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This was in the news? Oh wait. No, it wouldn't be now would it?
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How can the TV Networks not cover 650,000 people Marching for Life,
but they will spend a week discussing Beyonce Lip Syncing?????
Like ranchers leading sheep to the slaughter, Barack Obama and his cohorts in the Department of Health and Human Services are trying to get us to take our poison. And, while Obama is fond of doing things that aren’t quite legal or constitutional, in this case, he may soon have the legal right to invade the media with his agenda. The House passed amendment 114 to the Defense Authorization Act in May. It amends the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987, giving the government authorization to use propaganda on the American people.
Propaganda Machine Promotes Obama’s Socialist Causes: MSM On Board
Posted on January 28 2013
Obamacare is a nightmare. It will impose more than 20 new taxes; add more than a TRILLION dollars to our deficit in 10 years and limit our options when it comes to care. It is already sending insurance premiums soaring and invading our privacy. But Barack Obama is determined that his signature piece of legislation be accepted and embraced by the American people, so he is launching propaganda campaigns to make us “take our medicine.” It is the same tactic he is using to spread his gun control message.Quote:
“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely,
so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it.”
-Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda and National Enlightenment
In total, well over $50 million of your money has been spent promoting Obama’s healthcare law. The PR firm Porter Novelli was awarded a $20 million, taxpayer-funded contract to promote the Department of Agriculture’s food pyramid and tout the benefits of Obamacare. Ogilvy Public Relations was given $26 million in stimulus funds to promote the bill, and $19 million was spent in 2010 on brochures that the General Accounting Office admitted made “overstatements” about the benefits.
And you knew the mainstream media was in the bag for Obama, but he must not have been so sure. Because the American taxpayer is helping fund classes for reporters hailing the positive aspects of Obamacare and then the “students” will then willingly turn around and parrot back the talking points to Americans.
The Commonwealth Fund—presided over by David Blumenthal, former health care advisor to Obama—is sponsoring a two-day symposium, hosted by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) entitled “The Business of Health Care” at Reuters in New York City. The symposium will “offer specialized education in health care reporting” and “boost knowledge of the Affordable Care Act.”
The SABEW website announced the goal of the symposium, which is “to introduce fellows to experts in the field and explore ways to improve coverage of the issue.” Oh … and former Obama administration official Sherry Glied was a speaker.
A few years ago the Commonwealth Fund gave a $15,000 grant to SABEW for “a series of education programs focusing on aspects of the nation’s new health-care reform law.” No matter that this seems like a conflict of interest. No matter that it stinks, to high heaven, of propaganda. You are about to get schooled, courtesy of Barack Hussein Obama.
Like ranchers leading sheep to the slaughter, Barack Obama and his cohorts in the Department of Health and Human Services are trying to get us to take our poison. And, while Obama is fond of doing things that aren’t quite legal or constitutional, in this case, he may soon have the legal right to invade the media with his agenda. The House passed amendment 114 to the Defense Authorization Act in May. It amends the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987, giving the government authorization to use propaganda on the American people.
A Pentagon official says,Senator Rob Portman wasn’t happy about the Porter Novelli and Ogilvy deals so he sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last year expressing his concerns. "If…you're doing a PR blitz to try to sell a program during an election year, that seems to me to be more in the realm of something a political organization should be paying for rather than us as taxpayers."Quote:
“The new law would give sweeping powers to the State Department and Pentagon to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto the U.S. public. “It removes the protection for Americans. There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false.”
He asked for a response by June 1st. He didn’t get one. A follow-up letter was sent, asking for information by August 1st. again, nothing.
Government spending is at an all-time high and there is waste at every level. But now, your money is being spent on propaganda missions to get you to “buy in”—excuse the pun—to Obamacare.
One reporter who attended the SABEW class wrote an article about what she learned. Paula Burkes of The Oklahoman almost breathlessly exclaimed, “Imagine if your doctor—before prescribing a drug or ordering a scan, lab work or some other kind of test—was prompted by a computer screen that told him whether his diagnostic or treatment plans aligned with medical evidence for best health outcomes, and then gave him the choice to change his mind…”
Yes…imagine. Imagine if we had a free press in this country. Imagine if Barack Obama stayed out of the business of reporting.
Now, imagine getting rid of Obamacare.
http://www.conservative-daily.com/20...-msm-on-board/
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“60 Minutes” reporter on pattycake Obama/Hillary interview:
They knew we weren’t going to “play gotcha” with them
posted at 9:31 am on January 29, 2013 by Allahpundit
Via the Daily Caller, http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/29/60...ary-interview/ it’s one thing to softball an interview with The One so badly that even liberals are calling it “state-run media propaganda,” http://hotair.com/archives/2013/01/2...ia-propaganda/ it’s another to go on TV and congratulate yourself for doing it. Kroft and Morgan sound like two gossip reporters chattering over one of them having finally landed a Brangelina interview, replete with cooing over “body language.” To appreciate how embarrassing it was, read Conor Friedersdorf’s transcript of each question asked by Kroft during the segment http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...inutes/272611/ — but make sure to read to the end or else you’ll miss the contrast with what Scott Pelley asked Bush when he interviewed him for the same show in 2007. When Kroft says “60 Minutes” doesn’t “play gotcha,” what he means is that they’re willing to use precious time with the current president and secretary of state to ask things like this:
“Is that an impertinent question?” deserves to be etched in granite above the entrance to the Newseum’s eventual “Media in the Age of Obama” exhibit. Morgan, in fact, goes so far as to praise Kroft for not reminding Obama and Hillary how nasty the 2008 primary got. This is the moment we’ve arrived at as a culture, when a CBS News reporter’s failure to ask uncomfortable questions of top government officials isn’t dereliction of duty but rather “very gentlemanly” in the eyes of a primetime CNN host. Obama wanted a big audience for a joint interview with Hillary because he wanted to remind people who are grumbling about the lack of diversity in his cabinet that he did, after all, appoint the most famous and popular woman in American politics to a key position. So he chose “60 Minutes” and made the calculated gamble that even an outfit with a reputation for hard-hitting “serious journalism” would go weak-kneed at the chance to chat with both of them and end up treating the whole thing like a “People magazine” interview. You win, Barry.Quote:
You said the staff took a little longer to ignore, to forget the campaign stuff. What about the spouses? Is that an impertinent question?
:vollkommenauf:
Exit question: Why is Morgan interviewing Kroft at all here? Is gaining an audience with He and She so magnificent an experience that it qualifies as news in itself? Coming soon: Anderson Cooper interviews Piers Morgan about what it was like to interview Steve Kroft about his interview with Obama and Hillary. ( see video at the link )
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/01/2...cha-with-them/
Left-wing echo chamber. So we’ve got to the point where asking the Secretary of State and President questions about the Benghazi cover-up or any substantive issue is considered “gotcha” but letting them slobber over each other like Chris Christie on a cheeseburger or Candy Crowley tag-teaming with the rat-eared wonder during a Presidential debate is just fine.Quote:
Exit question: Why is Morgan interviewing Kroft at all here?
:busted
Mike Wallace is most definitely dead.Quote:
“60 Minutes” doesn’t “play gotcha”
..
Coming soon: Anderson Cooper interviews Piers Morgan about what it was like to interview Steve Kroft about his interview with Obama and Hillary.
BOOM.
How the lib media spread phony Sandy Hook “heckling” story…and how we beat it back
By Michelle Malkin • January 29, 2013 10:34 PM
Read all about it:
» MSNBC is still lying about fabricated ‘heckling’ incident http://twitchy.com/2013/01/29/msnbc-...ling-incident/
» Sickening: Piers Morgan pimps interview with ‘heckled’ Sandy Hook victim’s father http://twitchy.com/2013/01/29/sicken...ictims-father/
» Outrageous: How the left-wing media lied about Newtown ‘hecklers’ http://twitchy.com/2013/01/29/outrag...town-hecklers/
Shock: A few lefty outlets acknowledge media were wrong about Newtown ‘heckling’; Piers Morgan ‘apologizes,’ sort of http://twitchy.com/2013/01/29/shock-...gizes-sort-of/
» Oliver Willis invents new term: ‘Heckling truthers’ http://twitchy.com/2013/01/30/oliver...ling-truthers/
http://twitchy.com/2013/01/29/anders...deletes-tweet/
http://twitchy.com/2013/01/29/msnbcs...eckling-story/
The title of the edited video embedded in UPI’s story by Kate Stanton: “Father of Newtown Victim Heckled by NRA Supporters“
http://twitchy.com/2013/01/29/hours-...-edited-video/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=LFhjMq8gcng ( 54 seconds they want you to see )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=nvT9peqTM5E ( full 15:56 testimony )
Ace of Spades shreds media for perpetuating Newtown heckling hoax/ http://twitchy.com/2013/01/29/ace-of...-heckling-hoax
“Media’s Latest Hoax/Stupidity: Guy Who Demands an Answer and, After Waiting for an Answer for Five Seconds, Receives an Answer, was Monstrously ‘Heckled’ by Cruel Right-Wingers“ http://minx.cc/?post=337010
There’s an old saying that goes “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Thanks to Twitter, conservative media, and citizen watchdogs who have the audacity to question monopoly lib media narratives, truth can now catch the lie at the speed of tweet.
Nil desperandum.
Numquam cede.
After Twitchy’s report, MSNBC is reportedly ‘reviewing’ video of Newtown dad’s testimony ==> http://twitchy.com/2013/01/30/after-...ads-testimony/
The Obama administration, the most corrupt Administration in recent history, is now donating money to journalist associations so they can setup trainings for journalists to learn how to report on Obamacare. Hit the share button so others can see this and comment below! http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journal...Sell-Obamacare
Obama Operatives Training Media How to Sell Obamacare
The Old Media is getting a little help from team Obama on how to report about Obamacare the "correct" way.
by Warner Todd Huston30 Jan 2013
To achieve that goal, Obama operatives are setting up propaganda symposiums for journalists and giving large cash donations to journalism associations to help spread Obama's word.
This Obamacare propaganda campaign seriously blurs the line between government and "journalism" and seems to be a blatant attempt by team Obama to write the media's Obamacare stories for them.
Rusty Weiss recently discussed a series of large donations made to the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW), the latest of which was donated expressly for the purpose of relaying the left-wing agenda on Obamacare. http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/gru...macare-group-o
The donation, a $15,000 grant, was made by the Commonwealth Fund, a group now headed by former Obama operative David Blumenthal, who served as the national coordinator for Obama's Health Information Technology effort.
The Commonwealth Fund has long been a backer of Obamacare and is staffed by Obama operatives. The organization has been cited for repeatedly downplaying any ills that Obama's healthcare proposals might cause and playing up only the positive aspects of the law.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/201...iberal-enough/
Despite its complete obeisance to Obama's policies, we see a "journalist" organization taking money from the group in order to push the group's Obamacare propaganda.
Not all journalists are so taken with the whole effort, though. When earlier donations From Commonwealth Fund to the SABEW came to light in 2010, one journalist expressed his shock, saying, "I may be wrong, but this sounds like a program to teach reporters to write supportive stories about the health care reform law." http://michellemalkin.com/2010/06/29...obamacare-law/
Pursuant to satisfying the latest Obamacare-pushing grant, the SABEW sponsored a symposium meant to "help" journalists "understand" how Obamacare should be written about for public consumption.
The symposium was targeted to a select group of journalists from such news outlets as Reuters, Money Magazine, MarketWatch, the Dallas Morning News, and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The event began with an address by former Obama administration member Sherry Glied. Completely erasing any pretense that the event was impartial, the SABEW also stocked its discussion panels with members of Commonwealth Fund and other Obama operatives.
The symposium had such helpful presentations as one that helped reporters with "targeting messages." Then there was Rachel Klein's PowerPoint presentation that told reporters that uninsured Americans "don't know the health reform law will help them." She went on to inform reporters on how great Obamacare was for Americans. http://sabew.org/2013/01/a-comprehen...are-symposium/
Klein is the executive director of a left-wing group called Enroll America, a group whose main purpose is to "enroll" people in Obamacare. Klein's group also proudly counts as its close advisers the National Council of La Raza, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and others.
The symposium was all so blatant that even former SABEW president Rob Reuteman was forced to admit that it was all a bit too cosy, if not entirely unethical, to have Obama's operatives instructing the media on how they should "report" on Obamacare.
With all this hand-in-hand cooperation going on, it is odd indeed that President Obama recently claimed that the media isn't liberal enough for him.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journal...Sell-Obamacare
Sister Toldjah » Journalistic integrity at CBS? Not when it comes to competitors…
http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/20...to-competitors
The Blame Righty mob falls silent
by Michelle Malkin - February 8, 2013 09:05 AM
Question: How many times over the past four years have exploitative liberal journalists and Democratic leaders rushed to pin random acts of violence on the tea party, Republicans, Fox News and conservative talk radio?
Answer: Nearly a dozen times, http://michellemalkin.com/2011/01/14...densed-history including the 2009 massacre of three Pittsburgh police officers (which lib journos falsely blamed on Fox News, Glenn Beck and the “heated, apocalyptic rhetoric of the anti-Obama forces”); the 2009 suicide insurance scam/murder hoax of Kentucky census worker Bill Sparkman (which New York magazine falsely blamed on Rush Limbaugh, “conservative media personalities, websites and even members of Congress”); the 2009 Holocaust museum shooting (which MSNBC commentator Joan Walsh blamed on Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and yours truly); the 2010 Times Square jihad bomb plot (which Mayor Michael Bloomberg falsely blamed on tea party activists protesting Obamacare); and the 2011 Tucson massacre, which liberals continue to blame on former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Question: What will this rabid Blame Righty mob do now that an alleged triple-murderer has singled out prominent lefties in the media and Hollywood for fawning praise as part of his crazed manifesto advocating cop-killing?
Answer: Evade, deflect, ignore and whitewash.
This week, former Los Angeles Police Department Officer Christopher Dorner allegedly shot and killed three innocent people in cold blood. He was the subject of a massive manhunt as of Thursday afternoon. Dorner posted an 11,000-word manifesto on Facebook that outlined his chilling plans to target police officers.
CNN headlined its story on the rant: “Alleged cop-killer details threats to LAPD and why he was driven to violence.” MSNBC reported: “Manifesto: Alleged Revenge Shooter Named Targets.” KTLA-TV in Los Angeles went with: “Christopher Dorner’s Manifesto (Disturbing Content and Language).”
There was a curious, blaring omission in both the headlines and the stories from these supposedly objective outlets, http://twitchy.com/2013/02/07/msm-co...litical-views/ though. Dorner expressed rather pointed, explicit views of news personalities and celebrities who have influenced, entertained and uplifted him. http://www.soopermexican.com/2013/02...-gun-comments/ Dorner praised stars from Ellen DeGeneres and Charlie Sheen (“you’re effin awesome”) to “Jennifer Beals, Serena Williams … Tamron Hall … Natalie Portman, Queen Latifah … Kelly Clarkson, Nora Jones, Laura Prepon, Margaret Cho and Rutina Wesley.”
The shout-outs to liberal journalists go on at length:
“Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Pat Harvey, Brian Williams, Soledad Obrien (sic), Wolf Blitzer, Meredith Viera (sic), Tavis Smiley and Anderson Cooper, keep up the great work and follow Cronkite’s lead,” Dorner cheered. “I hold many of you in the same regard as Tom Brokaw and the late Peter Jennings.”
Dorner also offered an “atta boy” to notorious, anti-Second Amendment CNN anchor Piers Morgan, suggesting he be given “an indefinite resident alien and Visa card.” Offering up his political counsel, Dorner added: “I want you to know that I agree with you 100 percent on enacting stricter firearm laws, but you must understand that your critics will always have in the back of their mind that you are native to a country that we won our sovereignty from while using firearms as a last resort in defense and you come from a country that has no legal private ownership of firearms.”
Dorner reminded MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough that they had “met at McGuire’s pub in P-cola in 2002 when I was stationed there. It was an honor conversing with you about politics, family and life.” The alleged triple-murderer also advised “Today” show personality Willie Geist: “(Y)ou’re a talented and charismatic journalist. Stop with all the talk show shenanigans and get back to your core of reporting. Your future is brighter than most.”
It’s ridiculous, of course, to blame these journos for the deaths of three innocents in Southern California. But herein lies a teachable moment. In the sick cycle of recent politicized tragedies, the Blame Righty mob demanded that conservative media personalities and GOP politicians apologize for crimes they didn’t commit; called for increased regulation of political free speech; and cranked up its decades-old machinery to stifle conservative talk radio in the name of public safety and civility. Even the remotest connection to anything right-wing was excuse enough to convict conservatives for homicidal sprees.
And while the Blame Righty crowd still inveighs about Palin’s completely innocent use of crosshairs on a political map, they have fallen silent about the stunning admission of Floyd Lee Corkins, who pleaded guilty this week to attempting to murder members of the conservative Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., last summer.
Corkins said he wanted to “kill as many as possible and smear the Chick-fil-A sandwiches (he had brought) in victims’ faces, and kill the guard.” How did he pick the office? From a “hate map” published by the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center — the leading guilt-by-association witch-hunt crew targeting conservatives.
Ho-hum. Nothing to see here, move along. Be vewwy, vewwy quiet.
http://michellemalkin.com/2013/02/08...-falls-silent/
ABC’s Brian Ross strangely silent about Christopher Dorner’s political views http://twitchy.com/2013/02/08/abcs-b...litical-views/
I have no words. http://twitchy.com/2013/02/08/twitte...l-life-django/
Disturbing: Supporters, admirers leap to alleged murderer Christopher Dorner’s defense
http://twitchy.com/2013/02/07/distur...rners-defense/
This is so typical of the MSM. Don't you agree
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CNN Absurdly Asks If Rubio's Sip of Water Was 'Career-Ender'
By Matt Hadro | February 13, 2013
<<UPDATE BELOW>> On Wednesday's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer absurdly wondered if Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) pausing his State of the Union response for a drink of water would "break" his career. The CNN chyron flashed "Career-ender?"
"So can a drink of water make or break a political career?" Blitzer asked. "A U.S. Senator, possible presidential candidate. We're going to find out, whether he likes it or not." [Video http://www.mrctv.org/videos/cnn-asks...s-career-ender Audio here. http://newsbusters.org/sites/default...tzer-Water.mp3 ]
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matt-ha...#ixzz2KtSlp6Mt
CNN hyperventilates: Is Marco Rubio’s water swig a ‘career-ender?’
6:29 PM 02/13/2013
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s decision to take a quick sip of water while giving the official Republican response to last night’s State of the Union address has been something of a media obsession in the past 24 hours.
Politico scribe Maggie Haberman managed to squeeze out a two-page, 900-plus word story about the incident, which came to the obvious conclusion that the “water flap shall pass.” But perhaps the more egregious freakout came from CNN’s “Situation Room.”
“So can a drink of water make or break a political career?” host Wolf Blitzer asked. “A U.S. Senator, possible presidential candidate. We’re going to find out, whether he likes it or not.”
http://dailycaller.com/wp-content/up...013/02/CNN.jpg
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/13/cn...-career-ender/
MSNBC ‘essentially’ ran ‘a voter suppression campaign’ against GOP during 2012 presidential election, says author
12:17 AM 01/30/2013
By tarring conservatives as racist during the 2012 presidential campaign, MSNBC “essentially” mounted “a voter suppression campaign,” says the author of a new book on media bias. http://topics.dailycaller.com/msnbc.htm
“Some of the quotes I have in ‘Spin Masters’– you might remember them if you watch a lot of MSNBC — still make me cringe,” David Freddoso, author of the recently released book “Spin Masters: How the Media Ignored the Real News and Helped Reelect Barack Obama,” told The Daily Caller.
“For example, Chris Matthews asserting that conservatives were giving Romney a long leash (ideologically speaking) because they are racists, I mean, come on — what kind of political commentary is that? That was essentially a voter suppression campaign, to tar conservatism and shame conservatives out of participating in politics.”
Despite egregious examples like that, Freddoso said most of the anti-Republican bias in the media was not intentional, but rather the product of the “liberal bubble world in which most journalists live — especially in New York and Washington.”
“When you’re a liberal, and 90 percent of your colleagues are liberals, and the only exposure you have to conservative thought is perhaps a few cranky Internet commenters or people who dog you on Twitter, it skews your perception of political opinions — of what’s mainstream and of what real people think about,” he said.
In the near term, the media bias problem faced by conservatives will persist, Freddoso said, so the GOP will have to field smart and persuasive candidates.
“[W]hen you field mush-heads for office, you’re just giving them and the political opposition an opening,” he said.
“There are too many Todd Akins running for office and winning primaries and raising money just by claiming to be the most conservative mush-head. As we saw with Akin, they give an already hostile media further opportunity to attack and to make one man’s stupidity into a viral propaganda campaign that spread to other races as well.
“Republicans have recently tried nominating idiots for office — I mean both establishment idiots and conservative idiots — and it hasn’t worked out very well,” he continued. “It’s one thing to lose a race because you chose a conservative, but you never want to lose because you chose an obvious dim bulb to represent your party.”
Check out TheDC’s full interview with Freddoso about his book and what he sees as the media’s liberal bias below:
Why did you decide to write the book?
I’m always saving and categorizing noteworthy stories I read — essentially taking notes — just in case they prove useful later. In this case, the moment I figured I’d have to write something about media bias came on September 12 or 13. I was sitting next to Washington Examiner writer Phil Klein, who remarked in disbelief that the story about Benghazi — a huge story about Obama over-promising and under-delivering on Middle East policy — was being turned into a story about a Romney gaffe.
I began looking back also at other things I thought had been somewhat ridiculous — the media’s adoption of the phrase “War on Women,” for example, and the bizarre fascination with a contraceptive ban that no one actually seemed to be advocating — and wondered whether there might be enough material for a book. So I didn’t really start writing until after the election, but I had nearly everything outlined.
Did you begin writing before the campaign was over? It came out so fast.
Yeah, no kidding. But when you’re talking about liberal media bias, it pretty much writes itself. Well, now you know how I spent my nights, weekends, and Thanksgiving after the election.
Do you believe the media deliberately sought to help Obama with its coverage — or was it an unintentional bias?
There were a few egregious and deliberate breaches of professionalism in some quarters. Some of the quotes I have in “Spin Masters”– you might remember them if you watch a lot of MSNBC — still make me cringe. For example, Chris Matthews asserting that conservatives were giving Romney a long leash (ideologically speaking) because they are racists, I mean, come on — what kind of political commentary is that? That was essentially a voter suppression campaign, to tar conservatism and shame conservatives out of participating in politics.
But for the most part, no, I don’t think there’s a conscious effort to tilt the news as much as a liberal bubble world in which most journalists live — especially in New York and Washington. When you’re a liberal, and 90 percent of your colleagues are liberals, and the only exposure you have to conservative thought is perhaps a few cranky Internet commenters or people who dog you on Twitter, it skews your perception of political opinions — of what’s mainstream and of what real people think about.
How does this bubble-world journalism shape the political narrative?
Let me just offer two examples of how the bubble-world has skewed media perceptions. First, recall the total failure to take the lawsuits against Obamacare seriously. The media’s blithe dismissal of the legal challenge was nearly as intense as the abject panic that suddenly broke out when they realized (after Supreme Court oral arguments) that the law was hanging by a thread. Nothing about the case had changed — it’s just that reality briefly forced its way into liberal bubble-world. (We’ll probably be saying the same about this recess appointment ruling that was handed down on Friday.)
Another example was Romney’s victory in that first debate — a rare case where the Republican benefited from liberal media bias. The Obama campaign’s misrepresentations of Romney’s positions were pretty much adopted wholesale by the mainstream media. So Obama was just blindsided when he found himself standing opposite the man himself instead of the straw man he’d been excoriating for so long. Obama had been shielded by the media coverage until that moment. When the media filter was off, he became the victim of his own propaganda success.
How do you respond to those who will say that blaming Romney’s loss on media bias is just whining, that if Romney were a better candidate he could have overcome any bias against him?
I don’t think we can say that Romney’s loss can be blamed entirely on liberal media bias, and I don’t say it in “Spin Masters.” I do think it’s a problem that we have to ask that question in the first place. And we really do have to ask it.
Just assume Obama would have won anyway. The point is that journalists, supposedly eager to sell their souls for a story, were not so much when it came to stories that might have made Obama look bad or his presidency look like a failure. There was a notable lack of journalistic curiosity about major trends that might have changed the way people viewed his first term.
Did you think the media was harder on Romney than George W. Bush during his two Presidential Elections? If so, why? If not, what was Bush able to do to overcome the bias that Romney wasn’t able to do?
Why limit it to Bush’s elections? They still let Obama get away with blaming Bush for everything, aren’t they? He’ll still be blaming Bush seven years into his presidency, mark my words.
I’ve never been a big fan of Bush, really, but you have to admit they had it in for him, too. The scandal that ended Dan Rather’s career came about because no one in the CBS newsroom loved the truth enough to double-check something Rather and his aides really, really wanted to be true. They did themselves in. Romney never suffered anything quite that ridiculous, but the drip-drip was really impressive. I did compare the numbers to McCain’s coverage in 2008. The chief difference was that Romney won a debate, so he got a lot of positive coverage for that. When you look at the period before that happened, Obama’s share of positive coverage was about double Romney’s, and the share of negative coverage for Romney was about 63 percent higher, by Pew’s measure.
Do you think the media is more infatuated with Obama than other Democrats? And if so, do you think the degree of the media bias problem for the GOP will lessen once President Obama leaves office?
Yes, they are more infatuated with Obama. But if “less infatuated” means mere Bill Clinton levels of slobbering and boot-licking, that’s pretty bad, too. You know they’re going to love Hillary again if she runs. And look at how they covered even less sympathetic Democratic characters like John Kerry and (gasp!) John Edwards, even as he was fathering children in both Americas.
Is there anything the GOP can do on its own to mitigate the media bias problem?
For the near future, conservatives just have to accept that they’re going to be held to a higher standard, and use that fact as a motivation to make better arguments and be smarter about their strategies. The last chapter of “Spin Masters” is devoted to this theme. If you have center-right views, you’d better have your facts down cold, because you can’t just get away with repeating talking points that someone else gave you. That’s often enough for the other side, but it’s not enough for you.
And yes, media bias is terrible, but when you field mush-heads for office, you’re just giving them and the political opposition an opening. There are too many Todd Akins running for office and winning primaries and raising money just by claiming to be the most conservative mush-head. As we saw with Akin, they give an already hostile media further opportunity to attack and to make one man’s stupidity into a viral propaganda campaign that spread to other races as well.
Republicans have recently tried nominating idiots for office — I mean both establishment idiots and conservative idiots — and it hasn’t worked out very well. It’s one thing to lose a race because you chose a conservative, but you never want to lose because you chose an obvious dim bulb to represent your party.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/30/ms...n-says-author/