Media Reality Check -- 11/28/2000 -- NEWSWEEK'S FINEMAN ADMITS THE MEDIA ARE CODDLING LOSER GORE

For Immediate Release: Katie Wright (703) 683-5004 - Tuesday, November 28, 2000

"THE ATTACKS ON BUSH WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY VICIOUS"

NEWSWEEK'S FINEMAN ADMITS THE MEDIA ARE CODDLING LOSER GORE

-- Newsweek Washington bureau reporter and MSNBC analyst Howard Fineman let it slip out this morning: The liberal media's double standard is benefiting Al Gore as the Democrat tries desperately to spin his way from defeat to victory.

-- Fineman was a guest this morning on radio's Imus in the Morning, simulcast on MSNBC, when host Don Imus asked the question that most liberal reporters dread: What if the roles were reversed?

-- "What if Gore had won and Bush, what if the roles were reversed," Imus wondered. "How would, I wouldn't want to include you in this, but how would the liberal weenies of the news media be treating this if the roles were reversed?"

-- "Oh, my God. Are you kidding?" Fineman truthfully replied. "That George Bush was a crybaby, that he was the spoiled son of a failed President. You know, you could just hear, the personal attacks on Bush would be just absolutely vicious."

-- But, as Fineman knows, the networks aren't calling Gore a crybaby or subjecting him to vicious personal attacks. Monday, all of the broadcast networks interrupted prime time to carry Gore's plea for patience; Sunday, NBC refused to give the certified winner, George W. Bush, a similar chance to speak live and unedited to the entire country.

-- Instead, in the Eastern and Central time zones, NBC showed Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. For those who missed the movie so they could watch the finale of this historic election: the ship sank.. -- Tim Graham

L. Brent Bozell III, Publisher; Brent Baker, Rich Noyes, Editors; Jessica Anderson, Brian Boyd, Geoffrey Dickens, Patrick Gregory, Ken Shepherd, Brad Wilmouth, Media Analysts; Kristina Sewell, Research Associate; Liz Swasey, Director of Communications. For the latest liberal media bias, read the CyberAlert at www.mrc.org.