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NQ Cyberalert
Four
items:
1) Rush Limbaugh's "Man
in DC" gets interesting answers at the White House Correspondents
Association Dinner to a question about the Freedom Forum poll and one
about the Unabomber.
2) Media not upset by Al
Franken's anti-Gingrich jokes.
3) Gumbel to replace Dan
Rather?
4) You may want to watch Larry
King Tuesday night.
1
Marc Morano faxed me a transcript of his interviews during Saturday
night's dinner.(If you want a copy, e-mail him at "ourmandc@aol.com.")
Morano asked: "A recent Freedom Forum survey of Washington reporters
and bureau chiefs revealed 89 percent voted for Clinton versus 7 percent
for Bush in 1992. Do you think the media have a problem maintaining their
objectivity?"
Instead of going into denial, CNN White House
reporter Wolf Blitzer replied: "If that's accurate there probably is.
It would be so disproportionate to the population as a whole. I don't know
how accurate that survey was, but if it's accurate it would suggest a
problem."
Another question: "Timothy McVeigh was
linked by the media to talk radio and the conservatives in Congress, yet
the Unabomber is not being linked by the media to the left wing or the
environmental movement. Why?"
Responded CNN Capitol Hill reporter Bob Franken:
"I don't think that anybody has shown that there is any sort of
connection between the Unabomber and anybody....[Unabomber] influenced on
one hand by some leftist ideas and on the other hand by some extremely
libertarian ideas
....I think he defies placement on the
ideological spectrum." Note which side he labeled
"extreme."
2
Speaking of the White House Correspondents Assn. Dinner, reporters who
were so upset by Don Imus's anti-Clinton jokes last month didn't react
similarly to Al Franken's arguably over the line knocks at Newt Gingrich.
The New York Post's Deborah Orin reported Monday: "'Over the line,'
Gingrich fumed to Franken, who ridiculed the Speaker with a joke about his
daughter's first menstrual period....Franken's joke played off Gingrich's
controversial remarks that women aren't as suited for military combat
roles because they get infections and 'have biological problems staying in
a ditch for 30 days.' Franken said that the line brought to mind
images of the Speaker, back when his daughter was 13, talking with her
about her first 'infection.'" Sources told the Post that at a VIP
reception after the dinner, Gingrich told Franken: 'I was going to come
out of the audience and punch you in the nose.'"
Also, Franken "joked that he'd been warned
to skip some topics like 'Newt Gingrich's first wife. Bob Dole's first
wife. Phil Gramm's first wife. Dick Armey's first wife. Rush Limbaugh's
first wife. Rush Limbaugh's second wife. Rush Limbaugh's third wife."
3
Monday's USA Today reported that though Bryant Gumbel's contact with NBC
does not expire until year-end, "a mating dance has begun -- with
CBS." Here's a scary thought: Just when you thought CBS couldn't be
any more liberal, USA Today's Peter Johnson relays that "the buzz is
that Rather could envision Gumbel someday succeeding him on the CBS
Evening News." The story also reports, in reference to Gumbel, that
"A top conservative media newsletter cites him regularly for his
liberal bent." Hmmm. What could they be talking about?
4
Finally, Larry King's guest Tuesday night is scheduled to be Peter
Jennings.
--
Brent Baker
4
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