Many media outlets — radio, television and print — regularly feature MRC guests on their programs, quote MRC spokespeople in their articles, and cite MRC research in their stories. Below is a sampling of MRC making news in the news media. Links are provided when available, and were active when posted.

Florida Times-Union
“A Spa to Wash All Those Troubles Away,”
by Jackie Rooney
July 31

…In a big transitional leap to my next topic, let me say the art of politics is a curious thing indeed. With the primaries only a month away, it was interesting to hear L. Brent Bozell III, founder and president of the Media Research Center, speak about media bias. Bozell was at Sawgrass Beach Club on July 20 to promote his recently published book, Weapons of Mass Distortion, the Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media. The dinner was a sellout with 150 conservative guests eager to hear what they've always suspected about the media, liberal or otherwise.

Event Chairwoman Janet Westling, county organizational co-chair of the Bush Cheney campaign, said the event wasn't an official Republican happening, but admitted the guest list was composed of "all the usual suspects."

Bill and Sharon Dennis and their daughter, Brittany Stichter, were among "the usual suspects" in the audience. Brittany was eager to meet Bozell because she just returned to Ponte Vedra Beach after serving six weeks on Capitol Hill as an intern for U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., and soon will begin her senior year at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Other familiar faces in the crowd were Mary Jo Linnen, Gypsy Alexander, Saye Miller, Joan and Don Johnson, Pat Jeffery, Jane and Hal Robinson, Barbara Maple, Jack Hofstetter, Tom Foster, Be Be Stockton, Betty Rands, Dale Westling, Greg Westling, Allison Ferebee and Audrey Short.

Ponte Vedra resident Tom Linnen, a member of the Research Foundation board and honorary chair of the event, introduced the conservative spokesman, who said he was not there to push the Bush-Cheney re-election.

"The goal is fairness; the goal is balance," Bozell said. He offered advice, such as the Bush campaign should "get a little tougher" about biased reporting, and people shouldn't believe polls; "polls can say anything you want to say," he said. Another tip was "an issue is not a issue until [Jay] Leno and [David] Letterman talk about it."

The Associated Press
“Did News Networks Squander Their Advantage during Convention or Provide Filter?”
by David Bauder
July 30

…But with conventions nothing more than extended political commercials, Fox's news judgment is a necessary service, said Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative media watchdog, the Media Research Center. He said he hopes the network does the same at the GOP convention.

"I have no problem with any network saying, 'We're not going to focus on the fluff that they give us. We're going to analyze this,"' Bozell said.

Florida Today
“Did TV Pundits Eclipse Action at Convention?”
by: David Bauder
July 30

…But with conventions nothing more than extended political commercials, Fox's news judgment is a necessary service, said Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative media watchdog, the Media Research Center. He said he hopes the network does the same at the GOP convention.

"I have no problem with any network saying, 'We're not going to focus on the fluff that they give us. We're going to analyze this,'" Bozell said. …

Read the entire article

Media Matters for America 
LETTER from David Brock to CNN(7-29-04)
July 30

I am writing to you today regarding L. Brent Bozell's Live From... interview with anchor Miles O'Brien on July 27. Although I am ...

Read the entire article

National Review Online
"Trained Seals,"
by: Tim Graham
July 30

... liberal media cannot be any lower. - Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and an NRO contributor.

Read the entire article

The Washington Times
“Boston Party Not Great TV Time,”
by: Jennifer Harper
July 30

… "This convention doesn't seem to be leaving any footprints. That's what the Democrats need to worry about. Did it leave any kind of impression?" asked Tim Graham of the conservative, Alexandria-based Media Research Center yesterday. …

…Back in 1960, the coverage hovered around 120 hours, or from four to nine hours per network, per night.

"Kerry has been missing in action all week, which doesn't reflect much confidence. It makes me wonder if he's going to wear well in close coverage," Mr. Graham continued. "It also hasn't helped to have the networks themselves poor-mouthing the convention as some kind of infomercial. Who wants to watch that?"…

Read the entire article

Lexington Herald-Leader
“Critics Claim Kerry Filmed to Help Career,”
by: Jim Rutenberg
July 30

…Kerry took a Super 8 camera along with him during the war. Republicans have painted it as the unusual move of an ambitious young man intent on capturing his service on film for later political gain. His military supporters have described taking the camera along as typical of many young soldiers in that war.

Tim Graham, a director at the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog group, said the issue of Kerry using the Vietnam film was important because "it's another flip-flop."

He cited a story in The New York Times in 2002 in which Kerry said he had "no intention of using it" for campaign purposes.

Asked why his group was making an issue of Kerry's statements yesterday when he has been using the images in his commercials since the fall, Graham said, "Tonight's going to be Vietnam night at the convention, so there's no time like the present." …

Read the entire article

The New York Times
“New Skirmish Over Images From Vietnam in a Kerry Video,”
by: Jim Rutenberg
July 30

…Mr. Kerry took a Super 8 camera with him to Vietnam. Republicans have portrayed it as the unusual move of an ambitious young man intent on capturing his service on film for later political gain; his military supporters have described taking the camera as typical of many young soldiers.

Tim Graham, a director at the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog group, said the issue of Mr. Kerry using the Vietnam film was important because ''it's another flip-flop.'' He cited an article in The New York Times in 2002 in which Mr. Kerry said he had ''no intention of using it'' for campaign purposes.

Asked why his group was making an issue of Mr. Kerry's statements now when he has been using the images in his commercials since the fall, Mr. Graham said, ''Tonight's going to be Vietnam night at the convention, so there's no time like the present.''

Washington Times
"The Love-In Quotient,"
by: Gary J. Andres
July 29

Despite the many honorable things the former president has done since his defeat by Ronald Reagan, he gave a "viciously negative speech," according to Tim Graham, writing for the National Review Online. I agree.

Read the entire article

Biloxi Sun Herald
“Fox vs. CNN: A Deepening Divide,”
by: Colleen McCain Nelson
July 27

…Brent Baker, vice president of the conservative Media Research Center, said Fox News breaks from media "groupthink" by presenting story angles that weren't being covered by left-leaning networks.

"It provides an alternative because they're offering information you can't get elsewhere," he said.

Baker acknowledged many of the prime-time commentators at Fox are conservative and said that some CNN anchors are more fair than others. But in general, CNN appears to be a liberal network, he said.

"Overall, the Fox News Channel is more fair and balanced than anybody else," Baker said.

Bias appears to be in the eye of the beholder, though, as many longtime journalists disagreed.

Read the entire article

Macon Telegraph
“Fox vs. CNN: a deepening divide,”
by: Colleen McCain Nelson
July 27

... Brent Baker, vice president of the conservative Media Research Center, said Fox News breaks from media "groupthink" by presenting story angles that weren't ...

Read the entire article

Media Matters for America
“BOZELL repeated lie that Lay slept in Lincoln Bedroom during ...”
July 27

Though he was introduced by CNN anchor Miles O'Brien as "part of the truth squad here [at the Democratic National Convention]," L. Brent Bozell III

Read the entire article

National Review Online
“Benefits of Non-Coverage,”
by: Tim Graham
July 27

Since the networks stayed away from the Fleet Center hijinks yesterday, it's likely that Tuesday night will be remembered as...well, it just won't be remembered

Read the entire article

Agape Press
“Mainstream Media Predicted to Praise Kerry-Edwards 'Glow',”
by: Chad Groening
July 26

As Democrats meet in Boston this week for their presidential nominating convention, one of the nation's leading media critics says it is clear that the mainstream media will give John Kerry quite an advantage during this year's presidential election campaign.

In a recent issue of Newsweek magazine, writer Evan Thomas made the following observation regarding the upcoming presidential election: "'The media ... wants Kerry to win. They're going to portray Kerry and Edwards as being young and dynamic and optimistic .... There’s going to be this glow about them ... that’s going to be worth maybe 15 points."

Read the entire article

The Boston Globe
“PBS Anchor Chides Big 3 Networks As Shirking Convention Duty,”
by: Mark Jurkowitz
July 26

Rather stated that "fear has increased in every newsroom in America," and added that reporting on explosive issues can bring a torrent of e-mails and phone calls. That can lead to a situation, he said, in which journalists conclude that "when you run this story, you're asking for trouble with a capital 'T'. . . Why run it?

Brokaw, referring to the president of the conservative watchdog organization, the Media Research Center, said conservatives "feel they have to go to war against the networks every day." Jennings added, "I hear more about conservative concerns than I have in the past. . . This wave of resentment rushes at our advertisers, rushes at our corporate suites. . . I feel the presence of anger all the time."

Although Jennings defended ABC's coverage of the period leading up to the war in Iraq, several of yesterday's speakers agreed that their news outlets had not been aggressive enough in examining the Bush administration's rationale for the conflict.

National Review
“Worse Than Tom or Dan?”
by: Rachel Zabarkes Friedman
July 26

…Of course, it's difficult to prove bias. Studies rely on criteria some will find subjective. Isolated statements aren't enough to make a home-run case; the key lies in patterns that emerge over time, including which stories are chosen and which are rejected, and how certain topics are repeatedly presented.

The pattern that emerges from the dogged work of a CAMERA or a Media Research Center -- both of which have followed Jennings closely for some time, and from which most of the examples in this piece are drawn -- suggests he isn't as good at filtering out his own opinions as he thinks, or suggests. So do the testimonies of some former ABC reporters who have spoken out about Jennings's bias.

National Review
“Taboo,”
by: Byron York
July 26

…Put it all together, and that means the moving pictures of the September 11 attacks -- surely the most powerful of the television age -- have virtually disappeared from American life. "My staff cannot recall seeing it in any network newscast at any time in the past two years," says Brent Baker of the Media Research Center, where workers are paid to watch television news all day. "That doesn't mean it didn't ever air, but it has been very rare."

Boston.com
“PBS anchor chides big 3 networks as shirking convention duty,”
by: Mark Jurkowitz
July 26

... Brokaw, referring to the president of the conservative watchdog organization, the Media Research Center, said conservatives "feel they have to go to war ...

Read the entire article

Boston Herald
“KERRY big on dream he once called `dead',”
by: David R. Guarino
July 26

... A conservative Web site, CNSNews.com, recently said Kerry was quoted in 1971 by the student newspaper at West Virginia's Bethany College as saying, ``Our ...

Read the entire article

National Review Online
“Turn that Spotlight on Kerry,”
by: Tim Graham
July 26

As we head into the latest set of party conventions, with another step taken in the eventual obliteration of major network coverage - three one-hour slots ...

Read the entire article

The Washington Times
“Covering DNC is organized bedlam,”
by: Jennifer Harper
July 26

The conservative Alexandria-based Media Research Center will monitor press reports from the convention twice daily, scanning for those that favor liberals by “disguising Democrats’ liberal agenda,” asking “questions from a liberal script” or “hyping Republican controversy,” according to analyst Rich Noyes.

National Review
“The Truth Squad,”
by: Michael Potemra
July 26, 2004 issue

L. Brent Bozell III is, as has been frequently noted, a national treasure; the work his Media Research Center does in compiling evidence of the media’s flagrant bias is invaluable. Bozell’s new book, Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media, provides example after hilarious example of the press allowing its biases to obscure the truth.

One golden instance will serve to illustrate. In late October 2001, the venerated R. W. Apple of the New York Times asked: “Could Afghanistan become another Vietnam? Is the United States facing another stalemate on the other side of the world? Premature the questions may be, three weeks after the fighting began. Unreasonable they are not, given the scars scoured into the national psyche by defeat in Southeast Asia. For all the differences between the two conflicts, and there are many, echoes of Vietnam are unavoidable.” Unavoidable, certainly; in the sense that to the obsessed patient his idée fixe is unavoidable. Bozell helpfully points out that despite the scoured scars in our psyche, and the unavoidable echoes of Vietnam, our troops went on to roll up the Taliban within the following couple of weeks.

Which proves that reality will preserve its integrity, despite what the New York Times says. And this leads to Bozell’s deeper contention: A media establishment so willing to make empirically falsifiable claims is losing touch with its very need for credibility. If you semi-automatically raise the specter of Vietnam over Afghanistan, only to have your fears disproven within weeks, you need to adjust your worldview. If you don’t, people will rightly suspect that your intellectual commitments are not rationally based, but rather a form of superstition. This suspicion is indeed mounting, and not just among political conservatives; it’s the reason so many Americans are tuning out the biased mainstream media and turning to other news sources. 

Bozell is part of an ongoing process of media reformation; this book is a step forward in that effort.

New York Post
FOX & FOES
July 25

... The film takes "quotes out of context" and pastes them together "to make a partisan point," says Rich Noyes of the Media Research Center.

Read the entire article

Duluth-News Tribune
“Media Needs to get Tough with Berger,”
Commentary by: Tim Graham and Brent H. Baker
July 24

It's like the Clinton administration never ended. Once again, a Clinton aide is caught doing suspicious things with documents -- "inadvertently" disposing of a few -- and some national newscasters are making excuses for potentially criminal behavior, or changing the subject to identifying a vast partisan conspiracy at work.

Sandy Berger, President Clinton's national security adviser during his second term, removed highly classified material from the National Archives, triggering a federal criminal investigation. When the story broke, some reporters protested the story's timing. 

CBS anchor Dan Rather insisted "this was triggered by a carefully orchestrated leak about Berger, and the timing of it appears to be no coincidence." Reporter John Roberts found: "Republicans and Democrats alike say the timing of the investigation's disclosure smells like politics, leaked to the press just two days before the 9/11 commission report comes out."

The problem with Rather's "carefully orchestrated leak" language is that he has no idea of the leaker or the orchestration. On Aug. 17, 2000, Rather used the same phrase when it was leaked on the night of Al Gore's convention speech that a new grand jury would investigate Bill Clinton. Rather suggested a GOP dirty trick: "Timing is everything," he began, and now Gore must speak "against the backdrop of a potentially damaging, carefully orchestrated leak about President Clinton." The next night, CBS's Jim Stewart noted "a judge appointed by a Democrat (President Carter)" was actually the leaker. Rather never apologized for his error.

ABC also portrayed the controversy as a "political firestorm between Republicans and Democrats," but Pierre Thomas noted what CBS ignored: "Some of the information (removed) was apparently critical of Clinton's anti-terror efforts." ABC's "Nightline," which often spotlights critics of Bush's foreign policy, skipped Berger last night.

On "Good Morning America," co-host Charlie Gibson interviewed George Stephanopoulos, who predicted, "I think this is likely to blow over." Gibson did not explain that George worked for years with Sandy Berger or ask him questions based on that experience. ABC also failed to produce its onsultant Richard Clarke, who wrote the document at the center of the investigation.

NBC reporter Pete Williams noted Berger's defenses, then balanced them: "Government officials tell NBC News that archives employees say it wasn't so innocent, that they noticed documents were missing after day one" and that the purloined pages suggest the Clinton team "was not paying enough attention to terrorism." By contrast, the "Today Show" has underlined Berger's defense with soft interviews two days in a row. Katie Couric talked to Berger's friend David Gergen. A day later, Couric interviewed Berger's defense lawyer, former Clinton aide Lanny Breuer. No Berger critics have been interviewed.

CNN's "NewsNight" also featured Gergen, with his talk of Berger the "hero" of the war on terrorism. Reporter Kelli Arena went furthest in describing archives employee claims that Berger shoved documents in his socks and pants. CNN also had a tough "Wolf Blitzer Reports" interview with Berger's lawyer, with Blitzer insisting "Sandy Berger doesn't do things inadvertently," and asking: "How is it possible that this document so sensitive, which he took home, took to his office at his home, presumably, disappeared?" The other networks should ask that, too.

TIM GRAHAM is director of media analysis and BRENT H. BAKER is vice president of the Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group based in Alexandria, VA

Agape Press
"MEDIA, Others Noted for Distracting Attention from Berger,"
by Chad Groening and Jody Brown
July 22

... MRC's Tim Graham takes issue particularly with Rather's remarks. "The problem with Rather's 'carefully orchestrated leak' language ...

Read the entire article

Augusta Free Press (Online)
“The Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost,”
by: Chris Graham
July 22

…What's interesting about this to me isn't the fact that watchdog groups are filing complaints against Fox, or that the feds (read: they work for President Bush) aren't going to do anything about it.

It's what the conservative mouthpieces are saying.

"They're doing the dirty work of the Democratic Party, and everybody knows it," said Brent Bozell, a self-appointed media watchdog, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Heritage Foundation think-tanker Mark Tapscott was more creative, calling the anti-FNC campaign of MoveOn and Common Cause "corporate guerilla harassment."

With all due respect to Messrs. Tapscott and Bozell, and the fine folks at Fox News, this is what you do every single waking hour of every single day.

Tapscott, Bozell, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Roger Ailes, none of them, would have a job if they weren't doing the dirty work of the Republican Party by engaging in corporate guerilla harassment. …

Read the entire article

Agape Press
“Fox on the Horizon—and Rising Fast, Says Media Critic,”
by: Chad Groening
July 21

A media watchdog predicts that if trends continue, the Fox News Channel could challenge the "Big Three" networks in the news ratings within the next two years. The conservative media pundit believes people are tired of the liberal bias cast by ABC, CBS, and NBC.

L. Brent Bozell is founder and president of the Media Research Center, which is based in Alexandria, Virginia, just south of the nation's capital. Bozell recently released Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal News Media, which he claims makes "the most substantive case yet for the leftward bias of America’s mainstream news organizations." Among the mediums discussed is television news.

Bozell says the Fox News Channel has already surpassed cable rival CNN because it lives up to its moniker: "Fair and Balanced." The MRC founder believes the other three major news networks -- ABC, CBS, and NBC -- are within sight.

"If there are steady gains, it is quite conceivable that by 2006, that Fox -- this little cable laughingstock of the media -- could be knocking on the door of the big three networks."

Bozell notes that even though Fox is not on the air in every region in America, its morning program, Fox and Friends, earlier this year had better ratings than its CBS counterpart, CBS Early Show.

"And the interesting thing is that the Early Show is on across the time [zones]; Fox and Friends isn't. And Fox hasn't saturated the market yet," he says. "Now the numbers have [since] gone down, but I think there are going to be steady gains."

In his book, Bozell makes the case that the major television, radio, and print news outlets not only distort the news, but try to dictate the national agenda. And he contends that the audience for liberal media outlets will continue to defect toward the emerging alternative news outlines that are more in tune for those individuals' perspective on the world. One reviewer says the book offers a "concise, easy-to-read portrayal of media bias without the vitriol that consumes many of today's popular commentary."

Read the entire article

Washington Times
“Tillman long shot to land at WUSA,”
by Chris Baker
July 21

... Now the sleuths at the Media Research Center - an Alexandria group that investigates liberal bias in the press - tell us that the station actually ...

Read the entire article

Washington Times
"Yellowcake twists,"
by: Jack Kelly
July 20

... their reports. Same for ABC and CBS, according to the Media Research Center. Mr. Wilson graced the cover of Time magazine's Oct.

Read the entire article

The Wall Street Journal
“Liberals Step Up Political Assault Against Fox News,”
by: Julia Angwin
July 20

Common Cause President Chellie Pingree adds that the campaign against Fox News is meant to highlight increasing media consolidation, which many feel threatens to limit diversity. "That goes well beyond one news network," she says. Both Ms. Pingree and Mr. Boyd point out that their campaign is not linked to the Democratic party.

But conservative strategists say they aren't buying it. "They're doing the dirty work of the Democratic party and everybody knows it," says Brent Bozell, a conservative media watchdog. Mark Tapscott, director of the Center for Media and Public Policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, calls the anti-Fox News campaign "corporate guerilla harassment."

Read the entire article

National Review Online
“A Week in the Life…of the Big Bad Nets,”
by: Tim Graham
July 19

On the subject of media fairness, people who aren't remote-tossing conservatives often ask, "What do you mean, liberal bias?"

In a nutshell, bias is all about selective storytelling. Which stories do you tell, and which do you bury in a drawer somewhere? As a story is assembled, whom do you build up as the hero, and whom do you paint as the villain — and how do you describe them? Do you tell a story to inspire, or to amuse? To inform, or to scare? As a program is assembled, in what order do you put the stories? Which are novels of epic proportions, and which are the length of a classified ad?

Read the entire article

Agape Press
“Liberal Media Being Destroyed by Own Bias, Author Says,” by: Chad Groening
July 19

The founder and president of the Media Research Center believes the ongoing liberal bias at major news organizations will cause their imminent collapse.

L. Brent Bozell's new book is called Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media (Crown Forum, 2004). According to the author, that process of destruction has actually already started. He says a look at current trends reveals people's growing awareness of the liberal media's left wing bias, and "the public isn't liking it and is leaving."

The change over time has been dramatic. "Fifteen years ago you had about 20 percent of the American people that believed the media were biased. Today that number is 89 percent," Bozell says.

And now, Bozell notes, this new awareness is giving the public a different perspective, and their reaction spells trouble for the liberal news outlets. "The public is fed up with the news media," he says, "and they're going to other sources of information. That's why I predict a meltdown."

But while ABC, NBC, and CBS have lost 50 percent of their viewership, the author notes that the Fox News Channel -- which he describes as "fair and balanced" -- has actually gained ground.

"If you look at the numbers, you see that ABC, NBC, and CBS have lost approximately 50 percent of their audiences since 1994," Bozell says. Meanwhile, he notes, "CNN is in a complete freefall, and MSNBC is so far in last place in the ratings, you have to have binoculars to find them. The only thing that is growing is FOX."

The reason FOX is doing so well, as well as the reason talk radio continues to grow, "is that it's not the same thing as the networks," Bozell asserts. And if trends continue, he says, the Fox cable news organization could actually threaten the "Big Three."

Read the entire article

The Dallas Morning News
“America’s Split Screen: It’s Fox News vs. CNN,”
by: Colleen McCain Nelson, Staff Writer
July 18

…But Fox News president Roger Ailes has asserted that the rest of the media are so far left of center that an objective network such as Fox seems conservative by comparison.

Brent Baker, vice president of the conservative Media Research Center, said Fox News breaks from media "groupthink" by presenting story angles that weren't being covered by left-leaning networks.

"It provides an alternative because they're offering information you can't get elsewhere," he said.

Mr. Baker acknowledged that many of the prime-time commentators at Fox are conservative and said that some CNN anchors are more fair than others. But in general, CNN appears to be a liberal network, he said.

"Overall, the Fox News Channel is more fair and balanced than anybody else," Mr. Baker said.

Bias appears to be in the eye of the beholder, though, as many longtime journalists disagreed.

"This is a very complicated issue," said Mr. Sesno, who consults for CNN and teaches a class about media bias. "What you see mostly depends on where you stand."

CNN, he said, takes a traditional approach to news, reporting from a detached perspective and raising tough questions.

"There's a sense that when you watch Fox, you're on America's side," he said. "They have built a network that people expect to be more conservative, more supportive of the current administration." …

Sun-Sentinel
“Parties Prep for Prime Time; But Networks Cut Coverage of Conventions,”
by: William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau Chief
July 18

FRAGMENTED ELECTORATE

Dedicated voters this year can tap more sources of information, including the Internet and cable news broadcasts, which will cover the conventions virtually around the clock. Channel surfers will find it hard to avoid news flashes from the conventions.

But Americans will not share the same experiences and information. One result is a fragmented electorate in which some voters are intensely active, others are alienated and many hear one point of view but not others.

"It creates a political environment limited to those who are political junkies in the first place," said Richard Noyes, research director of the independent Media Research Center in suburban Washington. "It's not the same culture where everybody watches together and casual voters get a chance to think about policies and hear speeches from each party's leading figures.

"I think they will be less informed. I also think people who are not well informed will not become active in seeking information until the last days of the campaign."

If so, the presidential debates during the fall campaign, starting Sept. 30 at the University of Miami, could become especially important in shaping voter perceptions.

All this could be overwhelmed by unexpected events at home and as far away as Iraq.

"Events still hanging over this campaign may play a greater role than rhetoric by both sides," Noyes said. "Tens of millions of dollars spent on advertising since the primaries haven't changed things very much. It may be that events will settle this year's election. Or else it ends in a tie, like the last one."

NewsMax.com
“NEWSWEEK Big: Media Bias Worth 15-Points for Kerry-Edwards,” (no byline)
July 18

... Newsweek's July 19 issue, "certainly backs up Thomas' contention,"
notes the Media Research Center, which first uncovered the amazing admission....

Read the entire article

Sun-Sentinel.com 
“STAGE set for conventions”
by: William E. Gibson
July 18

... limited to those who are political junkies in the first place," said Richard Noyes, research director of the independent Media Research Center in suburban ...

Read the entire article

Fox News Watch
Segment Two: “Documentary Blasts Fox News Channel,”
Guests: Jim Pinkerton, Cal Thomas, Jane Hall, Neal Gabler
July 17

THOMAS: Here's an example, I'm in this movie or whatever it is briefly. They took a clip from an editorial I do at the beginning of every show in which I said something critical of Kerry as part of their evidence. But what they ignored is the many Democrats I've had on my show, "AFTER HOURS," if I can plug it here -- Charlie Rangel, Harold Ford. We're doing a whole show just before the Democratic Convention that features Democrats talking about the '64 convention. I try to be fair on my show. I've been trying to get Ted Kennedy on for some time. He said he's going to come on.

I think that the reason this network looks so -- quote -- "Republican" or conservative is by contrast on what the others do. If you went and did, as the Media Research Center has done, clips of what is said on the broadcast networks, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, you would find an enormous tilt to the left. So by contrast, it looks conservative.

HALL: I think there are a couple of points that I want to add to this. One is I think it was flawed in that it left out -- I mean, it's really almost funny. There's Ellen Ratner (ph) and a conservative talking, and they leave out any evidence to the contrary. I mean, I'm on this network. A lot of people are on this network who criticize.

Christian Broadcasting Network
“WEAPONS of Mass Distortion: A View of the Liberal Media,” (no by-line)
July 16

CBN.com - Brent Bozell, a staunch right-wing conservative, is the nephew of columnist William F. Buckley and the son of L. Brent Bozell, Jr., who assisted ...

Read the entire article

The Nation
“BASHING Joe Wilson,”
by David Corn
July 16

... Within days, Tim Graham, an analyst at the conservative Media Research Center, wrote a piece for The National Review pointing to the Schmidt article and ...

Read the entire article

The Kansas City Star
“Complaints on Media Coverage Soar,”
by: James Kuhnhenn
July 15

With the presidential election likely to turn on Iraq and the economy, one of the summer's hottest political issues is whether news media coverage of those topics is fair.

Conservatives decry coverage of the war as relentlessly and unfairly negative. Last month, Brent Bozell, a conservative activist, launched a $2.8 million advertising and talk-radio campaign to discredit the “liberal news media.”

Such complaints are escalating — and increasingly conveyed in e-mails to journalists, letters to the editor, and even in social settings with news executives. The phenomenon appears to have been aroused in part by the Republican Party, President Bush's campaign, and leading conservatives on talk radio, the Internet and cable television.

Read the entire article

The Flipside
“Brent Bozell: Media’s Liberal Bias Is Alive & Well,”
by: Kathleen Hays, JJ Ramberg, Valerie Morris
July 14, 2004

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's refer to the U.S. Marines we see in the foreground as sharpshooters, not snipers, which carries a negative connotation.

JON DU PRE, AUTHOR: When headquarters sent a memo every morning and said we want to touch on the following issues, we want to cover the following stories, we want to do them in this particular way, our job, in our objective then, was to execute the plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNNfn ANCHOR, THE FLIPSIDE: That's a clip from "Outfoxed," the latest in a string of liberal-backed documentaries to hit theaters. It looks at the conservative bias of Rupert Murdoch's FOX News Channel.

But before you think it's just conservatives with a view point, our next guest says no way. He believes liberals have long been injecting their views in the news. In fact, he points to the recent coverage of John Edwards joining the Kerry ticket as another example of liberal media bias tainting election coverage. 

Joining us now is Brent Bozell. He's author of "Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Melt Down of the Liberal Media." He's also president of the Media Research Center, a Washington-based watchdog group.

Brent, welcome to THE FLIPSIDE.

BRENT BOZELL, AUTHOR, "WEAPONS OF MASS DISTORTION": Hi. How are you?

HAYS: We're doing just great. Well, you have said it your cause to watch the media for a long time. I think many people think that you watch - you've always watched as a conservative looking for liberal bias.

Why don't you start by telling our viewers what your basic argument is? Because I said, at the top of the show, I think whatever I say, if you're conservative, you're going to say I'm liberal; if you're liberal, you're going to say I'm conservative. I know people criticize in the media from both sides. Why do you think we are so liberal?

BOZELL: Well, I don't have five hours. I've got six minutes.

HAYS: Well, go for it.

BOZELL: No, I begin with the premise I am a conservative. I always say that, and I do look for liberal media bias. It ain't hard to find.

Look, if 89 percent of the American public is wrong, then you've got an argument. In fact, the vast majority of the American people see not just a bias in the press, but they see a left-leaning bias in the press. And there's growing outrage in this presidential campaign that, day in and day out, you're seeing a completely double standard that's being applied to both campaigns.

I'm not here as a Bush supporter, but there has got to be some vestige of fairness and balance in this campaign, and there hasn't been.

JJ RAMBERG, CNNfn ANCHOR, THE FLIPSIDE: Brent, I just want to read you a statistic here. We had on the show recently David Brock. He's the author of "The Republican Noise Machine," and he's looking at this same issue as you are, but from the opposite side of the table.

And he told us that he did a study in the top 45 radio markets. There are 310 hours a day of right wing talk and five hours devoted to liberal talk. If, in fact, that is the case, how can you say there is a liberal bias?

BOZELL: Well, because - and I've read David Brock's book, and it's nothing but ad hominem attacks on conservatives. David Brock is doing the same thing Al Franken is doing, the same thing Joe Conason is doing. They know exactly what they're doing. It's disingenuous as can be.

They're not talking about reporters. They're not talking about the news media. They're talking about commentators, and they're not telling you that.

When they attack FOX, they attack Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. Neither one of them is a reporter. They're commentators. They not only have the right, they have the obligation to comment on things.

Sean Hannity, Bill - not so much O'Reilly, but everyone else in the conservative wing of commentary opening, gladly pronounces his conservative bias. That's not the issue, never has been.

They have that right. They should do what they're doing. And for David Brock and these people to point to that - and by the way, they don't point to national public radio, do they? For them to point to talk radio and say that is the conservative news media bias is apples and oranges and they know it.

VALERIE MORRIS, CNNfn ANCHOR, THE FLIPSIDE: What do you think, then, would be the best description of a good reporter? Someone who is not falling victim either to right wing or the left? How should we then portray ourselves and our stories?

Oh, I think we have lost our connection here.

HAYS: I think we have a little bit of.

MORRIS: Yes, I think the satellite - we lost the satellite and our line froze.

One of the things that - and I will wait to see what his answer is. But there was a study that we did one time in college. I went to Columbia University for my master's degree in broadcasting, and it was look at television for one evening. Write down all the stories that you think are negative. Write all the stories you think are good. Write all the stories that are liberal or conservative.

HAYS: Yes.

MORRIS: Then go to newspaper and magazine and do the same thing, because there was also this thing that media - that television was more liberal than newspaper.

HAYS: What did you find when you looked?

MORRIS: And they found out that it was pretty even. It was pretty even.

RAMBERG: Did you find that different people in your class felt the same stories were positive and negative?

MORRIS: Absolutely, and that was the thing. It really is in the eye of the beholder, and sometimes what a person thinks is a very liberal view or a very conservative view may not be, but I do think we are a guilty of labeling and having to put it in certain biases.

HAYS: Yes, I think - and again, some people would say, what is truth? There is no such thing as objectivity because we all bring some kind of viewpoint to the table. I just always think part of the discipline of being a reporter is making it clear that you're trying to get different sides of an issue, represent that in your reporting, represent that in the piece you put together.

But I think that because you - people want journalists also to come to conclusions, I think that's also where this feeling of bias creeps in.

RAMBERG: And there are a lot of books coming out about this right now, and particularly because it's a political year and a lot of people have an agenda as to how the media is portraying things.

But here is this on this - this man on this side, Al Franken on the other side. For every person saying there is conservative bias, there is a person saying there is liberal bias.

MORRIS: Oh, absolutely. I think one other thing, as I talk to students, I say to them - and some journalism teachers don't like it - I don't think there is any such thing as an objective reporter. I hope that we all have very passionate feelings on one side or the other, and that passionate feeling on one side will make us then truly explore what the opposite side is so that we can then present an objective report.

But the goal, I don't think, is to be neutral everywhere. I would be very concerned about a person who just says I'm only conservative, I am only liberal, and I only see things that way.

HAYS: Yes, yes. I just think that, in the end, I want to - and when we do THE FLIPSIDE, viewers, I want, when you're sitting at home, to feel like the questions you have, whether you're conservative, liberal, in the middle, get asked on this show.

MORRIS: Are being asked.

HAYS: And I think we're doing our job.

RAMBERG: Right. And I think he made an interesting point, actually, when talking about David Brock's book, saying there are people who are commentators, and there are people who are supposed to be telling the news.

HAYS: But his argument is that the reporters are biased.

RAMBERG: Right, right, right, exactly. But that's it. You need to look at those two people differently. And I do believe that sometimes, in our news environment right now, because there is so much out there, that line gets a little bit blurred.

MORRIS: A little? I think the line can get obliterated. I mean there are some news programs that are more entertainment than a lot of programs that are talk programs or whatever.

HAYS: Infotainment.

MORRIS: Yes, infotainment, call it whatever we like. I think the other problem is that, as journalists, we really do want to be squeaky clean. We do want to say I'm absolutely objective.

And again, I go back to my premise. I don't think we're objective as individuals. I think, as we become journalists, then we have to come together and represent both sides fairly. It seems that we maybe have re- established contact.

HAYS: Yes. I think that we - Brent Bozell, are you with us again?

BOZELL: Yes I am.

HAYS: We're sorry that - it's not a liberal conspiracy. I think Valerie wants to go back to the question she posed to you.

BOZELL: I've already written my next column.

HAYS: OK.

MORRIS: And you're only talking about THE FLIPSIDE, and this is how we manifested our feeling.

BOZELL: That's right.

MORRIS: Well, I was asking you very seriously, with regard to, in your feeling, what is the role of a reporter, and how can we contribute to the whole, which is a broadcast program, which you know and viewers at home know it's not just one person's thoughts, unless it's our "2 Cents," but it is a collective and collaborative situation.

How is a reporter supposed to balance that and present the kind of news you say needs to be done?

BOZELL: Well, I was listening to you all with your conversation. And one of you made a very salient point. There is no such thing as objectivity, pure objectivity.

MORRIS: That was me.

BOZELL: It never has existed, never will exist. And yet, for years, the media promoted this. That's a holy grail. The media ought to strive for objectivity.

But let me tell you what there is. There is truth, and there always ought to be the pursuit of truth. In a world of moral relativism, you get cockamamie statements like Reuters saying that they refuse to label the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center as terrorists because, quote/unquote, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

No, there's truth, and you report truth. You don't go into that moral relativistic route.

If you're going to strive for objectivity, you begin by recognizing what biases you have and you attempt to balance that bias in order to be fair and balanced.

What's happening in the news media today is that less and less - or more and more, they're doing less and less of that. You see coverage of campaigns, you see coverage of economics, you see coverage of the war in Iraq, it's completely one-sided.

HAYS: But, Brent, let me jump in, because you talk about coverage of economics. That's my beat, OK?

BOZELL: Yes.

HAYS: You might think tax cuts are the best thing that ever came down the pike. You might think they're the best way to stimulate the economy. I can give you one study that will say, but they only did this much. I can give you one another study that says they do a lot.

I know, when I talk about them, I try to give both sides of that argument. But, in many cases, there is no absolute truth.

BOZELL: Oh yes there is.

HAYS: There are intelligent people arguing a point and coming to different conclusions.

BOZELL: No, no, there is truth. There is truth on what tax cuts do. You can't project what the Bush tax cuts will do a year from now and say it's truth here today, but I can tell you what the Reagan tax cuts did because the record is there. The historical record to look at is there. The Reagan tax cuts did not - underline did not - cause the deficits that so many in the media have repeated so many times.

HAYS: But it's so disputed, Brent. That is so disputed.

BOZELL: Tax revenue went up by 150 percent.

RAMBERG: You know, Brent, I just want to change the topic a little bit. You say the liberal media is sort of in charge here and there is a liberal bias, but if you look at the government, we have a Republican Senate, a Republican House, a Republican executive. If the liberal media had so much influence, wouldn't we see a different government?

BOZELL: Well, you know, first of all, I'll give you two sides to that. One is Evan Thomas of "Newsweek," the managing editor of "Newsweek," who said - and he's no conservative - who said last weekend on a talk show that the support that the media are giving John Kerry is about 15 points in the polls for him.

But, with that said, I'll also tell you that there is a growing realization, on the part of the American public, that this is a liberally biased media. Less and less are they believing them, and they're leaving.

The big three networks have lost 50 percent of their audience since 1994. I'm sorry to say this, folks, because I'm guest on your network, but CNN has been in a free fall. MSNBC, you have to have binoculars to see how far back they've fallen. Why? It's not just competition; it's people are going to alternative sources of information.

Talk radio, conservative talk radio, would not exist today if people were comfortable with the news product that we're getting.

MORRIS: Oh.

RAMBERG: That's quite (INAUDIBLE).

MORRIS: But that kind of simplifies it to an almost too simplistic level, because competition is important, and I think that our viewers are becoming more specific about what they want.

Some people say, you know, the only thing I want to know about is gardening and homes. Another person may say the only thing I want to know about is history. They, therefore, will go to the history channel, and they won't necessarily be people taken away from mainstream television.

BOZELL: Well, you've got a point, and I'll add to it. I remember being critical of CNN when it became the O.J. network that year. And I had a phone call from Tom Johnson, then the head of this network, and he and I talked about that. He pointed out how the year before O.J. CNN's ratings dropped 25 percent. The year of O.J. the ratings went up 400 percent. And he asked me, rhetorically, what are we doing wrong when we're giving the market what it wants? He had a good point.

HAYS: You know, Brent Bozell, I love this topic. That's why we had you on, because I think we are also constantly soul searching trying to have balance. You make people think. That is a good thing.

I'm going to say the title of the book again: "Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Melt Down of the Liberal Media." Thanks for joining us today.

BOZELL: Thank you for having me.

Florida Times-Union
“Author Bozell Speaks” (no byline)
July 14

Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center, will speak Tuesday at the Sawgrass Beach Club in Ponte Vedra Beach.

The evening will consist of a cocktail hour at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. followed by a talk by Bozell and a signing of his recently released book, Weapons of Mass Distortion.

Bozell is an author, publisher, lecturer, syndicated columnist and an outspoken national leader in the conservative movement.

In Weapons of Mass Distortion, he asserts that there is a left-wing bias in America's mainstream news organizations but that those days are numbered.

National Review Online
“Worse than Watergate”
Today’s anti-Bush press feeding frenzy.
by Stephen Spruiell
July 14

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following appeared in the July 26, 2004, issue of National Review, a special issue made possible by the Media Research Center....

Read the entire article

Tulsa World
“Edwards Little More Than A Pretty Face,”
by: Diane West, Newspaper Enterprise Association
July 13

I find myself in a curious emotional state over the announcement of a winner in the John Kerry veepstakes.

The hackles on the back of my neck, raised up by the ghastly sound of a hundred news anchors cooing, have long settled since the Democratic presidential nominee announced that John Edwards was his running mate.

My ensuing calm has ended in a surge of confidence that Bush-Cheney will defeat Kerry-Edwards come November. Why, then, am I so darn mad?

First, more on the hackles. They are simply natural reactions to the Voice of the Democratic National Committee -- a.k.a., each and every news network (sans Fox) -- as it cranks up the big build-up on the Kerry-Edwards ticket without mentioning the political bottom line: that John Kerry, the most liberal U.S. senator last year, picked as his running mate John Edwards, the fourth most liberal U.S. senator last year.

Such reportorial reticence wasn't evident four years ago when George W. Bush tapped Dick Cheney for the veep spot. As the Media Research Center reminds us (www.mediaresearch.org), the media hammered home Cheney's conservative voting record from Day One -- with all consternation, and no cream puff. …

The Washington Times
“Anti-Fox Film Said to Lack Balance; Documentary Funded by Left,”
by: Joyce Howard Price
July 13

A new documentary produced by a fan of Michael Moore and financed by some left-leaning groups who dislike President Bush tries to make the point that Fox News Channel is not only conservative, it's blatant propaganda.

Director Robert Greenwald's film "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" uses memos from Fox executives, Fox clips and unaired footage, and accusations from former Fox employees to ridicule the network's "fair and balanced" slogan.

"Fox became a propaganda outlet, in my judgment, for the [Bush] administration's drive to war," Larry Johnson, a former State Department and CIA employee who was a Fox News commentator and security consultant from 2002 to 2003, says in an interview in "Outfoxed."

"I can't believe anyone can pawn themselves off as a credible news organization when this is really nothing but a propaganda machine for the right wing," said Jon Du Pre, who was a Fox News anchor on the West Coast from 1999 to 2002.

The movie debuts today at the New School University in New York, and the digital video disc will be available on the Internet today also.

Rich Noyes, research director for the Media Research Center, accused those responsible for "Outfoxed" of apparently "taking some quotes out of context" and of stringing together information "to make a partisan point," rather than fact-finding.

"Outfoxed" cost $300,000 to produce and was funded by partisan political organizations that favor Democrats, such as MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress, a policy group founded by John Podesta, who was President Clinton's chief of staff.

Mr. Greenwald made "Outfoxed" without contacting Fox News and could be sued for copyright infringement.

"A lot of groups are springing forward in this election year to try to stifle the conservative point of view," said Mr. Noyes, citing MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress.

Mr. Noyes said of Fox News: "The commentary tends to move toward the right. But the news coverage is fair and balanced."

The Frontrunner
“Anti-Fox News Film Debuts Today” (no byline)
July 13

The Washington Times (7/13, Howard Price) reports, "A new documentary produced by a fan of Michael Moore and financed by some left-leaning groups who dislike President Bush tries to make the point that Fox News Channel is not only conservative, it's blatant propaganda." The Times adds, "Director Robert Greenwald's film 'Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism' uses memos from Fox executives, Fox clips and unaired footage, and accusations from former Fox employees to ridicule the network's 'fair and balanced' slogan." Rich Noyes, research director for the Media Research Center, "accused those responsible for 'Outfoxed' of apparently 'taking some quotes out of context' and of stringing together information 'to make a partisan point,' rather than fact-finding."

World Net Daily
“Jack Ryan Gambled with A Lie and Lost…and We Lost, Too,”
by: Peter LaBarbera
July 13

Jack's defenders have tried to make this an issue of liberal media misconduct – how GOP-hating journalists relished undermining a Republican Senate campaign, paving the way for the left-loving Obama to go to Washington. As one who has spent my entire professional life critiquing liberal media bias, I am not one to give reporters a pass. But the same Tribune that exposed Jack's past also pried loose the nasty divorce records of Democrat Senate hopeful Blair Hull, so this was a case of bipartisan snooping.

(Of course, Brent Bozell of the conservative Media Research Center is right when he says that reporters generally do not cover liberal political scandals with the same zeal that they do conservative scandals.)

It appears that Jack Ryan lied about the contents of the then-sealed divorce papers to anyone who inquired about them, including two writers at Human Events, a conservative weekly newspaper based in Washington, D.C. It's pretty hard to get farther from the "liberal media" than Human Events, which was one of Ronald Reagan's favorite reads. (I used to write for Human Events and am a contributing editor for the publication.)

Human Events
“DEPRESSING 'Reality' Show Sleaze,”
by Brent Bozell
July 13

... the gutter, and absent a national outrage, is precisely what will happen.

Mr. Bozell is president of the Media Research Center.

Read the entire article

Christian Broadcasting Network
SHAPING Truth the Liberal Media Way
July 13

... Tim Graham, director of the conservative Media Research Council said, "Every survey shows that the news media are largely liberals and Democrats, and if you ...

Read the entire article

The White House Bulletin
“Conservatives Currently Down on Bush” (no byline)
July 12

President Bush continues to have problems inspiring conservatives on key issues, a trend that could undermine turnout in the fall, according to Republican leaders and pollsters. Brent Bozell, head of the conservative Media Research Center, said in an interview that the President is talking like a good conservative but not providing any special actions.

Conservatives, he said, "like Bush a lot but I'm hearing great discontent." He said that Bush "isn't offering them anything. It's all rhetoric. Conservatives like Bush but they aren't mobilized." A Pew poll released last week revealed last week that moderate to liberal Republicans also have problems with Bush, with most being less pleased with the Bush-Cheney ticket now than they were in 2000. Campaign insiders, however, said that the White House is planning to lay out its conservative agenda right before or during the convention and that core voters will come on board then. "We're not going to rush this," said one Bush official. "This is their [Kerry-Edward's] time. We'll pop our stuff at our convention and ride it to the election." - Bulletin exclusive from U.S. News

Jewish Press
“CAVEAT Emptor: What Journalists Really Think,”
by Rich Noyes
July 12

Over the next four months ... Rich Noyes is director of
research at the Media Research Center (MRC). The above essay was adapted...

Read the entire article

National Review Online
"The Case of Reuters"
A news agency that will not call a terrorist a terrorist,
by Tom Gross
July 12

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following appeared in the July 26, 2004, issue of
National Review, a special issue made possible by the Media Research Center.

Read the entire article

Decatur Daily Democrat
"Edwards is little more than a pretty face,"
by Diana West 
July 12

...As the Media Research Center reminds us (www.mediaresearch.org), the media hammered home Cheney's conservative voting record from Day One - with all consternation, and no cream puff.

Read the entire article

The New York Times
“The New Pamphleteers,”
By: Alan Wolfe
July 11

…Just as the key to winning office these days lies in mobilizing the base rather than appealing to the center, so the aim of the new pamphleteering is to stay on message, no matter how contradictory your ideas become.

L. Brent Bozell III, the head of the Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group, wrote WEAPONS OF MASS DISTORTION: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media to counter Eric Alterman's claim in WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA? The Truth About Bias and the News (Basic Books, paper, $15) -- itself a reply to Coulter and other smackdown artists on the right -- that conservatives dominate the airwaves. Logical inconsistency raises its head instantly: Bozell himself frequently appears on radio and television to make the case for liberal domination. Bozell has no use for reasoned argument; on one page the left controls everything on television, on another commentators like those on Fox (whose bias Bozell refuses to acknowledge) do not count as counterbalance, for they only discuss the news, not report it.

Such sleights of hand leave Alterman untouched. But Bozell did not write his book to convince anyone duped enough to listen to Alterman in the first place. A study of book-buying habits that cross-referenced the New York Times best-seller list with the ''customers who also bought this book'' feature of Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com found that conservatives tend to read and recommend conservative books and liberals, liberal books. The content of books like Bozell's supports the researcher's conclusion. …

Review Appeal
“EDWARDS: Little More Than a Pretty Face,”
by Diana West
July 9

... As the Media Research Center reminds us (www.mediaresearch.org), the media hammered home Cheney's conservative voting record from Day One — with all ...

Read the entire article

The Washington Times
“John and John; What Does Edwards Bring?”
By: Diana West
July 9

I find myself in a curious emotional state over the announcement of a winner in the John Kerry veepstakes. The hackles on the back of my neck - up, autonomically, at the ghastly sound of a hundred news anchors cooing - have long settled since the Democratic presidential nominee announced that John Edwards was his running mate. The ensuing sigh of relief has ended in a surge of confidence that Bush-Cheney will defeat Kerry-Edwards come November. Why, then, am I so darn mad?

First, more on the hackles. They are simply natural reactions to the Voice of the Democratic National Committee - a.k.a., each and every news network [sans Fox] - as it cranks up the big buildup on the Kerry-Edwards ticket without mentioning the political bottom line: that John Kerry, the most liberal U.S. senator last year, picked as his running mate John Edwards, the fourth most liberal U.S. senator last year.

Such reportorial reticence wasn't evident four years ago when George W. Bush tapped Dick Cheney for the veep spot. As the Media Research Center reminds us [www.mediaresearch.org], the media hammered home Mr. Cheney's conservative voting record from day one - with all consternation and no cream-puff. This week, all we get is journo-junk food. NBC's Carl Quintanilla promotes Mr. Edwards' "rock star status." ABC's Kate Snow laments that business groups plan to "beat up on" John Edwards' background as a trial lawyer. ABC's Peter Jennings asks Mr. Edwards, "What were you like as a kid?" And, "I gather you were a hell of a lawyer."…

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“ ‘Nightline’ Is Fading from View, but The Need for It Is Not,”
By: Ken Parish Perkins
July 9

…"Nightline," and Koppel in particular, have long been high on the hit list of the Media Research Center, which since 1987 has analyzed media coverage to flag what it considers liberal bias in reporting. Just last week, the buzz around the research center's Alexandria, Va., offices was the "Nightline" broadcast that detailed how presidential candidate John Kerry won a Silver Star, complete with footage from his Vietnam days, without, said the center's Brent Baker, a discouraging word from Kerry detractors.

"The major theme of "Nightline" is all the problems and screw-ups in Iraq and how that relates to President Bush's foreign policies," Baker said. "Then you have the Kerry video with footage of him in Vietnam. How did they have that? Did Kerry get his buddies to shoot that because he had political aspirations? We don't know because Koppel didn't bother to ask.

"I'm saddened to see any news programs go," Baker adds. "But the show has to be more balanced in topics and (reporting.) Without it, it's hard to call it required viewing anymore."

ABC affiliates around the country have never cried foul on the liberal bias issue, at least not publicly. Their concern isn't quality as much as what works and doesn't for "them". During the summer of 1992, Koppel was so peeved with stations delaying the program in favor of syndicated shows such as "Hard Copy" and "Love Connection" he threatened to leave.

Network executives responded by giving stations financial incentives, which satisfied both them and Koppel. …

San Jose Mercury News
“ ‘Nightline’ Is Fading from View, but The Need for It Is Not,”
By: Ken Parish Perkins
July 9

…''Nightline,'' and Koppel in particular, have long been high on the hit list of the Media Research Center, which since 1987 has analyzed media coverage to flag what it considers liberal bias in reporting. Just last week, the buzz around the research center's Alexandria, Va., offices was the ''Nightline'' broadcast that detailed how presidential candidate John Kerry won a Silver Star, complete with footage from his Vietnam days, without, said the center's Brent Baker, a discouraging word from Kerry detractors.

''The major theme of ''Nightline'' is all the problems and screw-ups in Iraq and how that relates to President Bush's foreign policies,'' Baker said. ''Then you have the Kerry video with footage of him in Vietnam. How did they have that? Did Kerry get his buddies to shoot that because he had political aspirations? We don't know because Koppel didn't bother to ask.

''I'm saddened to see any news programs go,'' Baker adds. ''But the show has to be more balanced in topics and (reporting.) Without it, it's hard to call it required viewing anymore.''

ABC affiliates around the country have never cried foul on the liberal bias issue, at least not publicly. Their concern isn't quality as much as what works and doesn't for ''them''. During the summer of 1992, Koppel was so peeved with stations delaying the program in favor of syndicated shows such as ''Hard Copy'' and ''Love Connection'' he threatened to leave.

Network executives responded by giving stations financial incentives, which satisfied both them and Koppel. …

St. Petersburg Times
“Alternative Voice on The News,”
By: Eric Deggans
July 9

…For conservative media watchers, Goodman's work can feel like a betrayal of America itself.

"If you think that Jean Bertrand Aristide is the answer in Haiti, if you hate the Iraq war . . . if you want to know all the intricacies of the Green Party nominating process, she's your (source)," said Tim Graham of the conservative Media Research Center, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

"I listen to hear what's going on in that sliver of the extreme left," added Graham, who compared governmental support of Pacifica through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to handing grants to a militia group. "It comes from a predisposition that anywhere American power is inserted in the world is wrong. It's the idea that America is a cancer. . . . America is the evil empire." …

Eurweb
“EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE,”
by Lee Bailey
July 9

... Jesse Jackson said NASCAR should feature more African-American drivers because "negroes can drive cars fast," reported CNSNews.com. ...

Read the entire article

The Indianapolis Star
“Columnist Upset with The White House; Helen Thomas Tells Indy Journalists Bush Administration And Media Ignore Truth,”
By: Sara Scavongelli
July 8

"The strongest, most aggressive person taking the Bush administration to task is not someone from The New York Times or The Washington Post, but Michael Moore, albeit from his own viewpoint," Brown said. "He is asking the questions."

But Rich Noyes, research director of the Virginia-based Media Research Center, which describes itself as a conservative media watchdog group, said Thomas' remarks were "a totally fictional account of what happened since 9/11."

"By early 2002, it was really back to normal, with reporters asking many, many tough questions both about domestic policy and foreign policy," Noyes said. He said his group documented heavy skepticism toward the war in Iraq.

"When Helen Thomas says the press was too soft, what she really means is the press should have been more of an actor in the process instead of covering the process," Noyes said. "That's just not the right role for a journalist."

Thomas openly acknowledges her politics -- "I was born a liberal, and I'll die a liberal," she said -- but added that they were not reflected in her work as a reporter. She called the notion of a liberal bias in the media fictitious.

University Wire/Daily Lobo
“Moore-wellian Fables Skew Truth,”
By: Alex Hughes
July 8

…I'm sure you all have seen the clip where the president says something to the effect of, "I call on all nations to help stop this terrorist threat -- now watch this drive!" And I'm also sure that almost all of you think that clip is of Mr. Bush calling on the international community to take on al Qaeda after the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Let me fill you in on a little secret. That footage was recorded during the president's pre-Sept. 11 vacation time and is actually about Palestinian terrorism in Israel, according to the Media Research Center. …

The Weekly Standard
"Sun of a Media Worker,"
by Paul Chesser
A look at the loving treatment the press has given John Edwards.
July 8

... The Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog organization, reported last year that the senator received a 12 percent approval rating from the American ...

Read the entire article

The Indianapolis Star, Indystar.com
"Columnist upset with White House,"
by Sara Scavongelli
July 8

But Rich Noyes, research director of the Virginia-based Media Research Center, which describes itself as a conservative media watchdog group, said Thomas ...

Read the entire article

The Miami Herald
“Conservatives Raise Claims of Media Bias; As war and the economy influence the presidential election, conservatives turn their sights on the news media and shout, 'Bias!',”
By: James Kuhnhenn
July 7

With the presidential election likely to turn on developments in Iraq and the U.S. economy, one of the summer's hottest political issues is whether media coverage of those topics is fair or biased.

Conservatives across the country decry news coverage of the war as relentlessly and unfairly negative. Recently, Brent Bozell, a conservative activist, launched a $2.8 million advertising and talk-radio campaign to discredit the ''liberal news media.''

Such complaints are escalating -- and increasingly conveyed in e-mails to journalists, letters to the editor and even in social settings with news executives -- a phenomenon that appears to have been aroused in part by the Republican Party, President Bush's campaign and leading conservatives on talk radio, the Internet and cable television.

''The bias that's been there is now simply out of control,'' said Bozell, whose conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads accusing the press of lying. The ads show a stern-faced Uncle Sam warning: ''Don't believe the liberal media!''

Protests about media coverage have surged as bad news from Iraq and worries about jobs here at home have driven Bush's approval ratings to all-time lows. The president's supporters say journalists dwell unfairly on casualties and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and ignore positive U.S. economic signs.

The Miami Herald
“Conservatives Raise Claims of Media Bias,”
by James Kuhnhenn
July 7

…Conservatives across the country decry news coverage of the war as relentlessly and unfairly negative. Recently, Brent Bozell, a conservative activist, launched a $2.8 million advertising and talk-radio campaign to discredit the ``liberal news media.''

Such complaints are escalating -- and increasingly conveyed in e-mails to journalists, letters to the editor and even in social settings with news executives -- a phenomenon that appears to have been aroused in part by the Republican Party, President Bush's campaign and leading conservatives on talk radio, the Internet and cable television.

''The bias that's been there is now simply out of control,'' said Bozell, whose conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads accusing the press of lying. The ads show a stern-faced Uncle Sam warning: ``Don't believe the liberal media!''…

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WorldNetDaily.com
“'JUNK science' propelled Edwards' career?”
July 7

CNSNews.com first reported in January how Edwards won record jury verdicts and settlements in cases alleging that the botched treatment of women in labor and ...

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Tech Central Station.com
“JOHN Edwards and the Strangest Mutation of Liberalism Yet,”
by James Pinkerton
July 7

... As noted by Media Research Center, Harry Smith of CBS characterized Kerry's Tuesday morning speech in Pittsburgh as "right down the middle."

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Contra Costa Times
“PRESS feels partisan pressure to perform”
July 5

... The bias that's been there is now simply out of control," said Bozell, whose conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads...

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Michnews.com
“SENATOR John Kerry,”
by William Fielder
July 5

... In the 1970s, Kerry attended 2 meetings with North Vietnamese communist representatives, according to Marc Morano of CNS News (CNSNews.com). ...

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The Washington Times
“Downsized at McDonald’s,”
by Marguerite Higgins
July 5

Soso Whaley explained her McDonald's diet to Paul F. Stifflemire Jr., director of the Media Research Center's Free Market Project.

Tallahassee Democrat
“Stuck in the middle with you,”
by Mary Ann Lindley
July 4

…It's not so much over this insult to the media, but for the way this movement draws one more line in the sand in a country that's already so split and warring that it seems we'll never be one Union, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The $2.8 million advertising and talk-radio campaign launched by conservative activist Brent Bozell, a Texas native who runs the Media Research Center out of Washington, D.C., concerns primarily coverage of the war.

Bozell's theme is that the media report too negatively and too much on prisoner abuse, make too much of beheadings and other gore and too little of patriotism…

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“The Incredible Vanishing Ted Koppel,”
by Ken Parish Perkins
July 4

Nightline, and Koppel in particular, have long been high on the hit list of the Media Research Center, which since 1987 has analyzed media coverage to flag what it considers liberal bias in reporting. Just last week, the buzz around the research center's Alexandria, Va., offices was the Nightline broadcast that detailed how presidential candidate John Kerry won a Silver Star, complete with footage from his Vietnam days, without, says the center's Brent Baker, a discouraging word from Kerry detractors.

"The major theme of Nightline is all the problems and screw-ups in Iraq and how that relates to President Bush's foreign policies," Baker says. "Then you have the Kerry video with footage of him in Vietnam. How did they have that? Did Kerry get his buddies to shoot that because he had political aspirations? We don't know because Koppel didn't bother to ask.

"I'm saddened to see any news programs go," Baker adds. "But the show has to be more balanced in topics and [reporting.] Without it, it's hard to call it required viewing anymore."

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San Jose Mercury News
“BUSH supporters renew vigor in lambasting media,”
by James Kuhnhenn
July 4

... His conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads depicting a stern-faced Uncle Sam warning: ``Don't believe the liberal media!''. ...

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Detroit Free Press
“Media Bias Charge Plays Both Sides,”
by James Kuhnhenn
July 4

…Conservatives across the country decry news coverage of the war as relentlessly and unfairly negative. Last month Brent Bozell, a conservative activist, launched a $2.8-million advertising and talk-radio campaign to discredit the "liberal news media."

Such complaints are escalating -- and increasingly conveyed in e-mails to journalists, letters to the editor and even in social settings with news executives -- a phenomenon that appears to have been aroused in part by the Republican Party, President George W. Bush's campaign and leading conservatives on talk radio, the Internet and cable TV.

"The bias that's been there is now simply out of control," said Bozell, whose conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads accusing the press of lying. The ads show a stern-faced Uncle Sam warning: "Don't believe the liberal media!"…

Chattanooga Times Free Press
“Conservatives Turn Attention to the Media,”
by James Kuhnhenn
July 4

…Conservatives across the country decry news coverage of the war as relentlessly and unfairly negative. Last month Brent Bozell, a conservative activist, launched a $2.8 million advertising and talk-radio campaign to discredit the "liberal news media."

Such complaints are escalating -- and increasingly conveyed in e-mails to journalists, letters to the editor and even in social settings with news executives -- a phenomenon that appears to have been aroused in part by the Republican Party, President Bush's campaign and leading conservatives on talk radio, the Internet and cable TV.

"The bias that's been there is now simply out of control," said Bozell, whose conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads accusing the press of lying. The ads show a stern-faced Uncle Sam warning: "Don't believe the liberal media!"

Protests about media coverage have surged as bad news from Iraq and worries about jobs here at home have driven Bush's approval numbers to all-time lows. The president's supporters say journalists dwell unfairly on casualties and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and ignore positive U.S. economic signs. …

Los Angeles Times
“Media Matters: “My Life” in the Eye of the Perfect Marketing Storm,”
by David Shaw
July 4

…Tim Graham, director of media analysis for the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog group based in Alexandria, Va., says it's not so much the quantity of the Clinton coverage as its "uncritical, unchallenging character" that distresses him.

But it's hard to be critical or challenging when you're swept up in a marketing frenzy.

Although Clinton-bashing by the conservatives has fed the "My Life" publicity mill, that may not have been necessary.

"Clinton is an utterly fascinating person, a living soap opera," says Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and author of the book "Feeding Frenzy." "Half the people are in love with him, and the other half hates his guts, but everyone has to read the stories and watch the TV pieces."…

The Sun Herald
“Critics Say U.S. Media Only Show Negatives of Iraq,”
by James Kuhnhen
July 1

…Conservatives across the country decry news coverage of the war as relentlessly and unfairly negative. Last week, Brent Bozell, a conservative activist, launched a $2.8 million advertising and talk-radio campaign to discredit the "liberal news media."

Such complaints are escalating - and increasingly conveyed in e-mails to journalists, letters to the editor and even in social settings with news executives - a phenomenon that appears to have been aroused in part by the Republican Party, President Bush's campaign and leading conservatives on talk radio, the Internet and cable TV.

"The bias that's been there is now simply out of control," said Bozell, whose conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads accusing the press of lying. The ads show a stern-faced Uncle Sam warning: "Don't believe the liberal media!"…

Read the entire article

ChristianExaminer.com (formerly the Christian Times)
“TV News Religion Coverage on the Rise, But Biased,”
by Staff Reporter
July 1

TV network news coverage on religion has increased significantly over the past decade, but the tone of that coverage tends to be presented in a negative light or in the context of political issues.

Those were the findings of a study conducted by the Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group.

“Religious stories are more prevalent but the prevailing attitude at the networks seems to be it’s only a good story if it casts faith in a negative light, or if it evokes a political controversy,” Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, said in a news release.

According to Bozell, MRC analysts surveyed every religion news story on ABC, CBS, and NBC news programs in the 12 months running from March 1, 2003 through February. Those numbers were then compared to the organization’s first religion study, conducted in 1993.

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RushLimbaugh.com
Imagine If Rush Limbaugh Said This on ESPN 
July 1

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Cybercast News Service.com has a story. The Reverend Jackson says that NASCAR should feature more African-American drivers because "negroes can drive cars fast."

Now, can you imagine if I had said something like this on ESPN? Jackson made the remarks Tuesday at a NASCAR sponsored sports luncheon at the 33rd annual Rainbow Monochrome Coalition conference in Chicago. He said, "One thing I know, negroes can drive cars fast. I mean we go through red lights, we even drive at night with our lights off. We can drive cars fast." He said from the podium. That's what it says he said here. The Reverend Jackson said, "One thing I know, negroes can drive cars fast." And people were laughing out there in the audience!

"One thing I know, negroes can drive cars fast. I mean we go through red lights, even drive at night with our lights off. We can drive cars fast." And he was pitching NASCAR to go and get more black drivers -- negro drivers -- which is it now?

END TRANSCRIPT

Read the entire posting

The Charlotte Observer
“Conservatives Chide ‘Liberal Media’, Talk Radio Vents against Reporting of Bad News on War And Economy,”
by JamesKuhnhenn
July 1

…Conservatives across the country decry news coverage of the war as relentlessly and unfairly negative. Last week, Brent Bozell, a conservative activist, launched a $2.8 million advertising and talk-radio campaign to discredit the so-called "liberal news media."

Such complaints are escalating - and increasingly conveyed in e-mails to journalists, letters to the editor and even in social settings with news executives - a campaign that appears to be driven by the Republican Party, President Bush's campaign and conservatives on talk radio, the Internet and cable TV.

"The bias that's been there is now simply out of control," said Bozell, whose conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads accusing the press of lying. The ads show a stern-faced Uncle Sam warning: "Don't believe the liberal media!"

Protests about media coverage have surged as bad news from Iraq and worries about jobs here at home have driven Bush's approval numbers to all-time lows. The president's supporters say journalists dwell unfairly on casualties and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and ignore positive U.S. economic signs.

But while critics like Bozell complain that the press has overplayed the violence in Iraq, top U.S. officials there say lack of security is the dominant reality.

"Clearly, the security situation trumps everything," James "Spike" Stephenson says. He heads the U.S. Agency for International Development in Iraq. …

The Tallahassee Democrat
“Conservatives Say Bad News Proves Biased Media,”
by James Kuhnhenn
July 1

…Conservatives across the country decry news coverage of the war as relentlessly and unfairly negative. Last week Brent Bozell, a conservative activist, launched a $2.8 million advertising and talk-radio campaign to discredit the "liberal news media."

Such complaints are escalating - and increasingly conveyed in e-mails to journalists, letters to the editor and even in social settings with news executives - a phenomenon that appears to have been aroused in part by the Republican Party, President Bush's campaign and leading conservatives on talk radio, the Internet and cable TV.

"The bias that's been there is now simply out of control," said Bozell, whose conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads accusing the press of lying. The ads show a stern-faced Uncle Sam warning: "Don't believe the liberal media!"

Protests about media coverage have surged as bad news from Iraq and worries about jobs here at home have driven Bush's approval numbers to all-time lows. The president's supporters say journalists dwell unfairly on casualties and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and ignore positive U.S. economic signs. …

Duluth News-Tribune
“Coverage of War, Economy Biased, Conservatives Say,”
by James Kuhnhenn
July 1

…Conservatives across the country decry news coverage of the war as relentlessly and unfairly negative. Last week Brent Bozell, a conservative activist, launched a $2.8 million advertising and talk-radio campaign to discredit the "liberal news media."

Such complaints are escalating -- and increasingly conveyed in e-mails to journalists, letters to the editor and even in social settings with news executives -- a phenomenon that appears to have been aroused in part by the Republican Party, President Bush's campaign and leading conservatives on talk radio, the Internet and cable TV.

"The bias that's been there is now simply out of control," said Bozell, whose conservative Media Research Center is running newspaper and billboard ads accusing the press of lying. The ads show a stern-faced Uncle Sam warning: "Don't believe the liberal media!"

Protests about media coverage have surged as bad news from Iraq and worries about jobs at home have driven Bush's approval numbers to all-time lows. The president's supporters say journalists dwell unfairly on casualties and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and ignore positive U.S. economic signs. …

2004 Archive