Greg Sheffield's blog

Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck has had a CNN Headline News show for only five months, but for each month its ratings have increased, and soon the show will overtake "Hardball" with Chris Matthews.

Reports TV Newser:

For the first time since his May launch, Glenn Beck is beating MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews in the coveted 25-54 demographic. HLN's Beck averaged 149,000 demo viewers in September, up from 112,000 in August and 99,000 in July. MSNBC's Matthews averaged 132,000 demo viewers in September, down from 141,000 in August and 125,000 in July. (Click on the chart to view it full-size.)

Beck is also growing among total viewers -- he averaged 161,000 in May, 141,000 in June, 183,000 in July, 237,000 in August, and 321,000 in September. He's gaining on Matthews, who averaged 351,000 at 7pm in September...

During the "Fox News Sunday" interview between Chris Wallace and Bill Clinton, the former president suggested ulterior motives for bringing up his administration's role in failing to prevent 9-11: "You set this meeting up because you were going to get a lot of criticism from your viewers because Rupert Murdoch's supporting my work on climate change."

Clinton also charged that Chris Wallace had not asked the same questions of the Bush administration:

"You launched it — it set me off on a tear because you didn't formulate it in an honest way and because you people ask me questions you don't ask the other side."

But in yesterday's "Political Grapevine" segment of "Special Report with Brit Hume," Hume said that Chris Wallace had indeed asked the same questions of Donald Rumsfeld.

Reports Drudge on himself:

ABCNEWS, WASH POST REPORTERS: 'DRUDGE RULES OUR WORLD'

Here they come...

In the stampede of books attempting to make their mark this season comes THE WAY TO WIN, by longtime political reporters Halperin and Harris.

The political director of ABCNEWS and the national politics editor of the WASHINGTON POST make it official in their new insider tome on DC politics and how it's played: The four words in every newsroom and campaign headquarters are: Have you seen DRUDGE?

MORE

The Ohio chapter of CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, put out a press release on NewsWire about its success in getting a local car dealership not to run radio ads declaring a "jihad" on the car competition and "Fatwa Fridays."

Instead, will the dealership now run "Religion of Peace" Wednesdays?

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) said today that proposed "jihad-themed" radio advertisements for a car dealer in that state will not be aired.

The ads reportedly would have proclaimed a "jihad" on the U.S. auto market and offered "Fatwa Fridays" with sales representatives in "burqas" giving free swords to children.

Liberals at the University of Georgia demonstrated their trademark tolerance by sabotaging the conservative student paper, The Georgia GuardDawg.

Reports the GuardDawg:

Vandals targeted the University of Georgia's conservative student newspaper, The Georgia GuardDawg, Thursday night, stealing over 1,200 newspapers and leaving incendiary and hateful remarks on their distribution bins. Seven of their eight bins on campus were affected. The Georgia GuardDawg had just released their September issue when the thefts occurred.

"Our September issue focused on the issue of free speech. Perhaps these violent individuals should read our paper first to learn the importance of free speech," Kirby stated. "Our principles of free speech and family values are ideals that these perpetrators do not want others to read. They oppose this common sense philosophy so strongly that they committed a crime."

The four writers of an upcoming Ann Coulter-bashing book say they want to remain anonymous out of fear of violence from "gun-toting, abortion clinic-bombing" conservatives. As long as they don't say a word negative about Islam, their lives are safe. What's more likely is they're afraid of a verbal/written counterattack by Coulter herself, one that is better written and more skillful and targeted at the actual authors.

Reports the New York Post:

THERE'S a good reason why the four authors of the upcoming book "I Hate Ann Coulter!" are remaining anonymous - they're afraid for their safety. "None of us want our real names in the hands of gun-toting, abortion clinic-bombing, self-proclaimed 'wing nuts,' who follow Coulter," one of the scribes tells us. Coulter , who called 9/11 widows publicity-loving "harpies," is shown with a devil's tail and horns on the book's cover. It's only the second time in Simon & Schuster's history that an author's identity has been kept secret, the first being, "Go Ask Alice," a teen drug addict's diary, published in 1971.

MSNBC's new general manager Dan Abrams is trying a few new things to increase ratings for the perennially third placed news channel. One is to have its hosts "punch up," meaning attack higher rated TV shows in the hope that viewers from the more popular shows will flip channels to see what's going on. On Sep. 18, "conservative" (the kind of conservative MSNBC will stomach) host Tucker Carlson made a deliberate grab at Bill O'Reilly's viewers: "You don’t have to [watch] because we’re gonna watch it for you."

Referring to O'Reilly's interview with game show host Bob Barker, who discussed his vegetarian beliefs, Carlson said O'Reilly was a hypocrite for condemning celebrity news.

"Just a recap: Just last week, Bill O’Reilly told his audience, quote, 'Please believe me when I tell you I have absolutely no interest in the lives of celebrities.'

Blogger and columnist Michelle Malkin has been providing new information about Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi AP photographer who is being held by the U.S. government on charges of colluding with terrorists. The AP pretended the story didn't exist for five months, but when it finally admitted the truth, it also fired back a rebuttal to one of her recent columns. Said Malkin in her Sep. 20 column:

On April 12, I learned from military sources that an Associated Press photographer in Iraq, Fallujah native Bilal Hussein, had been captured in Ramadi in an apartment with insurgents and a cache of weapons. This was news. I asked the AP for confirmation. Corporate spokesman Jack Stokes informed me that company officials were "looking into reports that Mr. Hussein was detained by the U.S. military in Iraq but have no furthhttp://newsbusters.org/node/add/bloger details at this time." After reporting the alleged detention on my blog ( michellemalkin.com/archives/005941.htm), I followed up several more times with AP over the past five months for status updates on Hussein. No reply.

After trying to cover up the story for five months, the AP was finally forced to acknowledge that one of their own was being detained.

Let me repeat that: An Associated (with terrorists) Press journalist gets caught with an alleged al Qaeda leader and tests positive for bomb-making materials. That. Is. News. How does a news organization explain away its decision to sit on it for five months? Like this: "The AP has worked quietly until now, believing that would be the best approach."

The best approach to journalism? No. The best approach to suppressing a damning connection to terrorists.

Hilary White tracks how the Pope's scholarly lecture on Muslim-Christian relations was spun into a hate-filled tirade by manipulative media outlets. What is fact and what is media coverage are never the same, and White tracks the "meme," how the coverage of the Pope's remarks was slightly altered over time.

Media outlets expect the masses to be beholden to these manipulative techniques, and expect politicians to hyperventilate over the latest version of events.

The BBC started the flames by being the first to promote a bogus version of the event. Then later it reported that "Muslim anger grows at Pope speech."

The day after the speech, Wednesday the 13th, the Pope’s lecture elicited little response from apparently bored secular journalists who had little interest in what was considered his “obscure” and “academic” points on the relationship between religious belief and the secular world.

Catholic news sources who reported the day after the lecture were also quiet. “Pope spends quiet afternoon at home with brother,” was the leading headline at Catholic World Report.

Austin Bay has a new term to describe the technique used by the media and Muslim activists to manipulate fake events in order to inflame Muslim outrage: "CBS ambush."

The ambush technique coordinates blood-spilling violence with sensational imagery and rhetoric using a dispersed network of media operatives, guerrillas and terrorists. Networked, Coordinated Blood-spilling plus Sensationalism -- hence the technique's acronym: the CBS ambush.

The media hyped Muslim outrage during the first Gulf War.

Remember the "Arab street," that riot-in-the-road featuring flammable Israeli flags, Saddam Hussein posters, clenched fists and chants threatening "Death to America"? The street may have lacked pavement and a fire hydrant, but it had beaucoup television cameras.

New "The View" co-host Rosie O'Donnell recently sparked controversy by saying that "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam." Her behavior has been so offensive, reports the National Ledger, that she frequently brings conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck to tears on the set.

The transition from Star Jones to Rosie O'Donnell hasn't been easy at "The View," especially not for Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

"She is crying every day," an insider tells us. "No one can control Rosie, and Elisabeth can't contain her feelings. She gets so upset all the time."

Why can't you conservatives be more like this, unelectable? That is the message of HBO's documentary, "Mr. Conservative," profiling the life of Barry Goldwater. Many Democrats are quoted praising Goldwater, which should set off alarm bells that the purpose of this seemingly congratulatory 90-minute film has ulterior motives.

Reports Newsday:

One major quibble: William F. Buckley Jr. is quoted nowhere in this program, which is such a ridiculous omission that viewers, particularly conservatives, will be agape at the oversight. What's the answer? Who knows, although a legion of Democratic admirers - Al Franken, Hillary Rodham Clinton (who campaigned as a "Goldwater Girl" in '64), Sen. Edward Kennedy (his brother John F. Kennedy and Goldwater were close friends, as well as potential presidential rivals) - are quoted. At least George F. Will is his usual eloquent self.

Al Franken's praising Goldwater? Does Franken admire Goldwater's racial policies, or does he admire Goldwater's embarassing defeat at the hands of Lyndon Johnson?

The essence of the documentary: longing for that old-style conservative who would readily wear a target for liberal potshots.

Blame it on talk radio. That is what Washington Post reporter Michelle Boorstein accepts as the reason for an increase in the harassment of Muslims in the U.S. It has nothing to do with terrorist attacks or threats of violence against those like the Pope who dare question any aspect of Islam.

In a media ranking of all those who are capable of committing a sin, talk radio hosts are near the top, while Muslims are close to the bottom, between baby lambs and blind orphans.

Complaints of anti-Muslim harassment, violence and discriminatory treatment registered with a national Muslim civil rights group jumped 30 percent in 2005 from the previous year, the group said today in releasing its annual report .

The 1,972 complaints made to the Council on American-Islamic Relations are the most the group has received since it began the annual reports following anti-Muslim incidents after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The group said it actually received 2,300 reports but deemed some of them illegitimate.

During today's Live Discussion at WashingtonPost.com, columnist David Broder took heat from liberal readers who asked him to explain why he said the press should apologize to Karl Rove for the stink it made over the non-issue of Valerie Plame.

It's remarkable how overwhelmingly liberal the questions are that make it to Broder's attention, but perhaps conservatives readers have given up on the Washington Post.

Washington, D.C.: Mr Broder, if you feel Karl Rove is owed an apology from the pundits and writers over Valerie Plame, did you also call for an apology to the Clintons after Ken Starr, the Whitewater investigation and the failed attempt to impeach President Clinton? If not, why not?

David S. Broder: As best, I can recall,I did not call for such an apology. My view, for whatever it is worth long after the dust has settled on Monica, was that when President Clinton admitted he had lied to his Cabinet and his closest assoc, to say nothing of the public, that the honorable thing was for him to have resigned and turned over the office to Vice President Gore. I think history would have been very different had he done that.

Failing to call Islam a "religion of peace" can get you in a lot of trouble these days. Agence France Presse, a syndicated news service like the AP, says Pope Benedict XVI committed a "blunder" by saying, among other things, that Islam was a religion "spread by the sword."

By unwittingly angering Muslims with his comments on Islam, Pope Benedict XVI has shown that he has yet to shake off his academic theological roots and master the global media machine with the same deftness as his predecessor.

In clinging to theology and orthodoxy, the bookish Benedict has shown little regard for media management in getting his message across, unlike the communications-savvy John Paul II.

Tony Snow, the still fairly new White House press secretary who's been at the job for only four months, is getting more "laughs" out of the gathered reporters than his predecessor, Scott McCellan.

Snow was a veteran journalist and commentator before becoming press secretary, giving him much more experience than McClellan had before taking the job. Snow has been more adept at handling McClellan's old nemeses, Helen Thomas and David Gregory.

Reports the Washington Examiner:

Yeas & Nays reviewed the press briefing and press gaggle transcripts from Snow’s first four months on the job and compared them to those of Snow’s predecessor, Scott McClellan, during his first four months.

Under Snow, there were more than 330 percent more instances of laughter — as defined by the transcriber’s insertion of “(Laughter)” in the transcript — than under McClellan.

Think Progress reports, mournfully, that Air America Radio will declare bankruptcy.

Air America Radio will announce a major restructuring on Friday, which is expected to include a bankruptcy filing, three independent sources have told ThinkProgress.

Air America could remain on the air under the deal, but significant personnel changes are already in the works. Sources say five Air America employees were laid off yesterday and were told there would be no severance without capital infusion or bankruptcy. Also, Air America has ended its relationship with host Jerry Springer.

The right wing is sure to seize on Air America’s financial woes as a sign that progressive talk radio is unpopular. In fact, Air America succeeded at creating something that didn’t exist: the progressive talk radio format. That format is now established and strong and will continue with or without Air America. Indeed, many of the country’s most successful and widely-syndicated progressive talk hosts — Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller, for instance — aren’t even associated with Air America.

The student newspaper of the University of Virginia, the Cavalier Daily, has gotten national attention for two cartoons lampooning Catholic beliefs.

Reports the Cavalier Daily on itself:

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and individuals from across the country have sent nearly 2,000 letters to The Cavalier Daily and to the University administration in response to the publication of two controversial comics Aug. 23 and Aug. 24.

Both comics were drawn by third-year College student Grant Woolard. The first comic was titled "Christ on a Cartesian Plane," and depicts the Crucifixion with a parabolic graph superimposed on the figure of Christ. The second comic is titled "A Nativity Ob-scene" and features dialogue between the Virgin Mary and Joseph about an "immaculately transmitted" rash....

Some ultra-PC alarmists inside the BBC are fretting about a video made to spoof assistant editor Simon Torkington's new gig at Al-Jazeera. The video features his colleagues dressed up in Middle Eastern garb, singing a parody song.

A company statement called the video "illjudged, and we will be speaking with those involved." This means that censorship now extends to private parties for the self-flagellating BBC. In forty years, hopefully Al-BBC executives will be just as abhorrent of anti-European jokes.

Reports the Evening Standard.

Members of the BBC London news team today face a grilling from senior bosses after they filmed a spoof video making light of the conflict in the Middle East.

The film, a skit on Peter Kay's (Is This The Way To) Amarillo? was made to mark the departure of assistant editor Simon Torkington who is going to the news channel Al-Jazeera International in Qatar with his wife, former ITV news anchor Shiulie Ghosh.

When not forced to compete with primetime broadcast football (NBC's "Sunday Night Football"), ABC's "The Path to 9-11" bested the competition on Monday, the second day of the two-part series. Reports Drudge:

ABC 'PATH TO 9-11' TOP RATED SHOW OF MONDAY NIGHT... 8.3 RATING/12 SHARE FOR ABC MOVIE, BEAT 'CSI: MIAMI' RERUN [6.8/11] AND NBC 9-11 'DATELINE' [3.7/6].

ZAP2IT has more details:

The conclusion of ABC's miniseries "The Path to 9/11" led ABC to a ratings win Monday. Numbers for the night are approximate, as a presidential address marking the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks interrupted regular programming in much of the country.

ABC averaged a 7.4 rating/11 share for the night, finishing well ahead of CBS' 5.2/8. NBC was third at 4.2/7. FOX, 4.0/7, came in fourth, and The WB trailed with a 1.2/2.

Reports NY Daily News:

Former President Bill Clinton said yesterday that his administration had thwarted a number of large-scale terror attacks but acknowledged its efforts were "not enough" to prevent the horror of 9/11.

Clinton would not comment directly on the ABC miniseries that began airing Sunday that suggests he was soft on Al Qaeda, but he said yesterday that his administration stopped other attacks similar to 9/11.

During his administration "some attacks were prevented, a couple that would have done as much damage as 9/11," he said.

"Many cells were rooted out," Clinton said at a dedication of a 9/11 memorial in Bayonne, N.J., "but in the end, it was not enough" to prevent 9/11.

Lebanese-born Joseph Shahda has translated a July 25, 2000 Iraqi intelligence document released by the U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies Office. The document refers to "one of our sources" who works for the "American Associated Press Agency."

Republic of Iraq

The Presidency of the Republic

The Intelligence Service

Date: 25/7/2000

Number: 6146

Secret

To: 5th / 4th / 13th Directorates

We were informed from one of our sources (the degree of trust in him is good) who works in the American Associated Press Agency that the agency broadcasted to through computer to its branches worldwide the following:

Perhaps he hopes to give legitimacy to the "9-11 conspiracy" movement. Filmmaker Oliver Stone says he is thinking of doing a movie about a "group of people in the American administration" who planned the terrorist attack. In his classic approach, he will claim that "bin Laden and George Bush met on the Grassy Knoll."

Reports Agence France-Presse:

US filmmaker Oliver Stone, who surprised many with the patriotic flavor of his new film "World Trade Center," hinted here Monday that he is considering a more controversial follow-up investigating the "conspiracy" around 9-11.

"There is a great story in a movie, a conspiracy by a group of people in the American administration who have an agenda and who used 9-11 to further that agenda," he told journalists while in Moscow as part of a world tour to promote his latest movie.

If ABC caves into demands to whitewash its 9-11 movie, made by Bill Clinton, Democrats, and liberal activists, it could come with direction from the very top. Robert A. Iger, CEO of Disney (parent co. of ABC), has been a large contributor to the Democratic Party, most recently giving $10,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in February. He's even given money to the wife of the former president in question.

According to OpenSecrets.org:

2/28/2006
$10,000
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte

7/14/2003
$2,000
Leahy, Patrick

For the "Free Speech" segment of the "CBS Evening News," new anchor Katie Couric invited radio host Rush Limbaugh to deliver 90 seconds of commentary.

Hot Air has the video.

Katie Couric introduced the segment:

"If you’ve been with us this week, you probably know we have a new segment we’re trying called 'free speech,' where news makers, opinion makers and just plain folks tell us what’s on their mind.

"With the fifth anniversary of 9-11 coming up, the topic tonight is the war on terror. And there may be no one more opinionated on the subject than radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh."

Rush Limbaugh has come under attack from conservatives for colluding with the "enemy," offering a short commentary for Katie Couric's "CBS Evening News" that will air tonight.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper reported on Limbaugh's assurances to his listeners.

Limbaugh seemed greatly amused that a number of his fans and friends didn't trust him to go on the program. They figured the whole thing could be a dirty trick by those duplicitous liberals. No doubt they planned to set up Rush, "Punk'd" style.

They also criticized him for giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Former President Bill Clinton doesn't like how his administration is portrayed in ABC's upcoming mini-series, "The Path to 9/11." If they don't make changes, ABC should "pull the drama entirely."

Reports the New York Post:

A furious Bill Clinton is warning ABC that its mini-series "The Path to 9/11" grossly misrepresents his pursuit of Osama bin Laden - and he is demanding the network "pull the drama" if changes aren't made.

Clinton pointedly refuted several fictionalized scenes that he claims insinuate he was too distracted by the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal to care about bin Laden and that a top adviser pulled the plug on CIA operatives who were just moments away from bagging the terror master, according to a letter to ABC boss Bob Iger obtained by The Post.

Columnist David Broder says he wrote "almost nothing about the Wilson-Plame case, because it seemed overblown to me from the start." As for the rest of the media, Broder says Newsweek "and other publications owe Karl Rove an apology. And all of journalism needs to relearn the lesson: Can the conspiracy theories and stick to the facts."

The only time I commented on the case was to caution reporters who offered bold First Amendment defenses for keeping their sources' names secret that they had better examine the motivations of the people leaking the information to be sure they deserve protection.

But caution has been notably lacking in some of the press treatment of this subject -- especially when it comes to Karl Rove. And it behooves us in the media to examine that behavior, not just sweep it under the rug.

New "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric needs your help, NewsBusters readers. Tonight on her first show, she said she still hasn't figured out how to end the program.

"All summer long, people have been asking me, How will you sign off at the end of your broadcast? I've racked my brain and so far, nothing has felt right."

After a segment of past anchors' sign-offs, she asked for viewer help.

"If you have a bright idea for a great sign-off, log on to our website at CBSNews.com and tell me. I know we'll have a lot of fun reading them, and who knows, maybe one will actually stick."

Got some suggestions for Couric? Post them here or use the link if you want to send them to CBS.

Reports Editor and Publisher:

A not especially eventful press briefing at the White House today turned rancorous with NBC's David Gregory telling Press Secretary Tony Snow, "Don't point your finger at me," and Snow accusing the newsman of being "rude" and delivering Democratic talking points....

Snow got into a tussle with Gregory after the NBC journalist told him, in a lengthy remark, that the public may wonder why the president's statement and report today on the war on terror did not admit more failings on the administration's part. Snow observed that he had nicely summarized "the Democratic point of view," and Gregory took exception to this.