19. The New York tabloids loved it. It was headlined ''Double Trouble'' by the New York Daily News and ''Jenna and Tonic'' by the New York Post. The networks jumped all over it, insisting all along that this was the public’s business because the twins had entered the police blotter, and because their father was a recovered alcoholic.

That might be defended as newsworthy (while the tone can be denounced as offensive) because they were young adults in public breaking the law.

But after the 2000 Democratic convention, 17-year-old Al Gore III was cited for driving 97 mph in a 55 mph zone and reckless driving. Network coverage? Zero.

What’s the difference?

The national media love to argue that politics in Washington is “broken,” that politicians don’t cross the aisle to socialize and recognize each other’s humanity and good intentions. But their willingness to stay silent when the children of Republicans are verbally eviscerated demonstrates they are every bit a part of the problem they describe.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2014/12/02/bozell-graham-column-hypocrisy-over-presidential-kids#sthash.4l7rdWXB.dpuf

[Dos Equis]

Networks Obsessed Over GOP Staffer, Ignore Dem Sex Assault
By Scott Whitlock | December 3, 2014

The same networks that hyped a Republican staffer's comments about Barack Obama's daughters are now ignoring the sexual assault conviction of a Democratic congressional aide. According to the Washington Post, Donny Ray Williams "pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse, two misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and one count of misdemeanor threats."

Williams was a staff director for the Senate majority and previously worked for panels run by Democrats as Mary Landrieu and Elijah Cummings. The conviction on Tuesday has, so far, received no coverage on ABC, CBS and NBC. In contrast, the same networks devoted 14 minutes (over two days) to GOP staffer Elizabeth Lauten's Facebook complaints about how the Obama daughters dressed.

While the Washington Post placed the story about the Republican aide on A-1, giving it 1,161 words, the paper buried Williams's sex assault conviction on A-5 and only allowed 281 words. (Political journals Roll Call and The Hill, often used as show prep for journalists, noticed the story.)

In the brief story, the Post's Keith L. Alexander explained:

Donny Ray Williams Jr., 37, who served as a staff director for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse, two misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and one count of misdemeanor threats.

Prosecutors say that on July 22, 2010, Williams invited a female congressional colleague to his Capitol Hill apartment and promised to introduce her to Senate employees. At the house, prosecutors said, Williams spiked a drink with Ambien. The woman, according to court documents, fell into a “deep sleep,” at which point Williams raped her.

A month later, prosecutors said, Williams invited another woman to his home and gave her alcoholic beverages. They said he had sexual contact with her when she was too intoxicated to give her consent.

Apparently, not all congressional staffer scandals are created equal. 

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2014/12/03/networks-obsessed-over-gop-staffer-ignore-dem-sex-assault#sthash.WnWZcWcE.dpuf

[AbrahamG]

What are the differences between liberal media biases, Santa Claus and God?  NONE!  They are all but figments of your imagination.

[Dos Equis]

Glad we settled that. 

[Dos Equis]

Nets Obsessed Over Christie Charges, Allow 48 Seconds to Clearing
By Scott Whitlock | December 9, 2014

Last Friday, a Democrat-led investigation failed to find evidence linking Chris Christie to the 2013 traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge. After initially ignoring the report, ABC allowed 16 seconds on Friday's World News. Anchor David Muir briefly deemed this "welcome news" for the New Jersey Governor and possible 2016 contender. [MP3 audio here.]

On day one of the report, NBC offered 17 seconds and CBS managed 15 seconds on Christie's clearing. The grand total amounts to a scant 48 seconds. In comparison, the first day of the Bridgegate investigation back in January netted 34 and a half minutes, a 43-to-1 disparity. (In just two days, these same networks produced 88 minutes on Bridgegate.)

In the first 24 hours of coverage, from January 8 through January 9, 2014, NBC included six reports over 14 minutes and 14 seconds. CBS devoted five reports over 12 minutes and 27 seconds. ABC managed 4 stories over seven minutes and 47 seconds.

On January 9, Good Morning America co-anchor George Stephanopoulos hyped the claims about the governor's role in a 2013 traffic jam: "Chris Christie in crisis. Calls at this hour for the feds to step in, investigate the explosive e-mails." 

In contrast, Muir on Friday night offered no such hyperbolic language. He blandly noted:

DAVID MUIR: The report about the controversial closing of the George Washington bridge in January, finding, quote "no conclusive evidence " that Christie was aware of the plan blamed on two of his former aides.

NBC also used similar apocalyptic language for the original charges. The Today show in January grimly declared that "the crisis grows." CBS's Elaine Quijano saw it as "the biggest test yet of Christie's political career."

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2014/12/09/nets-obsessed-over-christie-charges-allow-48-seconds-exoneration#sthash.5V5myvE3.dpuf

[Soul Crusher]

Love how the leftist incompetent media has been glossing over Lena Dunham scandal

[Dos Equis]

Pretty dishonest. 

Politico Invents Mike Huckabee Quote on 'Trashy' Fox News Women
By Tim Graham | January 28, 2015

Noah Rothman at Hot Air called out Politico for badly mangling remarks by potential presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. In his new book, Huckabee devoted a chapter to "The Culture of Crude." On Wednesday morning, they tweeted out this attention-grabbing headline:

But after clicking through to the article by reporter Adam Lerner, the reader discovered that Huckabee never mentioned Fox, just being in a "professional setting":

“In the South, or in the Midwest, there in Iowa, you would not have people who would just throw the F-bomb or use gratuitous profanity in a professional setting,” Huckabee told host Jan Mickelson in a Friday appearance on Des Moines’ “Mickelson in the Morning.”

“In New York, not only do the men do it, but the women do it,” he said.

“My gosh, this is worse than locker-room talk,” Huckabee continued. “As we would say in the South, that’s just trashy.”

Rothman added: "Really, that’s it. No mention of Fox News at all, nor did he even dwell on the distinctions between men and women using profanity. He said that using profane words in a professional setting was generally obscene no matter who does it." The use of the adjective "trashy" is the only fraction of the tweet that's accurate.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2015/01/28/politico-invents-mike-huckabee-quote-trashy-fox-news-women#sthash.wXaOeqCN.dpuf

[whork]

What are the differences between liberal media biases, Santa Claus and God?  NONE!  They are all but figments of your imagination.

Its funny cause conservatives have a network that is not only biased but lies through its teeth 24/7, yet all you hear from these people is liberal media bias.

[AbrahamG]

Its funny cause conservatives have a network that is not only biased but lies through its teeth 24/7, yet all you hear from these people is liberal media bias.

Fox News is the right wing "Onion" of cable news.

[whork]

Fox News is the right wing "Onion" of cable news.

Dont tell me tell Coach and the others.

[Soul Crusher]

Its funny cause conservatives have a network that is not only biased but lies through its teeth 24/7, yet all you hear from these people is liberal media bias.

One station vs how many outlets by the communist left?

[whork]

One station vs how many outlets by the communist left?

The biggest network station vs some outlets that people, by your own account, doesnt have any viewers.

Besides most of those you label as communist is actually factual.

Many years with lying media has brainwashed you friend.

[Dos Equis]

Nets Hype GOP Vaccine Comments, Ignored Similar Obama & Hillary Remarks in 2008
By Kyle Drennen | February 3, 2015

While the ABC, NBC, and CBS morning shows on Tuesday all jumped on potential Republican 2016 contenders Chris Christie and Rand Paul being sympathetic toward parents skeptical of child vaccinations, all three broadcast networks ignored Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton holding the same positions in 2008.

On ABC's Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos declared: "...this has become a bit of a minefield for some of these Republican candidates." Meanwhile, on NBC's Today, correspondent Hallie Jackson noted how "Christie's office quickly clarified" his comments following political "blowback" and that Paul was "also making waves" on the topic.  Finally, on CBS This Morning, correspondent Nancy Cordes similarly touted Paul being "at odds with most of the medical community" and Christie walking back his remarks.

The three morning programs all made sure to promote Hillary Clinton tweeting: "The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork. Let's protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest" and President Obama calling on all parents to vaccinate their children during a Sunday NBC interview.

GMA mentioned that Obama once thought differently, as correspondent Jon Karl explained: "In fact, even Barack Obama when he was a candidate back in 2008 said that, you know, there was a lot of questions about the connection here. He said directly 'the science right now is inconclusive but we have to research it.' That was Obama back in 2008."

On Today, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd referenced how both Democrats had once entertained anti-vaccine sentiment: "...the thought that there might be a connection between vaccines and autism and how that spread like wildfire in social media after – you know, and politicians, you go back to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama when they ran in '07 and '08, they were talking about it."

This Morning made no mention of the past statements from Clinton and Obama on the subject.

In 2008, none of the networks provided any coverage of the anti-vaccine rhetoric coming from the then-presidential candidates. At a campaign event, Obama labeled the link between vaccines and autism "inconclusive." Answering a candidate questionnaire, Clinton proclaimed: "I am committed to make investments to find the causes of autism, including possible environmental causes like vaccines."

On Tuesday's GMA, prior to Karl noting Obama's 2008 comments, Stephanopoulos observed: "...the thing has been cross-cutting politics too, You've seen pockets of this anti-vaccination sentiment on both the right and the left." 

Today went further, with co-host Matt Lauer actually going after the New York Times for asserting that anti-vaccine attitudes were an exclusively GOP problem:

The New York Times, the liberal New York Times, puts it this way in an article this morning, "The vaccination controversy is a twist on an old problem for the Republican Party: How to approach matters that have been largely settled among scientists but are not widely accepted by conservatives." And even as I read that, Chuck, let's make it clear, this does not break down neatly between the right and the left. There are pockets of liberal affluent America where parents don't want their kids vaccinated.

Todd agreed: "No, that's right. And I think that the pockets in California, some of this, is more, I think, of a liberal point of view."

Again, CBS didn't bother to examine anti-vaccine forces on the left.



AD FEEDBACK
Here are transcripts of the February 3 coverage on the ABC, NBC, and CBS morning shows:

Good Morning America
7:00 AM ET TEASE:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Outbreak battle. Now more than 100 cases of measles across the country and a new alert warning parents to vaccinate their kids. And the battle breaking out among 2016 presidential hopefuls.

7:04 AM ET SEGMENT:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We're going to get the latest now on that measles outbreak. We have new numbers from the CDC this morning. Now reporting more than 100 cases and health experts are sounding the alarm, making an urgent plea for parents to get their kids vaccinated. Our Dr. Richard Besser is one of them. He joins us now. Good morning, Rich.

RICHARD BESSER: Good morning. You know George this outbreak is showing no signs of letting up. There already are more cases this year than there were the entire year of 2012. This has a lot of doctors and parents very concerned. This morning, that telltale rash is spreading. The CDC now saying 102 individuals infected with measles across 14 states. Officials in Toronto now racing to investigate four cases discovered in just the last week. The American Academy of Pediatrics urging parents to vaccinate their children against the disease. If only for the sake of babies too young to get the shots. Saying Monday, it is heartbreaking to know that these vulnerable children may be at risk if parents refuse or delay getting their children vaccinated. A day-care center at this Santa Monica high school closing its doors Monday after a 1-year-old tested positive for the virus. Officials quarantining 14 infants from the center for 21 days.

GAIL PINSKER: The Department of Public Health will determine the exposure to either students on that campus, staff and other babies and toddlers in that program.

BESSER: The highly contagious disease even infecting politics. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie saying Monday, "parents need to have some measure of choice." His office later clarifying his remarks saying "there is no question, kids should be vaccinated." Senator Rand Paul arguing Monday that vaccines should be a parent's choice.

RAND PAUL: I'm not arguing vaccines are a bad idea. I think they're a good thing but I think the parents should have some input.

BESSER: Hillary Clinton tweeting overnight, "the science is clear: The Earth is round, the sky is blue and #vaccineswork. Let's protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest." The CDC recommends that children get their first dose of measles vaccine when they're 12 to 15 months old. This provides great protection from measles and it also helps protect other children who are either too young or are unable to get vaccinated.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Herd immunity. Okay, Rich thanks very much. I know you're going to be taking questions again on Twitter this morning. I want to get more on the politics now on this from Jon Karl in Washington. Jon, We just saw in Rich's piece right there this has become a bit of a minefield for some of these Republican candidates.

JONATHAN KARL: It sure has, George and the difference at least in tone among the top Republicans is stark. On one hand you have people like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who say absolutely no question about it, everybody should be vaccinated. On the other hand as you heard Dr. Besser report, you have Chris Christie and Rand Paul just yesterday both talking about how parents should have a choice, although both say the measles vaccine is important. Both talking about choice and Rand Paul went even further yesterday saying that he's heard of many cases where, quote, "children wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines." As Dr. Besser will tell you there's just absolutely no scientific evidence to back that up.

STEPHANOPOULOS: No, but, you know, the thing has been cross-cutting politics too, You've seen pockets of this anti-vaccination sentiment on both the right and the left.

KARL: That's right. In fact, even Barack Obama when he was a candidate back in 2008 said that, you know, there was a lot of questions about the connection here. He said directly "the science right now is inconclusive but we have to research it." That was Obama back in 2008. Although now what the president says is that he has no question, everybody should be vaccinated. There is no danger. The only danger is not getting vaccinated.

STEPHANOPOULOS: He was very clear on that-on Sunday. Okay, Jon Karl, thanks very much.


Today
7:00 AM ET TEASE:

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Controversy spreading. Six more states now tied to the measles outbreak, fourteen in all, as politicians take sides on whether parents should get their kids vaccinated.

7:08 AM ET SEGMENT:

GUTHRIE: Meanwhile, that alarming outbreak of measles is still spreading. More than a hundred people now infected in fourteen states. And as it grows, so does the debate over childhood vaccinations. NBC's Hallie Jackson is following all of it. Hallie, good morning to you.

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: The Great Vaccination Debate; Obama, Christie, Hillary Weigh In As Cases Spread] 

HALLIE JACKSON: Good morning, Savannah. And this morning we're keeping an eye on a couple of suspected measles cases in Nevada, which would become the fifteenth state seeing the virus, if those are confirmed. The outbreak making national headlines now a hot topic for the nation's top politicians.

With medical experts overwhelmingly in agreement vaccines are safe, Democrats and Republicans are sparking a debate that's become as much about politics as public health. Hillary Clinton weighing in late last night, tweeting, "The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork," adding the "#GrandmothersKnowBest." Hours after her potential 2016 rival New Jersey Governor Chris Christie talked about parents who choose not to vaccinate.

CHRIS CHRISTIE [R-NJ]: Parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that's the balance that the government has to decide.

JACKSON: After blowback, Christie's office quickly clarified, "With a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated."

And Senator Rand Paul is also making waves after comments he made about the choice to vaccinate. 

RAND PAUL [R-KY]: The state doesn't own your children, parents own the children. And it is an issue of freedom.

JACKSON: President Obama reignited the conversation around vaccinations in his interview with Savannah.

GUTHRIE: Are you telling parents, "You should get your kids vaccinated"?

BARACK OBAMA: You should get your kids vaccinated.

JACKSON: Most doctors say vaccines are the only way to stop the measles outbreak that's grown to 102 people in fourteen states. But many parents still have passionate reactions, like Marcella Piper Terry, who blames the measles vaccine for triggering serious seizures in her daughter.

MARCELLA PIPER TERRY: And they say "vaccines are safe, vaccines are safe" – not for my child.

JACKSON: The CDC says severe reactions to the vaccine are very rare, but for Piper Terry there's still a question about vaccinations and its one she feels attacked for even asking.

PIPER TERRY: It's discriminating, it's hate speech and it is – I can't believe I'm living in America.

JACKSON: Ninety percent of unvaccinated people will catch measles if they come into contact with the virus. That includes those too young for the shot, like the fourteen babies at a California daycare that are being isolated for three weeks, Matt, because they may have been exposed to that contagious virus.

MATT LAUER: Alright, Hallie, thank you very much. Hallie Jackson.


CBS This Morning
7:00 AM ET TEASE:

CHARLIE ROSE: The measles vaccination debate gets political. And this morning a new quarantine shuts down a daycare.

7:02 AM ET SEGMENT:

CHARLIE ROSE: Politicians this morning are jumping into the controversy over the measles vaccine. There are at least 102 measles cases in 14 states. Most of those are in California and can be traced back to Disney Land. More cases are expected.

NORAH O’DONNELL: And this morning potential presidential candidates are now joining the debate. A number of contenders are offering their opinions about the safety of vaccines and parents’ choice. Nancy Cordes is on Capitol Hill with the politics of measles you could call it. Nancy good morning.

NANCY CORDES: Good morning. And one who is getting a lot of attention is Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul. As a medical doctor he says he is a fan of vaccines but that they should be voluntary and in some cases can harm children, an assertion that puts him at odds with most of the medical community. Senator Paul, an opthamologist, made the comment in a live interview on CNBC.

RAND PAUL: I’ve heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.

CORDES: The CDC says there's no evidence vaccines cause such disorders.

TOM FRIEDEN: The vaccine is safe and effective.

CORDES: Government officials from the president on down have been on a public campaign to boost vaccinations in the wake of the measles outbreak.

BARACK OBAMA: The science is pretty indisputable. We've looked at this again and again. There is every reason to get vaccinated, there aren’t reasons to not.

CORDES: All 50 states require that children get their shots but 48 of them allow exemptions for religious or philosophical reasons. In a recent Pew poll 68 percent of Americans said vaccines should be required. 30 percent agreed with Senator Paul that the decision should be left to parents. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie tried to split the difference, telling he had his kids vaccinated because "it's an important part of making sure we protect their health and the public health." But he added "parents need to have some measure of choice in things." He office later clarified his comments saying "there is no question kids should be vaccinated."

FRANK LUNTZ: Republicans tend to believe a little more in the rights of parents to make decisions over their children. They tend to be a little bit more concerned about Washington mandates than Democrats. But in the end it is overwhelming among both political parties that vaccinations are important, if not essential to keeping their children safe and healthy.

CORDES: And the possible Democratic contender Hillary Clinton weighed in last night as well in a tweet. She said "the science is clear: the Earth is round, the sky is blue and vaccines work. Let's protect all our kids #GrandmothersKnowBest." Charlie.

ROSE: Nancy thanks.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2015/02/03/nets-hype-gop-vaccine-comments-ignored-similar-obama-hillary-remarks#sthash.33xfl0vM.dpuf