NewsBusters Archive

CBS Would Rather Not

By: Matthew Sheffield | June 15, 2006 | 13:41

Once again, the alternative media broke news before the MSM. Last May, NewsBusters reported that CBS and Dan Rather were about to part company. Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer's Gail Shister and the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz confirmed it. From Shister's story:

Barring a miracle, CBS will not renew the legendary newsman's contract when it expires in late November. All signs point to it.
Still, like Sisyphus, Rather keeps pushing the rock at Black Rock.
"I don't quit. It's not in me," Rather, 74, said yesterday in a rare interview about his future at CBS. "As long as there's any chance I can stay and do meaningful work, that's what I want to do. Not every day can be bliss."
Bliss? The McCarthy hearings would be bliss compared to Rather's last 18 months at CBS.
Following Memogate, he was forced to step down as CBS Evening News anchor in March '05 after a record 24 years. Mike Wallace, among several other marquee colleagues, said he should have been fired.

Al-Zarqawi the Journalist

By: Mithridate Ombud | June 15, 2006 | 12:40

I'm reading the text of the document that al-Zarqawi was caught with and I have to say it's a more accurate portrayal of what is really going on in Iraq than the average New York Times article.

The situation and conditions of the resistance in Iraq have reached a point that requires a review of the events and of the work being done inside Iraq. Such a study is needed in order to show the best means to accomplish the required goals, especially that the forces of the National Guard have succeeded in forming an enormous shield protecting the American forces and have reduced substantially the losses that were solely suffered by the American forces. This is in addition to the role, played by the Shi'a (the leadership and masses) by supporting the occupation, working to defeat the resistance and by informing on its elements.

So in private, al Qaeda is saying that America is winning. Hear that New York Times?

However, here in Iraq, time is now beginning to be of service to the American forces and harmful to the resistance for the following reasons:
3. By undertaking a media campaign against the resistance resulting in weakening its influence inside the country and presenting its work as harmful to the population rather than being beneficial to the population.

Wait a minute. Is al Qaeda saying that the U.S. led stories inside Iraq (the same ones the LA Times chastised and the New York Times tried to stop) were working? Don't worry, al Qaeda has a plan still, they know where their strengths are:

To use the media for spreading an effective and creative image of the resistance.

The liberal American news media have your back. Er... what's left of it.
Also see: al Qaeda and Mainstream Media Hug It Out Together

Media Rooting for a Recession?

By: Ken Shepherd | June 15, 2006 | 12:10

Well, maybe they aren't rooting for a recession, but the mainstream media sure are anticipating one coming around the bend any time now, and have for quite a while.

That's the finding in the Business & Media Institute's latest newsletter story, available online here.

Here's a taste:

No matter how the economy is doing, the word “recession” never seems too far away. CBS began the year with talk of a recession and similar discussion has cropped on up ABC and CNN throughout 2006 and even going back to Hurricane Rita last fall.
ABC delivered two separate warnings of the latest recession fears on June 7. Starting with “Good Morning America,” the network ran counter to recent news that first-quarter growth had been revised upward. The new number was even stronger: 5.3 percent. Despite that excellent performance, reporter Robin Roberts warned that a recession was possible. “The two-day sell off was sparked by concerns that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates too much, cooling the economy to the point of recession,” she claimed.

Study: Media Coverage Increases Terrorism

By: Greg Sheffield | June 15, 2006 | 11:02

A new study says that the more the media cover terror attacks, the more terror attacks occur. Both the media and terrorists benefit from terror attacks, because the terrorists get free publicity while the media get higher ratings and sell more newspapers.

Reports the Washington Post:

It's a macabre example of win-win in what economists call a "common-interest game," say Bruno S. Frey of the University of Zurich and Dominic Rohner of Cambridge University.
"Both the media and terrorists benefit from terrorist incidents," their study contends. Terrorists get free publicity for themselves and their cause. The media, meanwhile, make money "as reports of terror attacks increase newspaper sales and the number of television viewers."

Coulter Tells Leno She Wears Liberal Contempt as 'a Badge of Honor'

By: Greg Sheffield | June 15, 2006 | 10:45

During her appearance last night not on the "Tonight Show," Ann Coulter was lectured by Jay Leno about why she should use more civility in her rhetoric.

From NoDNC.com:

I really got a kick out of watching Ann Coulter on her appearance with Jay Leno tonight. Not only was she her normally poised self, but she offered up several of her normally witty, biting commentary about the left. In the process I managed to capture a few of her really, really great comments. Watching the left self-destruct over a petit blonde who dares to stand up to them is just hilarious.

Olbermann Follow-Up: Keith Curses at His Viewers

By: Noel Sheppard | June 15, 2006 | 10:05

On Wednesday, NewsBusters reported how MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann sent an e-mail message to a viewer in which he debased colleague Rita Cosby as well as his boss at the time. Lloyd Grove of the New York Daily News (hat tip to NB reader John in CA) reported Thursday that Olbermann has been responding to his likely voluminous hate mail with…hate mail:

“Keith Olbermann's vacation isn't going so well.
“He was forced to apologize yesterday after more of his E-mails found their way to my inbox and exposed the host of MSNBC's ‘Countdown With Keith Olbermann’ as insulting and frequently obscene in an acrimonious exchange with two viewers who taunted him.”

You can’t make this stuff up.

(Update: For those that are interested, the following link directs you to a website that has some of the actual e-mail messages in question. Be forewarned that these are much more vulgar and offensive than what has been presented here.)

After Grove forwarded the e-mail messages to an MSNBC executive, Olbermann wrote the following (fair warning to not have food or drink in your mouth as you read this):

Ann Coulter’s 'Godless' to Debut at #1 on NYT’s Bestseller List

By: Noel Sheppard | June 15, 2006 | 09:38

Hillary Clinton called her “mean-spirited” and “heartless.” Rahm Emanuel called her a “hatemonger.” Jane Smiley said her parents should be “ashamed” for raising such a person. And, an Ad Age columnist suggested she should kill herself. Yet, despite all these awful reviews, as reported by NewsMax Wednesday, the New York Times is going to call Ann Coulter its number one bestseller of nonfiction “reflecting an extraordinary first week of sales.”

Certainly, Ann should thank all of the free publicity by the drive-by media for assisting her marketing efforts, which, of course represents a delicious irony concerning their disgust that is causing the conservative author to laugh all the way to the bank.

Let's all laugh with her, shall we?

For those interested, the entire story is here.

CBS Reporter Exaggerates Baghdad Protest to Knock Bush

By: Brian Boyd | June 15, 2006 | 09:19

On Wednesday two correspondents reporting from Iraq had dramatically different takes on the protest by followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, who were said to be upset by President Bush’s recent trip to Baghdad. NBC reporter Richard Engel described it as "a relatively small" protest while Lee Cowan of CBS said protesters’ anger had "boiled over".

Ironically, early Wednesday CBS anchor Bob Schieffer offered high praise for NBC's Engel.

On the Wednesday CBS Evening News Lee Cowan offered this description of the protests, "Anger over the U.S. presence here and the President’s surprise visit yesterday boiled over. Thousands of followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr made it clear again today that the 130,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq should withdraw immediately and leave Iraq to its own devices."

Jesus is the Gay Agenda? Bishop Gene Robinson's Latest Gaffe

By: Tim Graham | June 15, 2006 | 08:18

We're all a little tired of the parade of Pat Robertson gaffes that the press seems to enjoy -- the latest one being the leg-press-a-ton boasting. But Catholic blogger Mark Shea reports the latest from gay bishop Gene Robinson, an outrageous gaffe that the secular media will predictably ignore:

Episcopal Bp. Gene Robinson humbly declares, "Jesus rarely pointed to himself but to God. That’s what homosexuals in the Church want to do."

And so, in that spirit of towering humility, Gene announces, "Jesus is the homosexual agenda in the Episcopal Church, I believe that with my whole heart."

And the Word became the Gay Agenda. And the Gay Agenda was with God. And the Gay Agenda was God. Through Him, all things were Gay.

Pinkerton Outs Immigration 'Movimiento' in Radical Media

By: Mark Finkelstein | June 15, 2006 | 06:00

I'd call Jim Pinkerton's Newsday column - 'Movimiento' Aims to Take Back America - today's must-read.

Pinkerton reports on his brief foray inside the belly of the 'immigrant rights' beast. Far from being an echo of the black civil-rights movement of the '60s based on non-violence, Pinkerton says that it's a radical 'movimiento' animated by dreams of 'reconquista.'

Pinkerton explains that earlier this week he attended a panel discussion entitled "The New Immigrants Movement," part of a "Take Back America" conference convened in Washington, D.C., by the left-wing Campaign for America's Future.

On Hume’s Show, Barnes and Kondracke Castigate Press Corps’ Questions to Bush

By: Brent Baker | June 14, 2006 | 21:46

During the panel segment on Wednesday’s Special Report with Brit Hume on FNC, Fred Barnes and Morton Kondracke criticized and ridiculed the questions posed by the White House press corps during the morning’s presidential press conference in the Rose Garden. Kondracke pointed out how “there was hardly any question, critical question from the right,” such as about how Bush was following a misguided Clintonite path on Iran or how not enough troops are being allocated to securing Baghdad.

Barnes proposed: “These questions tell you what reporters are interested in and not what is really important or what the American people would like to hear about.” Barnes mockingly recited what upset him: “The President just went on a trip to Iraq to demonstrate that he's not pulling out the troops right away. If you couldn't realize that that's what that trip was partially about, you're an idiot. And yet the first question was about a troop pullout. The second question was about getting out of Guantanamo. I mean, it just went on and on. Two questions about Karl Rove. Karl Rove has just been vindicated, and these questions were, 'Mr. President, now really, now he may not be indicted but he really did bad stuff, right? Tell us about it.' Come on. This is, these are obsessions of reporters that don't match the feelings of the American people." Barnes also zeroed in on “preening by some reporter with a gotcha question. Ridiculous." (Transcript from Hume’s show, and of several of the questions posed in the Rose Garden, follow.)

Smerconish: GOP Should Confront 'Appalling' Coulter

By: Mark Finkelstein | June 14, 2006 | 21:45

Talk radio show host Michael Smerconish appeared on tonight's Scarborough Country to promote his suggestion, set forth in this column, Cut Coulter Loose, that the GOP disavow Ann Coulter for the statements in her most recent book, 'Godless', about the 9/11 Jersey Girl widows .

Smerconish told Scarborough that the Republican party needs to "make clear" that Coulter's comments are "appalling."

Scarborough sympathized, saying that Coulter's Jersey Girl comments "need to be condemned." He complained that when you do criticize Coulter, "conservatives accuse people like us of being traitors."

NBC’s David Gregory Refers to Karl Rove 'Eluding Prosecution' -- As If Guilty?

By: Brent Baker | June 14, 2006 | 20:06

Using language which painted Karl Rove as a guilty party who succeeded at avoiding capture by authorities, not proving his innocence, in his NBC Nightly News story on Wednesday (also carried at the top of MSNBC’s Countdown) about President George W. Bush’s morning Rose Garden press conference, David Gregory asserted: “Mr. Bush dodged several questions about Karl Rove eluding prosecution in the CIA leak case.” Viewers then saw this clip of Bush: “And obviously, along with others in the White House, took a sigh of relief when he made the decision he made and now we’re going to move forward.” The Oxford Concise Dictionary, built into the Corel WordPerfect I’m using to write this, defines “elude” as “evade or escape adroitly from.” Dictionary.com offers: “To evade or escape from, as by daring, cleverness, or skill.” Their illustrative example in a sentence: “The suspect continues to elude the police.”

Taranto: CBS Poll Story Another 'Lovely Example of Liberal Media Bias'

By: Tim Graham | June 14, 2006 | 18:51

James Taranto at Opinion Journal's "Best of the Web Today" reports that CBS just has to slant its poll reporting:

Here's a lovely example of liberal media bias: A CBS poll finds that 60% of Americans say it's likely "that the United States will ultimately find success in Iraq," and more than 50% say "Iraq will eventually become a stable democracy."
So is the headline, "Majority of Americans Foresee Success in Iraq"? Nope, it's "Poll: Zarqawi Death Has Little Impact." [Subhead: "Despite Zarqawi Death, Most Americans Say War's Going Badly."] CBS chose to play up this finding:

Harry Smith's Anti-War Bias Continues To Shine Through On "The Early Show"

By: Michael Rule | June 14, 2006 | 15:34

After being off the last two days, Harry Smith returned to CBS’s "Early Show" this morning and apparently he didn’t forget the bias. Today Smith interviewed Dan Bartlett, a counselor to President Bush. While Smith set up Senator Joe Biden on June 5 to go on the offensive against the war, he tried his best to keep Bartlett on the defensive while downplaying President Bush’s surprise visit to Iraq yesterday.

Smith began the questioning:

"Well, the Iraqis now have a constitution. Now they actually have a government as well. What they don't have in Baghdad is day-to-day security or even electricity. How does the president's visit change that?"

MRC Study: TV Trumpets "Marine Massacre" But Hides America's Heroes

By: Rich Noyes | June 14, 2006 | 15:14

Earlier this week, the Media Research Center released a new study documenting the fairly heavy coverage ABC, CBS and NBC have provided of yet-unproved claims that U.S. Marines engaged in a “massacre” in Haditha, Iraq last year. The study found those same networks have provided relatively paltry coverage of the select group of American heroes who’ve been given the military’s highest honors: the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, the Air Force and the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Today’s Washington Times (Jennifer Harper) has a nice summary of our study’s key findings, plus some reaction from the multi-national force in Iraq. Excerpts from her article, “‘Bad News’ Rife in military coverage”:

New York Post Columnist Asks ‘Do We Need MSNBC?’

By: Noel Sheppard | June 14, 2006 | 14:35

Don Kaplan of the New York Post has a great column today about the failing cable station MSNBC, and quite appropriately asks why we need it (hat tip to TV Newser):

“‘It's really running third in a two-horse race,’ says Reese Schoenfeld, who co-founded CNN.
“He questions whether MSNBC is even in the same league as Fox News Channel and CNN. ‘Everybody compares MSNBC to Fox and CNN - when its real competition is [CNN's] Headline News,’ he says.”

Yikes. In the sports world, that’s like saying the Yankees’ real competition is the Devil Rays. Kaplan continued:

Olbermann Claims Rita Cosby is ‘Dumber Than a Suitcase of Rocks’

By: Noel Sheppard | June 14, 2006 | 13:49

Apparently, Countdown’s Keith Olbermann doesn’t play well with others – color me shocked.

According to Lloyd Grove of the New York Daily News (hat tip to TV Newser), MSNBC’s Olbermann sent an e-mail message to one of his three fans that aren’t related to him that included a rather derogatory comment about his colleague, Rita Cosby:

“‘Rita's nice,’ Olbermann wrote to a fan from his MSNBC E-mail account, ‘but dumber than a suitcase of rocks.’ Yesterday Cosby retorted: ‘Keith got it wrong. I'm not that nice.’"

That wasn’t the only co-worker Olbermann dissed:

Hillary's Boos: Bob Schieffer Has No Clues

By: Tim Graham | June 14, 2006 | 13:33

Outgoing CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer is a man who's never been ashamed to portray himself as not always the first guy to get the news -- or stay with the news as it happens. (Remember how he took a nap as Trent Lott destroyed his career? It's the last quote here.) MRC's Brian Boyd reports it happened again this morning on the Imus simulcast on MSNBC at 7:42 AM EDT:

Don Imus: “Hey, how about Hillary Clinton getting booed at this liberal gathering in New York for her stance on Iraq. Did you hear about that?”
Bob Schieffer: “No, I haven’t. Tell me about it.”

Huff Posting Presbyterian Pastor: 'Jesus Was Born Illegitimately'

By: Mark Finkelstein | June 14, 2006 | 13:04

As a Jew, I try to tread lightly when it comes to discussing matters Christian. But I think I can say with confidence that if you're a traditional Christian who is not offended by Jim Rigby's column at the Huffington Post, Christians Who Want Democracy Must Stop Bowing to a Dictator Christ, you're not reading carefully.

Rigby is the pastor at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX. He has gotten into hot water for conducting ceremonies for homosexual couples. His church has also admitted a professed atheist as a member.

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