Media Bias Resolved

“Or the government getting involved in education, or health care, or ...

But you are right that interpretation is everything.”

“It's October, but it's no surprise. Remember last week, when I highlighted a quote by Newsweek editor Evan Thomas that the media's desire to see John Kerry elected may be worth five-to-twenty million votes, and urged you to be on the look-out for evidence of that desire in articles and news programs?

Well, yesterday the front page of New York Times featured a flawed article asserting, "The Iraqi interim government has warned the United States and international nuclear inspectors that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives -- used to demolish buildings, make missile warheads and detonate nuclear weapons -- are missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations. The huge facility, called Al Qaqaa, was supposed to be under American military control but is now a no man's land, still picked over by looters as recently as Sunday."

CBS News' "60 Minutes" admitted today they were saving the same story to air the Sunday before the election.

John Kerry seized on the New York Times headline to launch a political attack on President Bush, saying U.S. troops "failed to guard those stockpiles" and that is "one of the great blunders" of the war.

Senator Kerry and the New York Times leave the impression that these weapons went missing recently and U.S. troops were derilict in their duty to guard the stockpile--neither of which is true.

Network and cable news programs repeated the incomplete report and Sen. Kerry's attacks more than 100 times on Monday.

But last night NBC "Nightly News" reported that on April 10, 2003, one day after Baghdad fell, U.S. troops entered Al Qaqaa, accompanied by an embedded reporter from NBC, and found no such weapons.

It also turns out that our troops have found and destroyed or are destroying 400,000 tons of weapons and explosives.

There was no mention of either one of these facts in today's New York Times front page story, which regurgitated yesterday's charges and Senator Kerry's attacks based on them.

Liberal groups like MoveOn.org have already blasted out e-mails repeating the discredited report and urging people to vote against President Bush based on the flawed coverage.

We can not count on the media to set the story straight. We have to get the truth out to our friends and neighbors ourselves.

We are counting on YOU to set the record straight. Please forward this e-mail and the attached fact sheet to family and friends, call your local network, call talk radio, write letters to the editor, and post facts on blogs.

I suspect you'll be hearing from me again in the course of the next seven days as Mr. Thomas's prediction proves true again.


Sincerely,

Ed Gillespie
Chairman, Republican National Committee”

“Nice spin, Ed! Hope it backfires in your face!”

“An ammunition dump named Al Caca?”

“No, kaka is the explanation this guy offers...”

“Even we at Fox News manage to get some lefties on the air occasionally, and often let them finish their sentences before we club them to death and feed the scraps to Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly. And those who hate us can take solace in the fact that they aren't subsidizing Bill's bombast; we payers of the BBC license fee don't enjoy that peace of mind.

Fox News is, after all, a private channel and our presenters are quite open about where they stand on particular stories. That's our appeal. People watch us because they know what they are getting.

- Scott Norvell, London bureau chief for Fox News


Fox News Admits Bias!
last edited: 6/01/05 11:00:25 AM”

“Why do liberals not understand the difference between a "news" program and a "talk/opinion" program?”

“LOL, funny.
Has slate admited bias???”

“They don't sarge.
Their 'news' is talk/opinion.”

“... and they think their "opinion" is news! LOL”

“I have to say in Slate's defense that they are pretty upfront about how liberal they are.”

“Fox "News"”

“You just don't understand, do you y2?

*eyeroll*”

“y2 - Fox News is the name of the channel. Their show, Fox News, isn't where they have conservative bias. That's where they give news. When they have talk shows, that's biased opinion. Sorry if this is confusing for you.”

“Fox News, isn't where they have conservative bias.

That one has everyone in the office laughing, even the conservatives.”

“Maybe if you'd tell them the whole sentence instead of butchering it, they would understand what was actually said, reality, as opposed to your biased version of what was said. Where'd you learn to do that? ABC? PBS?

I said, "Their show, Fox News" ... which is distinquished from other Fox shows on the Fox News channel.

I know, it's hard. Try thinking for a little while, you'll get it.”

“They read the whole thing that is what has them laughing.

And they're not laughing with you.

Oh and I don’t get news from Fox or ABC or anything on TV. It’s all sensationalism nothing else. It will only make you brain dead.”

“So, you work with a lot of uninformed people. Look at the statistics (will require research) on how biased their news actually is. You'll see they are as moderate as the major news sources come.”

“Try to pay attention.

Where did I say the others were not biased?

I said they are all worthless.

You are the one that said the News from Fox News is not biased.
y2 - Fox News is the name of the channel. Their show, Fox News, isn't where they have conservative bias. That's where they give news. When they have talk shows, that's biased opinion. Sorry if this is confusing for you”

“Where did I say you said the others were not biased?

Try to pay attention.

You are the one that said the News from Fox News is not biased.

Yes, and I was right.”

“I think I finally found Spiro Agnew's nattering nabobs.”

“The truly incredible thing is that many "liberals" are sure that Fox has bias, but totally oblivious to bias in the NYT, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, ...

Denial... a sport enjoyed by many.”

“The truly incredible thing is that many "conservatives" are sure that NYT, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, ... has bias, but totally oblivious to bias in Fox News.

Denial... a sport enjoyed by many.”

“It's obvious that the world has far more red tulips than yellow tulips. This is because tulip planters have a red bias. Anyone who says different is fooling himself and it takes an idiot to fool himself, therefore anyone who says different is an idiot. Don't be an idiot.”

“"By dint of the fact that our country was hit we've offered a preponderance of the benefit of the doubt over the past couple of years," [NBC's Brian Williams] said.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-09-11-brian-williams-katrina_x.htm




Get it? The "liberal" media has pretty much given this administration a free pass for four years.”

“Maybe the Press will go back to being watch dogs instead of lap dogs. If Clinton got the kind of free ride Bush did, the right would really have been howling.
last edited: 9/13/05 11:16:01 AM”

“If Clinton had gotten the kind of free pass Bush did, Clinton's impeachment would have resulted in him being removed from office.”

“"Resolved".......ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!”

“Get what, Violin? That the source for your article is the opinion of NBC's Brian Williams?




It’s a nice propaganda piece. Do you really enjoy reading nothing but opinions that agree with your own? How can you live like that?

Apparently Brian Williams has a different perspective from mine.

The media hammered Bush for causing the recession even though the bust happened during Clinton’s term. The media hammered Bush for not getting Osama with hardly a mention that Clinton tried and failed as well. The media hammered Bush for lying to the public even though most international intelligence sources (including the Clinton administration’s) thought Saddam had WMD. The media hammered Bush for a weak economy even as it recovered swiftly. The media hammered Bush for being an idiot and used his grades as proof. Then they spent about five minutes writing one page ten article when Kerry’s grades were found to be worse…

You are joking, violin. Nobody’s gullible enough to believe that Bush has had a pass from the media for four years, except maybe a “liberal.”

Now we see plenty of media space given to those calling Bush racist and blaming the Federal Government. I’ve seen precious little examining questions about Louisiana’s Democrats and their traditionally corrupt political machine.

Did you read Michael Graham’s article about police looting? Educate me, violin. I don’t watch much TV. Has NBC given much coverage to that story?

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0905/graham090105.php3


Where are the questions about the environmental impact of expanding a city that lies below sea level? Where are the questions about why Federal Government will spend huge amounts of public funds on those who had chosen to live below sea level in areas prone to hurricanes? Where are the questions about how all of our governmental emergency systems work before we are inundated with editorials and news stories about blame?

It appears that people such as you, violin, may still be convinced that Federal Government would run as smooth as silk if only your boys were in power. You continue to disappoint me, violin. You’re great for pointing out sources of information that carry your slant. You have no trouble telling us your opinion. But you don’t bother to ask good questions.


Here’s a nice piece of opinion as well:

“…New Orleans is responsible for the primary failure and the social breakdown that occurred. The state performed miserably, too. Though politicians have complained about budget cuts for the Army Corps of Engineers and state projects in particular, the Washington Post reported that Louisiana has received $1.9 billion for Corps civil works over the past five years, far more than any other state. But hundreds of millions of that went for pork-barrel projects, some highly questionable, having nothing to do with protecting New Orleans…”

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/050919/19john.htm




Why don’t you educate yourself, violin? All you’ve got to do is read.


WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA
Eric Alterman


BIAS
Bernard Goldberg


PRESS BIAS AND POLITICS, HOW MEDIA FRAME CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES
Jim A. Kuypers


IT AIN'T NECESSARILY SO
David Murray


MEDIA BIAS
Stuart Kallen


AND THAT'S THE WAY IT ISN'T - GUIDE TO MEDIA BIAS
Brent Bozell, Brent H. Baker


GIVE ME A BREAK
John Stossel


JOURNALISTIC FRAUD: HOW THE NEW YORK TIMES DISTORTS THE NEWS AND WHY IT CAN NO LONGER BE TRUSTED
Bob Kohn


A MEASURE OF MEDIA BIAS
Tim Groseclose PhD, Department of Political Science UCLA
Jeff Milyo PhD, Harris School of Public Policy University of Chicago

http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/faculty/groseclose/Media.Bias.8.htm”

“Selective quoting Arc from that USA today piece. The concluding paragraph from the article you link to says:

But Brownie, FEMA Director Michael Brown, was doing a poor job. Partisan Democrats laid the criticism on thick, but even Republicans and conservatives are dismayed or simply terrified that so limited a man is in charge of dealing with the aftermath of a major terrorist attack. The decision to relieve Brown as head of the federal Katrina relief effort is one of those dismaying, halfway measures that don't work. If Brown's failure to cope with the current disaster is reason to remove him from his Gulf Coast duties, why isn't it cause to cashier him outright? Brown is not up to handling a terrorist attack. Bush should just replace him and take a good, long look at the way FEMA is run.”

“but ped, don't you think his removal from command was just that, a sign that he would be gone? come on. anyone who has any clue would have known that. he was removed and given the option, resign or be fired. the result was the same. the fact of the matter is, fema moved slow. it always will in a situation as large as what came about. it would have even if it weren't part of homeland security. trust me, i've dealt with these folks. not in a situation like katrina, but on a regular basis for the last 20 years. nothing changed when they were put under the umbrella of homeland security.

now, i agree, brown had no business in the position he was in. he wasn't qualified. i know a dozen folks in the virginia state organization that would have made him look like a school boy. but that doesn't negate the fact that the state and city were not prepared.

ped, i feel you often try to look at things from a central left view, but i think you are way off the mark on some of the stuff you are using in this case.

it flat out was not the responsibility of the feds. not brown, bush or dingleberry in charge of homeland security (however you spell his name). nagin is not a leader. period. he could not handle the crisis that he was responsible to handle. what's her name, the govenor, was no better. they refused the initial offerings of help. point blank. they refused to relinquish "power" to the feds. point blank.

the slow fed response is partially due to these facts.

then, throw in the fact that the devastation wasn't solely focused on new orleans. as a matter of fact, the devestastion was much worse in mississippi in the first day following the storm. new orleans was not the initial focus. they reported more than once that "whew, me made out much better than we thought".

yes, there is much work to be done with fema, but there is much, much more work to be done with not just new orleans, but with any state or city that doesn't have an adequate plan and adequate leadership to deal with crisis.”

“if clinton had gotten the kind of bush that.......wait thats not right”

“Pedxing, when I post a link, I assume that people are able to read the entire article for themselves. There is nothing selective about making the point that the media has focused on the Federal instead of local government.

How about the Dan Rather debacle? That story was aborted in its infancy as every “liberal” talking head came to Rather’s defense. Ooops, what careless mistakes by a journalist whose integrity was never questioned in the mainstream media. It was almost non-news.

Are you going to tell me with a straight face that the Rather debacle was an honest mistake, by an honest group of well-meaning journalists? There is overwhelming documentation of years of Rather’s biased behavior before that false story was ever run. That story was certainly an attempt to discredit a Republican administration. People were fired. Rather resigned under pressure. And yet the media let the incident die a quiet death.




Violin, pedxing, and I seem to have a different view about life. In a discussion of ideas, I want to understand different viewpoints. I make an attempt to read information that others recommend to me in an effort to get perspective. I believe that this is a polite way of validating the opinions of others. As a member of society, I am not so self-centered as to blow off other people’s views without trying to understand them.

I don’t merely talk about being open-minded; I try to take actions that are in line with my beliefs. I read WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA during an earlier discussion, after it was recommended. I read a book by Stiglitz after it was recommended. These are actions that help me overcome a self-centered and prideful view that I have already figured out all of the questions that should be asked about a subject. It is not merely polite to make an honest attempt to understand the views of others, it expands my education.

What efforts have you made, violin/pedxing? Do you walk the walk or merely talk the talk as do most people?


We differ in another way as well. I believe that propaganda is propaganda even if it supports my opinion. Among other crusades, the NYT constantly runs anti-war stories to bolster its editorial positions. The NYT ran many more stories about homelessness during the Reagan and Bush administrations than it did under the Clinton administration even though the problems were mainly identical. This has been documented and rhetorically analyzed.

One of my favorite experiences recently was in reading JOURNALISTIC FRAUD: HOW THE NEW YORK TIMES DISTORTS THE NEWS AND WHY IT CAN NO LONGER BE TRUSTED and THE GENTLE ART OF VERBAL SELF-DEFENSE by Suzette Haden Elgin (an associate professor of linguistics at San Diego State University). The two books are unrelated but complimented each other nicely. In a couple of chapters, Bob Kohn rhetorically analyzes articles from the NYT and how they use words to create impressions. Those same techniques are discussed in Suzette Haden Elgin’s book. It is always an interesting experience to read complimentary evidence in unrelated studies.

I believe that it is wrong to brush off biased propaganda as “middle-of-the-road” thought even if it agrees with my opinions. It would be too self-centered and selfish of me to believe that this is acceptable behavior.

How do you justify believing differently?
last edited: 9/14/05 6:25:02 AM”

“Interesting coverage on last weeks demonstrations on Iraq. 100,000+ March in Washington against the war and its almost invisible. Much more coverage goes to 100+ protesting for the war. Even more goes to Cindy Sheehan looking ridiculous.”

“Ped - here is a good flick to rent”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Sounds socialist.”

“The Clear Channel monopoly is scary. They do abuse their power. Teddy Roosevelt would not have stood for it.

And Teddy was no Commie.
last edited: 10/02/05 5:39:33 PM”

“Hey, I had to say it. LOL!

I hate Clear Channel. There is no balanced and impartial media. Anyone who thinks so is a fool.”

“They own half the radio stations around her (and counting...).


Hey, if you only like Country or "Classic" Rock-n-Roll, no problem, eh? (and only certain artists playing certain songs...)”

“http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3256534,00.html

Reuters employee issues 'Zionist pig' death threat

Worker suspended after telling American blogger: 'I look forward to day when you pigs get your throats cut'
Yaakov Lappin

A Reuters employee has been suspended after sending a death threat to an American blogger.

The message, sent from a Reuters internet account, read: "I look forward to the day when you pigs get your throats cut."

It was sent to Charles Johnson, owner of the Little Green Footballs (LGF) weblog, a popular site which often backs Israel and highlights jihadist terrorist activities.

In the threat, the Reuters staff member, who has not been named, left his email address as "zionistpig" at hotmail.com.

Reporting the message to his readers, Johnson wrote on his website: "This particular death threat is a bit different from the run of the mill hate mail we get around here, because an IP lookup on the sender reveals that he/she/it was using an account at none other than Reuters News."

'Employee suspended'

After bringing the threat to the attention of Reuters, Johnson was told by the news organization's Global Head of Communications, Ed Williams: "I can confirm that an employee has been suspended pending further investigation. The individual was not an employee of Reuters' news division."

In an additional twist, Johnson traced the movements of the sender of the threat, and found direct parallels between the internet locations of the sender and Inayat Bunglawala, Media Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain.

Bunglawala, who contirbuted an editorial to the Guardian website, has attracted negative attention in the past after making anti-Semitic outbursts, and has declared that the British media was "Zionist-controlled."

In the comment section of the Guardian, underneath his own editorial, Bunglawala denied sending the threat, blaming "Zionists" instead.

"That was not me! Methinks some Zionists are up to mischief," he wrote.

(05.29.06, 20:36)”

“LOL....Humor tapes that Violin will laugh at....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8926416/
last edited: 8/21/06 8:28:38 AM”

“I hear that the Taliban is filing a lawsuit on The Times becuase the Times didn't warn them about the raid on the terrorists in England. Violin, whats up wit dat? I mean your boys did such a good job of warning the Communists in the Cold War have your buds fallen down on being able to release our information and allow the enemy to kill more of our boys.”

“Commies here, commies there, those stinkin' bastards are everywhere!!!

BOO!!!!!”

“Well you and your buds were saying the same thing about the Islamo Fascists until 9/11...now you are saying it again....wow...”

“"Well you and your buds were saying the same thing about the Islamo Fascists until 9/11..."

I said no such thing and you don't know any of my buds............bud.

Its cute to hear Bubya call people "fascists"......Mussolini would be so confused.

As a matter of fact the out-going administration tried to warn the in-coming Dubya regime about the threat in January 2001 and they didn't "need any help" and the rest is history......incompetence or worse.”