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THE BEST NOTABLE QUOTABLES OF 2001

The 14th Annual Awards For The Year’s Worst Reporting

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Media Research Center today announced the Best Notable Quotables of 2001, the 14th Annual Awards for the Year’s Worst Reporting. The winners were chosen by a panel of over 40 judges including editorial writers, nationally syndicated columnists, radio and television talk show hosts, editorial cartoonists and journalism professors. Some of the winners include the following (full lists of quotes and judges posted on The Best Notable Quotables of 2001 page.

Swiss Press Corps Award for Remaining Neutral in War Coverage: David Westin, President, ABC News.
“The Pentagon as a legitimate target? I actually don’t have an opinion on that, and it’s important I not have an opinion on that as I sit here in my capacity right now. … I can say the Pentagon got hit, I can say this is what their position is, this is what our position is, but for me to take a position this was right or wrong, I mean, that’s perhaps for me in my private life, perhaps it’s for me dealing with my loved ones, perhaps it’s for my minister at church. But as a journalist I feel strongly that’s something that I should not be taking a position on. …”
– C-SPAN, 10/27/01.

Carve Clinton Into Mount Rushmore Award: Former UPI White House Correspondent Helen Thomas.
“Throughout his eight years in office, President Clinton warned us that the next great menace was international terrorism. … He also brought unprecedented prosperity to our nation, and because of that, President [Bush] can use the surplus Mr. Clinton left behind to pay for many of the nation’s needs in this time of crisis. … This lecture series is about the human spirit. To me and millions of others, President Clinton has always personified that. He is the man from Hope, and that is what he has given us, hope. We miss him. Thank you Mr. President.”
– Introducing President Clinton at the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives, C-SPAN, 10/9/01.

Pushing Bush to the Left Award: Newsweek Correspondent Eleanor Clift.
“Arsenic in the water. Starting up the Cold War. Make as much carbon dioxide as you like. Laugh about it. Bush has set himself up as a huge target. And the arsenic is going to be the equivalent of what your boss [Newt Gingrich] did with cutting school lunches.” 
– To former Gingrich communications director Tony Blankley on the McLaughlin Group, 3/24/01.

Department of Injustice Award for Denigrating John Ashcroft: Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas.
“Well, you know, Attorney General is actually an important job. Why can’t they buy off the right wing with unimportant jobs? I mean, this is a sop, I assume, to buy off the wing nuts, but it’s like giving, I mean, the Attorney General counts, it matters.” 
– WUSA-TV’s (Washington, D.C.) Inside Washington, 12/23/00.

Politics of Meaninglessness Award for the Silliest Analysis: CNN Founder Ted Turner.
“What are you, a bunch of Jesus freaks? You ought to be working for Fox.” 
– to CNN employees with ash marks on their foreheads in observance of Ash Wednesday at anchor Bernard Shaw’s retirement party, as reported by Fox’s Brit Hume, 3/6/01.

Picking the Lockbox Award for Denouncing Bush’s Tax Cut: Newsweek’s Conventional Wisdom column (anonymously authored).
“Adios, surplus. When retired boomers dine on dog food, will they say thanks for that $600?”
– Assigning a “down” arrow to President Bush for his tax cut, 9/3/01 issue.

Good Morning Morons Award: CBS News morning anchor Bryant Gumbel.
Bryant Gumbel: “At the risk of starting an argument, are you a believer in global warming?”
Early Show Weatherman Mark McEwen: “Absolutely.”
Early Show co-host Jane Clayson: “Of course.”
Julie Chen: “Yeah.”
Gumbel: “So am I. … And you wonder what it’s gonna take. I mean, is it gonna take some kind of a real catastrophe? I mean, does an iceberg have to come floating down the Hudson before somebody stands up and goes, ‘Oh yeah?’” 
– Exchange on CBS Early Show, 4/18/01.

Damn Those Conservatives Award: ABC’s Politically Incorrect Host Bill Maher.
Bill Maher: “I do think, if it turns out that this beautiful young girl is gone, I think, and he [Gary Condit] is responsible in some way, you have to look to Ken Starr for a little bit of guilt.”
Larry King: “Why?”
Maher: “Because, you know, Ken Starr made it so that you, in the old days, you had an affair with somebody, and you know, okay, you had an affair. The press didn’t report it. They didn’t make a political criminal case of it. Now, it’s almost like you have to get rid of them.” 
– Exchange on CNN’s Larry King Live, 7/27/01.

Media Hero Award: ABC News Anchor Carole Simpson.
“What an exhilarating moment it must have been for her—the first First Lady in history to be elected to public office. There, for all the nay-sayers to see, was the woman who had finally come into her own, free at last to be smart, outspoken, independent, and provocative, all qualities she had been forced as First Lady, to ‘hide under a bushel.’ Still she was voted one of America’s most admired women. Just wait. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” 
– End of “On My Mind” commentary, ABCNews.com, 1/7/01.

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