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.

WJET – Erie, PA
January 31

MRC Free Market Project Director Dan Gainor discussed global warming.

The topic was also discussed on the following radio stations:

WLW - Cincinnati, OH
January 26

WFLA – Tampa Bay, FL
January 25

Renewamerica.us
“War of the (academic) worlds: Mega-U State v. Normally Normal,” by Curtis Dahlgren
January 28

…I mentioned some other books in my last column also. I probably failed to mention many good ones; one would be "Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel" by Mike S. Adams. Another is "Weapons of Mass Distortion: The coming meltdown of the liberal media" by Brent Bozell. Plus, "Destructive Generation," by Horowitz and Collier. …

See Story

Family News in Focus
“Next FCC Chief Faces Challenge,” by Steve Jordahl
January 28

…Tim Graham, a spokesman for the Media Research Center, is hoping apathy won't set in with the new administration. 
"Liberals in town believe that, now that Bush has sort of gotten past the election with his Catholic and evangelical voters' pleas, that he can sort of deny them now," Graham said. …

See Story

Washington Times
Inside Politics
“Lefty ‘Centrists’,” by Greg Pierce
January 28

"Democratic Sens. Tom Harkin, Carl Levin and Mark Dayton are 'centrists'?" the Media Research Center's Brent Baker asks at www.mediaresearch.org.

"Writing a midday story Wednesday for The Washington Post Web site, about the Senate's confirmation of Condoleezza Rice for secretary of state, reporter Charles Babington asserted: 'Some of the Democrats who opposed Rice were centrists from states in which President Bush won or ran strongly in November, including Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), Mark Dayton (D-Minn.), Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).' 

"After National Review Online noted the ridiculous label, the Post dropped it," Mr. Baker said. "But then it returned in Babington's piece in the Thursday newspaper, where he referred to Sen. Russ Feingold as one of the Senate's 'more centrist or independent members.' Maybe Babington took his lead from CBS's Harry Smith, who on Wednesday's 'Early Show' insisted that Dayton is 'not known as a rabble-rouser or a left-wing infiltrator.' "

See Story

National Ledger
“FCC: Wilder Than the Newspapers,” by L. Brent Bozell III
January 28

This isn't the first time the media has mocked a decency debate without exploring the actual content. It's too common. A 1991 Media Research Center study found that in 47 network news stories about indecent art subsidized by the National Endowment for the Arts and 29 stories about the profane rap group 2 Live Crew, the networks failed to show the artworks or play the lyrics, even as some reporters downplayed their shock value. Only two of the 47 NEA stories mentioned there were images from NEA-funded artists they could not show on television. Only six of the 29 reports on 2 Live Crew included any attempt to display the lyrics at the heart of the story.

See Story

Working for Change
“To Hell, and they're coming back,” by Bill Berkowitz
January 28

... According to a transcript provided by the Media Research Center, ABC's Robin Roberts asked Williams' parents to explain the fact that "it was reported that ...

See Story

Canada Free Press
“Bringing on the Fox News Canadian Bureau,” by Judy McLeod
January 27

... include Marsden, media bias critic Bernie Goldberg, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter and representatives of the conservative Media Research Center, among others. ...

See Story

Chuck Harder Show
January 27

Media Research Center Director of Times Watch Clay Waters discussed NYT reporter Sarah Boxer's biased article on a pro-U.S. blog based in Iraq.

KTSA: San Antonio, TX
January 27

Media Research Center Free Market Project Director Dan Gainor discussed global warming.

MSNBC
Scarborough Country
Byline: Steve Walker, Kelly Reardon, Joe Scarborough Guests: Mary Fetchet, Mort Zuckerman, Cheri Jacobus, Jack Burkman, Lois Lee, Jennifer Berman, Tim Graham, Bob Jensen, Andrea Lafferty
January 27

…Our top story tonight, the culture wars continue. Is PBS brainwashing your kids, as some advocates say? Well, they may be with a new cartoon for 6-year-olds that feature a gay couple.

With me now, we`ve got Tim Graham of the Media Research Center. We`ve got Andrea Lafferty from the Traditional Values Coalition. And Bob Jensen, he`s professor of journalism at University of Texas at Austin. He`s also the author of "Citizens for the Empire."

Now, before we get to that hot debate, let`s get to the facts of the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY REARDON, WPTZ REPORTER (voice-over): Meet Buster, the cartoon bunny, who travels the globe learning about diverse families.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Buster. He is visiting. He will be sharing our math class with us.

CHILDREN: Hi, Buster.

REARDON: And meet his new friends from Vermont.

KAREN PIKE, MOTHER: We are a loving, committed family raising our children in a healthy environment. And we happen to both be women.

REARDON: Now the center of a national controversy. Karen Pike, her partner, and their three kids starred in an episode of the cartoon slated to air in two weeks, until yesterday, when the nation`s new education secretary asked PBS to pull the show.

PIKE: She, on her -- basically her first official act, denounced my family, and has said that we now -- we are not moral or appropriate for other children to know we exist. And I have to explain that to my children.

REARDON: At issue, public money. Taxpayer dollars from the Education Department fund "Postcards From Buster." PBS decided late last night to hold the episode from its 349 stations. The producers of the show, however, based in Boston, will make it available to affiliates who want it.

Karen`s home station, Vermont Public Television, plans to air the program March 23.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s our decision to have the program available to anybody who wants to watch it. It`s ultimately the parents` decision about whether to have their child watch it.

In Hinesburg, Kelly Reardon, News Channel 5.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCARBOROUGH: And that was Kelly Reardon from WPTZ from Plattsburgh, New York.

Let me bring in right now Andrea Lafferty.

Andrea, you are from the Traditional Values Coalition. You believe that this is another example of PBS using tax dollars to promote a radical agenda. Explain.

ANDREA LAFFERTY, TRADITIONAL VALUES COALITION: Well, Joe, it`s good to be with you. I really believe, and millions of Americans agree with Secretary Spellings. She showed common sense in what she did.

She is in lockstep with beliefs and similar beliefs as the American people. We have seen over the course of a number of years the American people have voted, state after state, California, liberal and conservative states, have all said no to homosexual marriage and now particularly when it brings in children. We are talking about preschool kids. They were trying to use tax dollars to foist this on small children.

And these tax dollars are supposed to be to prepare kids to be ready for when they get to school, to be learning, and be prepared when they get to school. This has nothing to do with education. This is merely taking a political agenda and forcing it on our kids.

SCARBOROUGH: OK, Andrea, but, of course, your critics will claim people that attack this cartoon, that have attacked SpongeBob SquarePants, of course, earlier this week, claiming that they both have pro-gay agendas, well, they claim that you are part of a radical right-wing conspiracy, and you say that middle America, the majority of Americans agree with you, but I hear comedians talking about this. It gets an awful lot of laughs from the crowd.

LAFFERTY: Well, wait. This is a separate issue from the SpongeBob thing. And I am here to talk about PBS.

The American people in California voted overwhelmingly against homosexual marriage. Other states have done that as well, not just conservative states. The American people don`t want their children mixed into this subject. I mean, it`s up to a mother and a father to decide when and how to discuss this issue with their children.

There is no reason to use tax dollars and particularly when you are dealing with preschoolers in talking about homosexuality. It's not appropriate. Secretary Spellings showed common sense.

SCARBOROUGH: All right, Bob Jensen, let me ask you, is PBS promoting a pro-gay agenda here by showing this gay, lesbian couple in Vermont to a group of 6-year-olds?

DR. BOB JENSEN, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: First of all, I would like to say, I don`t believe this is a right-wing conspiracy. Conspiracy implies something done in secret. This is radical, reactionary, right-wing agenda pushed right out in public.

Is PBS trying to promote a homosexual agenda? PBS is a space where people are supposed to be able to talk about important issues. One of the reasons we would want a public broadcasting and I would advocate a much better funded and more aggressive public broadcasting system than the weak, timid one we have. The whole point of public broadcasting is to create space for the discussion of these issues. That`s it.

Listen, we live in a pluralist society. There`s a lot of stuff on PBS I don`t agree with, but I don`t go around complaining about every show that isn`t in conformance with my politics. I expect PBS to air shows that don`t agree with. That`s what I want. And I think teaching children that there are multiple ways of living is healthy. I can`t imagine why anyone would be against it.

(CROSSTALK)

SCARBOROUGH: Why would you be against that, Andrea?

LAFFERTY: Well, this is not a radical agenda. This is mainstream. The position that I have taken, the position that the secretary of education has taken is a mainstream position.

This other guest is actually out of the mainstream and radical. Parents need to decide and want to decide how to discuss these issues with their kids. And to take tax dollars and create a show for sixth graders -- excuse me -- 6-year-olds -- is ridiculous, and it is not mainstream.

Let me bring in Tim Graham right now with the Media Research Center.

Tim, you guys have followed PBS for quite some time. Do you believe that this is one more example of PBS promoting an agenda that`s outside the mainstream of mainstream America, the taxpayers who fund PBS?

TIM GRAHAM, DIRECTOR OF MEDIA ANALYSIS, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: Well, this is pretty subtle, as PBS propaganda goes. It`s just a shame.

You know, my daughter loves to watch "Arthur." We like to watch "SpongeBob SquarePants." And so why can`t we leave the cartoons for the kids and not try to sell them some adult agenda? But it`s definitely true. PBS over the years has a lot of one-sided liberal programming, whether it`s on homosexuality, whether it`s on the war in Iraq, whatever the subject is.

SCARBOROUGH: Give me specific examples.

GRAHAM: Well, the famous one in PBS circles was in 1991, where they put on a show called "Tongues Untied," which was a 60-minute pro-gay film, but also everything we see. We have now with Bill Moyers that`s on, has been on every week for a couple of years now.

When Pat Mitchell, the new president of PBS, came on, she decided this is what it needed. It needed a one-hour show every Friday night denouncing the Bush administration as the evil forces of the military industrial complex. And there is not balance. There is still a dramatic liberal bias in the Public Broadcasting System. It is really the same liberal system that we had in the `70s and `80s. It`s a dinosaur, and it ought to be junked.

SCARBOROUGH: Tim, let me read some Bill Moyers quotes and get a response from the professor, because the list of Moyers quotes is long.

Last March, he said that President Bush has lost all credibility with everybody, recommended that Al Gore be put in charge of homeland security. And here are some other quotes. In 2003, he said President Bush is -- quote -- "plotting the deliberate, intentional destruction of the United States of America. Also in 2003, Moyers called Vice President Dick Cheney the -- quote -- "poster boy for the military-industrial complex, whose call for war with all the ferocity of the noncombatants and then turns around and feeds off the corpse of war."

Professor, that doesn`t sound down the middle to me. And for the life of me, I can`t think of a conservative counterpoint to somebody as far left as Bill Moyers. Can you?

JENSEN: Well, first of all, Bill Moyers isn`t the far left. Bill Moyers is a liberal well within the mainstream.

SCARBOROUGH: Bill Moyers isn`t the far left?

JENSEN: Listen, I am on the left. I know what a leftist looks like. It ain`t Bill Moyers. Trust me.

(CROSSTALK)

SCARBOROUGH: Oh, my God. How far left are you, Professor?

JENSEN: First of all, we have to distinguish between statements Bill Moyers may make in public speeches and the content. Now, if you want to criticize...

(CROSSTALK)

GRAHAM: Those are from the program. Those are from the program.

JENSEN: If you look at "NOW," "NOW" was one of the few actual programs on TV that was willing in a time when most mainstream journalists were rolling over for the Bush administration, at least Moyers was willing to take on important subjects. I think this notion that PBS is a home for nothing but left-wing ideas is very funny. There was a Wall Street program. Tucker Carlson just got hired on PBS.

If you look at the actual programming on PBS, I would say it`s not critical. It`s not edgy enough. What do we want from public broadcasting? We want public broadcasting to be the place where the commercials are afraid to go.

SCARBOROUGH: All right, well, you know, what I want public broadcasting to be is down the middle. And you talked about Tucker Carlson. Tucker Carlson is PBS` idea of a conservative, but he predicted that Bush was going to lose, and he is against the war. So, anyway, if that`s fair and balanced at PBS, so be it.

Anyway, Professor, thank you for being with us. Andrea Lafferty, thank you. And, Tim Graham, as always, we appreciate your time. …

J.D. Balart's American Radio Journal
January 27

Nathan Burchfiel of Media Research Center’s CNSNews.com discussed what he saw at the polling place for Iraqi expatriates.

WERC: Birmingham, AL
January 27

Executive Editor of CNSNews.com discussed Iraqi elections.

The topic was also discussed on the following radio stations and programs:

George Putnam Show (nationally syndicated) 
January 26

WFLA - Tampa Bay, FL 
January 27

Newsbeat with Blanquita Cullum
January 26

WWL – New Orleans, LA
January 26

Linda Chavez Show (nationally syndicated)
January 27

MRC Director of Media Analysis Tim Graham discussed Iraqi elections.

The topic was also discussed on the following radio program:

Kresta in the Afternoon (nationally syndicated) 
January 26

UPI
“Outside View: The Fox in Canada's Henhouse,” by Rachel Marsden
January 25

…Whatever can be said about Fox, the CBC is an unbalanced network. Those who are being interviewed for its anti-Fox program include, besides me, best-selling author Ann Coulter; ex-CBS newsman and media whistleblower Bernard Goldberg; representatives from media watchdogs Media Research Center -- on the right -- and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting on the left; and Air America's Al Franken.

No doubt, all of the people on the left will be portrayed in the piece as candidates for sainthood -- much like the CBC has portrayed Palestinian terrorists as freedom fighters -- while those on the right will be made out to be fruitcakes, courtesy of the editing and scripting. …

Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“Media Monday” (no byline)
January 24

Here are some of the latest outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes from or about the liberal media, courtesy of the Media Research Center: 

One confused dude: "If you look at the Swift Boat ads last summer -- full of distortions, some demonstrably untrue content in there -- yet they were run as gospel by many news outlets even though they were by definition designed to influence the election. 

But you're not going to see Fox News appointing an independent investigation into its own journalistic ethics or lack thereof for these ads." 

-- MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. 

One confused dudette: "Imagine a Democratic presidential candidate and his allies assailing the character of the Republican nominee in ads and speeches every day for eight months. Having trouble? That's because Democrats usually don't have the stomach or the discipline to do it. Often they don't even effectively fight back when under attack themselves." 

-- USA Today political reporter Jill Lawrence. 

Well, yes, Don: "Does anybody really think there wouldn't have been more scrutiny if this had been about John Kerry?" 

-- Former "60 Minutes" executive producer Don Hewitt, on the CBS debacle involving its reportage of President Bush's National Guard service.

The Washington Times
Inside Politics
“Don’t Go There,” by Greg Pierce
January 24

…During coverage of President Bush's inaugural parade Thursday, a historian raised a subject Dan Rather would rather not discuss, the Media Research Center's Brent Baker writes at www.mediaresearch.org

"On CBS, Dan Rather wanted to know if there has 'been any American president in a time of war who has asked for as little sacrifice as President Bush has done?' As he sat at the same table with Dan Rather, who just months ago delivered a hit job on Bush based on forged documents, historian Joseph Ellis stressed how there are plenty of scandals which could imperil Bush's second term since as 'a lame duck ... the press is really out to get you. And they can get you if they want to get you. And they're going to go after him. You can already start to see it. And what the press defines as a scandal becomes a scandal.'

"Rather quickly switched topics. Later, however, after CBS reporter Thalia Assuras insisted that along the parade route the 'majority have been at this point booing the president,' Rather came to Bush's defense and countered that 'overall and in the main, this is a friendly, even jubilant crowd.' "

WMUZ - Detroit, MI
January 24

MRC Research Director Rich Noyes discussed the inauguration.

National Review Online
“George Gets Even, by Tim Graham
January 24

... Eight years ago last week, ABC News added George Stephanopoulos to its "objective" media team, fresh out of the Clinton White House. He wasn't presented as the face of objectivity at first. He began with a tag-team assignment with conservative Bill Kristol, who was dismissed over the holidays in 1999. As the 2000 campaign began, Stephanopoulos was soon the network's only political analyst and then as the fall campaign began in 2002, he became host of This Week with George Stephanopoulos, something that sounded like a joke in 1996. On this timetable, it shouldn't surprise us if ABC goes all the way and has Stephanopoulos replace Peter Jennings in 2006.

See Story

Press Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
“Bias Laid Bare” (editorial, byline: The Press-Enterprise)
January 23

…And we wonder why belief in media bias remains pervasive?

Take the Media Research Center's first content analysis from the 2004 presidential campaign. Networks gave glowing coverage to Sen. John Kerry and his Democratic rivals, while constantly pummeling President Bush, the study found.

This wasn't just healthy scrutiny of the incumbent: In February alone, ABC, NBC, and CBS aired a combined 63 network news segments about the charges that Bush was AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard. Meantime, the swift boat vets' attacks on

Kerry's Vietnam service drew silence when they emerged in early May. The Big Three failed to air a single story about the group's charges until mid-August, when Kerry finally responded.

Linda Chavez Show (nationally syndicated)
January 24

Research Director Rich Noyes discussed inauguration coverage.

The topic was also discussed on the following radio stations:

WMUZ: Detroit, MI
January 24

WNTA: Rockford, IL
January 19

Newsbeat with Blanquita Cullum
January 24

Media Analysis Director Tim Graham discussed inauguration coverage.

The topic was also discussed on the following radio stations and programs:

WKY: Okalahoma City, OK
January 21

NRA News
January 19

Charlotte Observer
“Media's liberal bias obvious,” by Tom Ashcroft
January 22

... Other long-time monitors of media distortion include Accuracy in Media (www.aim.org) and the Media Research Center (www.mediaresearch.org). ...

See Story

Media Matters for America
“While conservatives accused Face the Nation of slanting left, Schieffer came clean on program's Republican-dominated guest list” (no byline)
January 21

... On January 16, the right-wing news website NewsMax.com reported Hume's remark, followed by the conservative Media Research Center (MRC) on January 17. ...

See Story

Agape Press
“Commentary & News Briefs,” compiled by Jenni Parker
January 21

...A report indicates ABC News was hoping this week to air stories about the funerals of U.S. soldiers as a way of countering the inaugural celebrations. Cybercast News says Internet bloggers were quick to pick up on a message posted on the ABC News website on Wednesday, soliciting information about whether people knew of any military funerals for Iraq War casualties on Thursday -- the same day President George W. Bush was scheduled to be sworn in for a second term. It went on to ask people to fill out a form if they knew of such an event and whether there might be a family member of the deceased who might be willing to talk to ABC News. Tim Graham of the Media Research Center says ABC News seemed intent all week on diverting the public's attention from the inaugural celebrations by doing stories about the casualties of war. Graham also says his group's research shows that compared to other news agencies, ABC has been the most critical of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraqi war. He says he believes that in some "weird way," this is the network's method of "punishing Bush" for going to war. [Fred Jackson]

See Story

The Washington Times
Inside Politics
“Objectively ‘Lavish’,” by Greg Pierce
January 21

… Anchoring the broadcast alongside one of his highly paid, nonpartisan, objective observer colleagues, Mr. Jennings then made sure that millions of ABC viewers were not misled: "Now, it's a little risky, George Stephanopoulos, to contradict the first lady, [but] it is pretty lavish and it was pretty lavish last night." 

This exchange was noticed by Tim Graham of the Media Research Center, who reported it on National Review Online (www.nationalreview.com). Kathryn Jean "K-Lo" Lopez, editor of the "Corner" blog at the NRO site, soon posted an e-mail from a quick-witted reader: 

" 'Lavish' is what you call a party that you weren't invited to. If it was a Kerry inauguration (shudder) could you imagine what a spread would be fitting of John and Teresa?"

See Story

Torontofreepress
“Vietnam Veterans Celebrate Kerry's Election Defeat,” by Marc Morano
January 21

Washington (CNSNews.com) - Vietnam Veterans who opposed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry held an "un-augural" reception on Thursday afternoon in Washington to celebrate the fact that Kerry lost the election and to honor the veterans who helped defeat him.

See Story

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
“Critics still wonder how eye will survive,” by Associated Press
January 20

... When asked what CBS could do toward reaching some sort of detente, Tim Graham, director of media analysis for the Media Research Center, said: "I think it ...

See Story

The Washington Times
Inside Politics, by Greg Pierce
”Hollywood landslide”
January 20

... applied on NBC's 'The West Wing,' President George W. Bush won in a 'landslide,' " the Media Research Center's Brent Baker writes at www.mediaresearch.org. ...

See Story

The Washington Times
Inside Politics by Greg Pierce
“King Day Bash”
January 19

"ABC's Peter Jennings decided to use Martin Luther King Day to showcase how President Bush has a 'difficult relationship' with black Americans, as illustrated by how 'he got only 9 percent of the black vote four years ago and 11 percent in this election,' " the Media Research Center's Brent Baker reports at www.mediaresearch.org.

"The piece by reporter Dan Harris featured blacks who denounced Bush. One man asserted: 'If I was a schoolteacher, he'd have an F.' Another complained: 'We're spending billions of dollars on that war. And then, we have citizens of our nation, our prosperous nation, who don't have health care.' 

"Harris elaborated: 'In his first four years, Mr. Bush angered many blacks by supporting a lawsuit against affirmative action, and by refusing to speak to the NAACP.' Harris failed to mention how the NAACP ran TV ads in 2000 blaming Bush for the dragging murder of James Byrd. Harris relayed how a former congressman contended that Bush's appointments 'matter far less than' his lack of effort to combat discrimination." 

See Story

TheRealityCheck.Org
“Fox News Enters the Canadian Media Henhouse,” by Rachel Marsden
January 19

Interviewees for the CBC piece on Fox include myself; right-wing pundit Ann Coulter; author and media bias whistleblower, Bernie Goldberg; Bill O’Reilly’s favourite yappy little liberal ankle-biter, Al Franken; and representatives with both the conservative Media Research Center and the left-leaning Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.

See Story

Columbia Journalism Review
“Defining Bias Downward” (editorial, no byline)
January/February 2005

…In the wake of the election the bias symphony is reaching for a crescendo. The new refrain goes this way: aside from John Kerry, the election’s other loser was mainstream media. George W. Bush, the theory goes, won despite the strenuous efforts of the press to bring him down. Here’s an example of this view, from Tim Graham of National Review Online:

Every anti-Bush angle . . . was explored with great ferocity. Almost every week of 2004 was a bad media week for Bush. There was Paul O’Neill Book Week. There was 9/11 Ads in Bad Taste Week. There was Richard Clarke Book Week. There was Bob Woodward Book Week. There were two weeks of Alabama National Guard Whereabouts Hunt. There were four weeks of Abu Ghraib hype . . .

What’s disturbing is not the way that Graham is whining into his champagne but his little two-step away from reality. He and others are defining bias downward, as anything that challenges a GOP point of view. …

See Story

Washington Times
Inside Politics
“Back to Normal,” by Greg Pierce
January 18

... Ted Kennedy, who made a speech earlier in the week railing against Bush policies," the Media Research Center reports at www.mediaresearch.org. ..

See Story

Torontofreepress.com
“CBS puts Rather ahead of credibility,” by Arthur Weinreb, Associate Editor, Canada Free Press 
January 18

... know one. MRC went on to comment on Rather's chutzpah in describing the non functioning computer as an embarrassment. The network ..

See Story

Washington Times
“A beef over obesity bias,” by Hermain Cain and Dan Gainor
January 18

... The Media Research Center's Free Market Project analyzed all news stories about obesity published in the New York Times and USA Today or aired on the three ....

See Story

Times Picayune (New Orleans, LA)
“CBS Probe Leaves Unanswered Questions,” by David Bauder
January 16

…"When Richard Thornburgh, one of the panelists, was all over the media saying they could not prove political bias, I don't think it comes with much more authority," Mason said.

Still, Tim Graham, director of media analysis for the Media Research Center, accused Thornburgh of "pussyfooting" around the issue.

"Conservatives feel this story wasn't about beating NBC, ABC or USA Today; it was about beating President Bush," Graham said.

"What sort of sticks in our nostrils is they don't care what we think," Graham said. "They don't care if there's a perception of bias."

Yet when asked what CBS could do toward reaching some sort of detente, Graham said, "I think it would be a step forward to admit that what CBS did was intended to sway an election."

Said Mason: "I think we're going to have to agree to disagree." 

See Story

Human Events
“Rather Still Has Faith in Fake Memos,” by Robert B. Bluey
January 14

…Former ABC News correspondent Bob Zelnick, now chairman of the Boston University journalism department, told HUMAN EVENTS that what Rather and Mapes did was "borderline deception of the American people." Media Research Center President L. Brent Bozell added, "This story was a political hatchet job, based on forged documents, and it was broadcast to the American public because of the liberal bias entrenched at CBS."

See Story

Insight from Washington
January 14

MRC Director of Media Analysis Tim Graham discussed the CBS report.

Graham also discussed the topic on the following radio stations and programs:

NRA News, January 12

MSNBC, January 12

KERN Bakersfield, CA, January 12

WOR: New York, NY, January 11

Ava Maria, (nationally syndicated), January 11

WLS: Chicago, January 11

MetroNews Radio Network, (WV syndication), January 11

KFAX: Fremont, CA, January 11

KTSA: San Antonio, TX 

KLO: Salt Lake City, UT 

G. Gordon Liddy, January 11

WABC: New York, January 10

USA Today, January 10

WBAL: Baltimore, MD, January 10

Fox & Friends, January 10

MSNBC Dayside, January 10

WGBF: Evansville, IN
January 14

Free Market Project Director (FMP) Dan Gainor discussed FMP’s special report, “Supersized Bias II.”

The topic of obesity and “Supersized Bias II” was discussed on the following radio stations and programs:

WIBA, Madison, WI
January 14

WBAL, Baltimore
The Ron Smith Show
January 13

Chuck Harder Show (nationally syndicated)
January 13 

WYLL/Chicago & KFNX/Phoenix
"Money & More"
January 13

National Review Online
“Defining Bias Downward?” by Tim Graham
January 13

See Story

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Brent Bozo III,” by Gene Zizis (editorial)
January 12

Brent Bozell III has an opinion and an agenda; fine so far ("Bill Moyers, hypocrite," Jan. 2). If he would stick to the relevant facts to expose the contradictions and inconsistencies of those he opposes, I wouldn't be writing this letter.

However, Bozell blasts Bill Moyers not for what he has reported or for his collection of facts and corroborations but rather because he has used the capitalist system, which all conservatives love and embrace, to his advantage and he lives in Manhattan. 

Nowhere does he challenge Moyers' facts. Instead, he uses distorted logic and obfuscation of the facts, like all good smear merchants. He uses no direct evidence to discredit Moyers' reporting. 

I've learned more watching Moyers' excellent series "Now" than reading Bozell's tripe. In fact, I'll take a world with more Moyerses and fewer Bozells anytime. Moyers presents cold, coherent, unflinching reporting. Mr. Bozell, live with it. He should stay and you should retire. 

See Story

The Washington Times
“CBS fails to escape cloud of news bias,” by Jennifer Harper
January 12

…The conclusion left some incredulous.

"It's all just bizarre. The least credible part of the CBS report is the network's insistence there was no evidence of political bias. Most viewers could see the bias all over the story," said Tim Graham of the Alexandria-based Media Research Center yesterday.

"There was no conservative or Republican viewpoint represented either," he added. "Besides that, '60 Minutes' has a history of producing anti-Bush stories." …

Agape Press
“Dan Rather, CBS News Boss Both Escape 'Memogate' Unscathed,” by Chad Groening
January 12

... He said the timing had nothing to do with the investigation. MRC spokesman Mike Chapman says the network should have done more than just "retire" Dan Rather. ...

See Story

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“CBS Fires 4 for Putting Faulty Bush Story on Air,” by Rob Owen
January 11

…Some conservatives were not satisfied with the report or CBS's reaction to it.

"This story was a political hatchet job, based on forged documents, and it was broadcast to the American public because of the liberal bias entrenched at CBS," wrote L. Brent Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center, in a statement. …

The Dallas Morning News
“4 CBS employees lose jobs over story on Bush's military record,” by Pete Slover
January 11

…Critics of CBS have complained that the network displays an unrelenting anti-conservative bent. One such group, the conservative Media Research Center, called Mapes a "scapegoat" and said the continued employment of Heyward and Rather portend a continued liberal slant. …

The story also ran in the following paper:

Kansas City Star (MO),
January 10

The Washington Times
“CBS fires 4; Rather stays on,” by Jennifer Harper
January 11

… "CBS News hasn't gone far enough in addressing the institutional problem of liberal bias within its ranks," said Brent Bozell of the Alexandria-based Media Research Center. "Both CBS News President Andrew Heyward and Dan Rather had to sign off on the anti-Bush story that CBS' own panel has concluded was inaccurate and unfair —and yet neither man has been held accountable." 

Mr. Bozell called Miss Mapes "a scapegoat," adding that CBS fully intended to destroy Mr. Bush and that "Mr. Rather and Mr. Heyward were complicit in this action." …

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Houston Chronicle
“Panel Raps CBS News for Story on Bush,” by Michael Hedges
January 11

…"It is preposterous to say there was no ideological motivation behind the CBS report," said Brent Baker, vice president of Media Research Center, a conservative group. "They had a predetermined agenda that Bush was getting away with something on his Guard service before they did the report." …

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USA Today
“CBS Firings Should Go Higher Up, Critics Say,” by Peter Johnson and Mark Memmott
January 10

…Rooney's opinion was echoed by some outside observers who said CBS didn't go far enough.

"Neither Heyward nor Rather are paying" for their parts in the story, said Tim Graham of the Media Research Center, which has long accused Rather and CBS News of tilting left politically. …

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NC's Fox News Live, 2:30pm EST 
January 10

Deroy Murdock: "She [Mary Mapes] spent -- almost like Captain Ahab chasing after Moby Dick -- she spent a lot of time trying to find this story. You could say that she did it for partisan purposes. The Media Research Center pointed to a lot of comments that CBS News has made that you definitely could describe as liberal bias...."

Columbia Journalism Review
“BLOG-GATE; Yes, CBS Screwed up Badly in 'Memogate' -- But So Did Those Who Covered the Affair,” by Corey Pein
January 2005/February 2005

…The very first post attacking the memos -- nineteen minutes into the 60 Minutes II program -- was on the right-wing Web site FreeRepublic.com by an active Air Force officer, Paul Boley of Montgomery, Alabama, who went by the handle "TankerKC." Nearly four hours later it was followed by postings from "Buckhead," whom the Los Angeles Times later identified as Harry MacDougald, a Republican lawyer in Atlanta. (MacDougald refused to tell the Times how he was able to mount a case against the documents so quickly.) Other blogs quickly picked up the charges. One of the story's top blogs, Rathergate.com, is registered to a firm run by Richard Viguerie, the legendary conservative fund-raiser. Some were fed by the conservative Media Research Center and by Creative Response Concepts, the same p.r. firm that promoted the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. CRC's executives bragged to PR Week that they helped legitimize the documents-are-fake story by supplying quotes from document experts as early as the day after the report, September 9. The goal, said president Greg Mueller, was to create a buzz online while at the same time showing journalists "it isn't just Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge who are raising questions." …

Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“Media Monday” (no byline)
January 10

Here are some of the latest outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes from the liberal media, courtesy of the Media Research Center: 

Bill's parallel universe: "I'm going out telling the story that I think is the biggest story of our time: how the right-wing media has become a partisan propaganda arm of the Republican National Committee. 

We have an ideological press that's interested in the election of Republicans, and a mainstream press that's interested in the bottom line. Therefore, we don't have a vigilant, independent press whose interest is the American people." 
-- Bill Moyers, from his final broadcast on the PBS program "Now." 

This is "courage"? "Television must deal with political pressures to conform to resurgent conservative values that appear to be stifling editorial courage in the newsroom. (Dan) Rather had the inner strength recently to criticize 'these partisan, political ideological challenges.' Will his successor have similar courage? Will the timid network executives have the old-fashioned backbone to take on a crusading administration? I doubt it." 
-- Former CBS & NBC correspondent Marvin Kalb, now working for a Harvard media think tank, writing in the Los Angeles Times.

Rather was critical of those who exposed CBS's use of forged memos in a report on President Bush's military service.

Investor’s Business Daily
“A Beef with Media Obesity Bias,” by Herman Cain and Dan Gainor
January 7

The holidays are over, and millions of people have resolved to lose the weight they just gained. As we headed into the new year, the major media made you think twice about the whole concept of holiday stuffing. How do we know? Our analysis shows that this is the media's pattern.

We've analyzed how the major media treated the issue of obesity for the last year and a half. The result? The major media are more likely to turn the holiday season into open season on the food industry than into a time to eat, drink and be merry. 

Coverage Analysis

It's the new battle of the bulge. Anti-corporate activists have seized upon America's worries about weight to launch a campaign against the companies that produce the food that feeds us all. They blame U.S. businesses for the "obesity epidemic" and say it can best be cured through a diet of new taxes, more regulations and lawyer-enriching lawsuits.

One well-known activist even complained that healthier versions of traditional snack foods were bad because they were foods we "shouldn't be eating at all."

These "activists" have succeeded at getting their agenda out because the major media have done a poor job covering the issue. The Media Research Center's Free Market Project analyzed all news stories about obesity published in The New York Times and USA Today or aired on the three broadcast network evening news shows for 18 months.

Industry's Fault

The first analysis was from May 1, 2003, through April 30, 2004. The second covered the next six months and, unfortunately, shows the media haven't changed their tune much.

In the first study, about half of the 205 stories debated obesity's causes. Of these, most (64%) blamed America's weight problems on food companies rather than on personal behavior. This improved in our second study, but it's still a problem. The concept of personal responsibility still hasn't taken hold in U.S. newsrooms.

For example, on the March 9, 2004, "World News Tonight," ABC reporter Lisa Stark linked the food industry's behavior with poor health:

"It's estimated 64% of Americans weigh too much. That increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and some form of cancer. Those who help people lose weight say they're not surprised by the new numbers. The food industry spends $34 billion a year to market its products."

The notion that industry advertising causes obesity is a key argument of anti-corporate activists.

A couple of weeks earlier, on the Feb. 24 "CBS Evening News," Elizabeth Kaledin framed an entire story around a negative report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest charging that children's menus at restaurants such as Outback and Red Lobster were dominated by unhealthy choices.

"Move over, McNuggets," Kaledin crowed. "There's a new food villain in town. New research finds kids' meals at many popular restaurant chains are loaded with more fat and calories than the average fast-food fare."

Story after story cited "food experts" who criticized the food industry for making, of all things, what we want to eat. The media compounded the problem by treating these talking heads like disinterested bystanders, not activists or "experts" pushing only one view.

Weight Didn't Change

No doubt, obesity is an important health problem. But out of 302 stories, only one report tried to put the alarming statistics into context.

"Until 1998, a 5-foot-5 woman who weighed 164 pounds was considered normal," USA Today's Nancy Hellmich and Rita Rubin explained in June 2003. "Then the official body mass index (weight/height) criteria changed, and all of a sudden she was considered overweight if she weighed 150 pounds. The guidelines labeled another 29 million people as overweight. Now almost 65% of Americans weigh too much."

Asking For Balance

Unfortunately, Hellmich and Rubin were two of several reporters who couldn't decide which statistics to use for childhood obesity. An assortment of health and obesity stories claim everything from 15% to more than 30% of children and adolescents 6 to 19 are overweight.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the actual number is 16%, roughly half of what is claimed in several stories.

This combination of poor facts, a reliance on activists to set the agenda and a strong anti-business approach is a recipe for continued bad coverage. It's time for the media to shape up and try feeding us more balanced coverage.

Herman Cain, former president and chairman of Godfather's Pizza Inc., former Senate candidate in Georgia and former CEO of the National Restaurant Association, is now the national chairman of the Media Research Center's Free Market Project.

Dan Gainor is director of the Free Market Project (www.freemarketproject.org).

Washington Times
Inside Politics
"Odd man out," by Greg Pierce
January 7

"You knew someone in the media would do it: Complain that President George W. Bush illogically overlooked Jimmy Carter in picking former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush to spearhead private fund-raising efforts for tsunami relief," the Media Research Center's Brent Baker writes at www.mediaresearch.org.

"MSNBC's Chris Matthews fulfilled the expectation on Tuesday's 'Hardball' when he pressed Wesley Clark about whether he found it 'odd' that 'the former president who's had the most role to play in the last 20 years in terms of helping poor nations with disease and problems of, like this, smaller versions of it, Jimmy Carter, was not asked to participate?' Though Clinton is a Democrat, Matthews nonetheless, asked: 'Do you think it was partisan knocking Carter off the list?' " 

Mr. Clark, a retired Army general and former Democratic presidential candidate, said it was "a terrible thing" that Mr. Carter was overlooked, adding: "I don't know if it was partisan or not, but I'll tell you what, Jimmy Carter's held in very, very high esteem around the world." …

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Human Events Online
“Newsweek Again Shows It Is a Mouthpiece for the Left,” by L. Brent Bozell, III
January 7

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AlterNet
"Blog-gate," by Corey Pein, Columbia Journalism Review
January 7

... Some were fed by the conservative Media Research Center and by Creative Response Concepts, the same pr firm that promoted the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. ... 

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Holmen Courier
"Vision of easy victory left troops without adequate support," by Tomah Journal
January 7

... The Media Research Center was spectacularly wrong in April 2003, when its Web site published a "Quote and Gloat" section, which ridiculed people who cautioned ... 

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UPI 
"The Peter Principles: Waves of complaint, by Peter Roff
January 5

For almost two weeks the world has been captivated by the tragedy in Asia. Almost 200,000 people may have lost their lives as the result of the tsunami -- a tidal wave of epic proportion -- that crashed into coastlines from India to Indonesia without warning.

A human tragedy of the kind rarely seen, it is a political tragedy as well, one that should give the Bush White House fair warning of troubles to come. 

The president's political opponents seized on the disaster -- cheapening the loss of life in the process -- as just another opportunity for political attacks. Rather than look for ways to pull the nation together in support of a common goal, as Bush did Tuesday when he asked former Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush and Bill Clinton to spearhead the effort to raise private funds to assist in the cleanup and rebuilding, those who obviously would rather he not be president attacked him relentlessly for taking three days to issue his first formal statement on the tragedy. 

When the waves hit, Bush was at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. An instant response, while perhaps good political communications strategy, would have been of little comfort to someone floating on a makeshift raft in the Indian Ocean. Each action, each offer of support by Bush has been met with a tsking chorus that it was too little, too late.

The Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group based in Alexandria, Va., is tracking the coverage of the White House's response to the disaster and has uncovered some nuggets that expose the bias: 

-- On the Jan. 4 airing of ABC's "Good Morning America," anchor Diane Sawyer quizzed Secretary of State Colin Powell via satellite from Thailand. "There's all kinds of second guessing going on that America missed a great opportunity, particularly in an intensely Muslim area, to show good faith in the beginning," Sawyer said, alluding to the time that passed between the waves hitting the beaches and the first public presidential statement.

Agape Press
"Brokaw Gone; Rather Next -- What's the Future Hold for Evening News?" by Chad Groening
January 5

A media watchdog says the retirement of two major news anchors and the rising influence of 24-hour cable news channels show that broadcast news is in a time of transition. Brian Williams has already taken over the anchor desk on NBC Nightly News, replacing Tom Brokaw. In March, CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather steps aside for a replacement who has yet to be identified. Rich Noyes, director of research at the Media Research Center, says the future of network news is unclear.... yet to be identified. Rich Noyes, director of research at the Media Research Center, says the future of network news is unclear. ... 

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CJR Campaign Desk
“Defining Bias Downward: Holding Political Power to Account Is Not Some Liberal Plot,” by Michael Hoyt
January 5

…In the wake of the election the bias symphony is reaching for a crescendo. The new refrain goes this way: aside from John Kerry, the election's other loser was mainstream media. George W. Bush, the theory goes, won despite the strenuous efforts of the press to bring him down. Here's an example of this view, from Tim Graham of National Review Online:

Every anti-Bush angle ... was explored with great ferocity. Almost every week of 2004 was a bad media week for Bush. There was Paul O'Neill Book Week. There was 9/11 Ads in Bad Taste Week. There was Richard Clarke Book Week. There was Bob Woodward Book Week. There were two weeks of Alabama National Guard Whereabouts Hunt. There were four weeks of Abu Ghraib hype ... 

What's disturbing is not the way that Graham is whining into his champagne but his little two-step away from reality. He and others are defining bias downward, as anything that challenges a GOP point of view. …

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Agape Press
"Top Stories of 2004: 'RatherGate': Was It Incompetence -- or Was It Bias?" by Chad Groening and Jody Brown
January 3

Rolling Heads?

A media watchdog organization says it will be interesting to see who might take the fall for what many have dubbed the "Rathergate" controversy. Rich Noyes of the Media Research Center believes someone is going to be held accountable. 

"Whoever inside CBS is most responsible for this debacle -- whether that's Dan Rather, producer Mary Mapes, [CBS president] Andrew Hayward -- a lot of people had their hands involved in this story before it went on the air, not just Dan Rather," the MRS spokesman notes.

Still, Noyes says Rather needs to provide some more answers. "He knew much more about how this story was gathered than we do on the outside -- and yet he still thought it was better to point fingers at his critics rather than take any responsibility for his shoddy reporting," he says. "I think Dan Rather is going to have to answer a lot of harder questions in the future."

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Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“Media Monday: New York Times Edition” (no byline)
January 3

Here are some of the most outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes from The New York Times in 2004, courtesy of the Media Research Center: 

Liberal historians, he means: "Historians long will debate the impact of the huge federal budget deficits run up under Mr. Reagan's leadership, the efficacy of his tax cuts, the effects of his administration involvements in Central America, his seeming indifference to civil rights, the environment and the plight of the poor." 
-- Reporter Todd Purdum, June 7. 

Who's the pandering party? "The Republicans are now the champion panderers in American politics and have been since they discovered the demagogic value of what Rupert Murdoch's Weekly Standard disingenuously calls 'cultural populism' ... ." 
-- Former Executive Editor Howell Raines, writing in The Washington Post, July 26.

Simply bizarre: "What his critics see as an inability to take strong, clear positions seems to us to reflect his appreciation that life is not simple." 
-- Times endorsement of John Kerry in the New York Democrat primary, Feb. 26 

See what capitalism does: "A few hours later, Qingming, 18 years old, stepped in front of an approaching locomotive. The train, like China's roaring economy, was an express." 
-- Reporters Joseph Kahn & Jim Yardley, Aug. 1

The Tomah Journal
Editorial: "Vision of easy victory left troops without adequate support," (no byline)
January 2

The vision, of course, was not correct. Vice-President Dick Cheney was wrong when he said Americans would be genuinely greeted as liberators. The Media Research Center was spectacularly wrong in April 2003, when its website published a "Quote and Gloat" section, which ridiculed people who cautioned the war would be long and difficult. Back then, anyone who predicted that over 1,000 more Americans would die in combat over the next 19 months or that an insurgency would fester and grow -- even after the inevitable capture of Saddam Hussein -- would have been condemned as pessimistic and defeatist.

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2005 Archive