Donny Deutsch on NBC's 'Today': 'Why Can't You Write an Unflattering Biased Article' Against Bachmann?
During a panel discussion about the Michele Bachmann Newsweek cover, left-wing advertising executive Donny Deutsch acknowledged that "It is politically biased," but didn't see any problem with that: "Who says the media's not biased?...Why can't they make a statement? Obviously that was a real picture...It's not a flattering article....why can't you write an unflattering biased article?"
The discussion actually began with Dr. Nancy Snyderman, someone just as liberal as Deutsch, denouncing the Newsweek cover: "Sexist, ridiculous, not fair. The inside copy, the word 'rage' is never used....She is charismatic and engaging and this made her look cruel and mean." Snyderman even preemptively declared: "And Donny Deutsch can say whatever he wants, but he's wrong."
While Deutsch freely admitted the liberal magazine's political bias against Bachmann, he denied any sexism was involved: "It has nothing to do with her sexuality, it has to do with her political standing."
The third panelist was legal analyst Star Jones, who dismissed the entire controversy: "I just want people to suck it up. She is a women running for president. It's the big job. Not running to be on television, running for president. Suck it up, man up, put your big girl pumps on."
Before moving on to a new topic with the panel, co-host Savannah Guthrie argued: "I would just say that newspapers have a long history of picking unflattering portraits....I mean, they showed Tim Geithner the other day with his head – in a scowl when the markets crashed."
Jones chimed in: "They had the President with the swimming trunks on one of the – one of the national magazines for goodness sake." A picture which the media gushed over, including on Today, when co-host Matt Lauer declared: "Fit to serve, Barack Obama photographed shirtless in Hawaii and a lot of women are giving him the presidential seal of approval."
Here is a transcript of the August 11 panel discussion on Today:
9:05AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Time now for another installment of 'Today's Professionals.' That's right, our panel of power players is back. And here to break down the hottest headlines, surveys, and studies making news, Star Jones is an attorney, author, and TV personality. Donny Deutsch is chairman of Deutsche Incorporated, a multibillion dollar advertising agency. But wait, there's more. Dr. Nancy Snyderman is a head and neck surgeon. Take that. And NBC's chief medical editor. Good morning to all of you smarties.
STAR JONES: Good morning.
GUTHRIE: Let's talk about Newsweek's cover of Michele Bachmann. She's the Republican presidential candidate who's getting a lot of momentum in Iowa right now and that is the cover shot they chose, with the headline, 'The Queen of Rage.' This raised a lot of eyebrows, Dr. Nancy's among them. You think this is sexist?
NANCY SNYDERMAN: Sexist, ridiculous, not fair. The inside copy, the word 'rage' is never used. And there's an isolated picture of her standing in a room that looks like the Oval Office and it looks like she's crying and isolated. She is charismatic and engaging and this made her look cruel and mean. And Donny Deutsch can say whatever he wants, but he's wrong.
GUTHRIE: Wait a minute, there is a long history of-
JONES: You're going to be ticked at me.
DONNY DEUTSCH: Whoa, whoa, time out here for a second.
JONES: Dr. Nancy's going to be ticked at me.
DEUTSCH: It is politically biased, not racially – I mean, not sexually biased.
SNYDERMAN: Oh.
DEUTSCH: By the way, I could show you an old cover of-
GUTHRIE: So you agree it's biased?
DEUTSCH: Well, but who says the media's not biased? I can show you an old cover of Newt Gingrich with hair coming out of his nose.
SNYDERMAN: But you know what? But here's why that's important-
DEUTSCH: Let me finish here. Why can't they make a statement? Obviously that was a real picture and they didn't air touch her. It's not a flattering article. By the way, why can't you write an unflattering biased article? It has nothing to do with her sex.
JONES: They do it all the time.
SNYDERMAN: The article does not match the headline nor did it match the picture.
DEUTSCH: Either way, it has nothing to do with her sexuality, it has to do with her political standing.
SNYDERMAN: And you know what? It also – and I have to say, as someone who really defends mainstream media a lot, it leads right into and gives credence to the left bias in media.
[CROSSTALK]
JONES: I just want people to suck it up. She is a women running for president. It's the big job. Not running to be on television, running for president. Suck it up, man up, put your big girl pumps on.
SNYDERMAN: But she hasn't complained.
JONES: And this – wait a minute-
DEUTSCH: You're also being sexist, because if it was a man we wouldn't even be talking about it.
JONES: But women need to stop with the, 'Oh, they're picking on me because I'm a woman.'
DEUTSCH: Exactly.
GUTHRIE: Okay, but by the way – yeah.
JONES: If you want to be in the game-
SNYDERMAN: Sorry, wrong.
JONES: -put your big girl pumps on and get in the game.
GUTHRIE: Alright, in fairness, Michele Bachmann did not complain about this cover.
SNYDERMAN: She did not.
JONES: But women all over America who are professionals are the ones I'm also talking about.
DEUTSCH: She's right.
JONES: We have to step it up. We cannot expect to play on an even playing field if every time it looks like they make us cry or they make us emotional, we whine. No whining.
DEUTSCH: By the way, as the man between the two women, I give points to Star.
SNYDERMAN: Well, she's – you're both wrong.
DEUTSCH: I love you like a sister. But okay.
SNYDERMAN: But when Hillary cries, she gets slammed. John Boehner cries repeatedly, and it's like, 'oh well.'
DEUTSCH: I puke when John Boehner cries., but go on.
GUTHRIE: Alright, but I would just say that newspapers have a long history of picking unflattering portraits.
DEUTSCH: Of course, and so does TV.
GUTHRIE: I mean, they showed Tim Geithner the other day with his head – in a scowl when the markets crashed.
JONES: They had the President with the swimming trunks on one of the – one of the national magazines for goodness sake.
(...)
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Comments
Anyone who listens to Donny...
Submitted by TC Lynch on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 12:37pm.
knows nothing about Donny. He's the epitome of Silver Spoon Logic. His father built a nice operation, then Donny turned them into whores and sold them out for his personal profit. Now he thinks he's elite, when on his own he'd get cut down and ignored in a respectable community as nothing more than a playboy with a bankroll.
Yeah theres alot of brainpower there.....
Submitted by OldJarhead77 on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 12:42pm.
Enough to like a 5 watt bulb........ DIMLY!
Accepting media bias
Submitted by Galvanic on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 1:06pm.
Over a decade ago, an independent journalist named Neil Monroe told me that there is almost always a natural bias in reporting, even if it's subconscience. He describe himself as left-of-center, but he said that he never omitted information that contradicted the storyline, and allow the reader to decide.
As Monroe put it, the real problem isn't so much the bias, as much as it is the denial by journalists that it exists. Editors know what the storyline is going to be, and once that is set, additional but contradictory information is rejected, and the reader is never aware of its existence.
Of course, that conversation took place years ago, and much has developed since thanks to the dynamic innovations and access in the Information Age.
Now, we can get lots of information from a variety of sources and judge for ourselves.
So, on the face if it, I don't disagree with Deutsch. Where I do have a problem is when MSM claim to be fair and objective when we know they are not, and they're stories are either talking points faxed to them from their political pals, or devoid of fact checking. The MSM is both lazy and biased, and content with reinforcing each others material rather than validating and invalidating it. A clear example was Rather-gate (aka the Air Natl Guard "memos"); ABC and NBC basically stayed away from criticizing CBS let alone scrutinizing their story.
Took the words out of my mouth
Submitted by Dave81 on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 1:59pm.
Well said. Journalists are human beings, not robots. They CANNOT remove their own bias from the job, even if it's only in the form of deciding what stories to cover and which ones to ignore. All I ask is that they be honest that it happens rather than acting like they're completely neutral and fair. I'd also like to see it be a little more balanced. Fox is really the only MSM outlet that has a conservative bias (something I would like to see them admit more often), and the rest of the hypocritical MSM blasts them for it.
Donny Douche...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 1:21pm.
...should either have his own show...oh yeah, now I remember. Well, how 'bout he serve as interpreter for "Da Revrun" on his show.
"Who says the media's not
Submitted by celator on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 1:49pm.
"Who says the media's not biased?"
Nobody.
Hillary Getting Slamed
Submitted by nadnad1776 on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 2:08pm.
--Come on Snyderman one of the reasons people tend to doubt Hillary's Press Op. Weepies is they know the calculus lurking behind her real behavior. For instance; hiring legions of opposition research specialists, private eyes and thugs, to destroy the lives of women who have been the "objects" of her husbands "Gloria Steinem approved" courtship. All the while promoting the veracity of to proven liars like Anita Hill.
--Monica Lewinsky, was a "delusional slut", and a "deranged stalker". Other targets got similar treatment. When Paula Jones was the victim of some of then Governor Clinton's "after all I am your boss", "feminist certified", "hands on" courtship, Hillary hired the likes of James "Serpent Head" Carville and his "Caviling Circus" circus to go on TV and say things like; "Weyah, das watt chu git, win you drag a twenny dollah bill tru a trailah coat". Showing what democrats really think of people who live in mobile homes, while also demonstrating his acquaintance with the Arkansas High Patrolman who used to chauffeur "Ole' Twenny Dollah Bill" about the hustings of the Little Rock environs. At first the "Steel Bagnola" ordered the "Caviling Circus" and their willing thralls in the lickspittle media to deny the two had ever met. When that did not work, she ordered them to "turn the orcs loose" and "go for the ovaries".
--Indeed Ms. Snyderman, if you want Mrs. Clinton to have credibility, tell her to stick with the shrill sanctimonious vituperation, and eschew the demure lachrymosity, "It out Herrods Herrod, pray thee avoid it."
The 3 Stooges Panel...
Submitted by gruyere cheese on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 3:30pm.
Savannah, Donny "the love doctor" and Star Jones? Give me a break, these three clowns have an opinion on politics? Take a look at their qualifications; anything they say is worth peanuts in my opinion.
Please read Donnie Boy
Submitted by desert3030 on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 3:35pm.
June 3, 2011
Dear President Obama,
Last week we remembered those lost in the service of the United States of America. Every year I spend one of those weekend days at an the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Air Show that takes place at Jones Beach. And every year, as I engage various frustrations of being a father, and a husband, I say I’m never doing this again. But I do it. I do it because it is one of the only ways I have to teach my family what risks, and competence, we have in the men and woman that serve in this nations military.
I also do it because, like you Mr. Obama, I failed to serve this nation in uniform. But unlike you, I have significant guilt and regret from that poor decision on my part. Life is not something one can pause and hit the rewind button on though. We must decide what to do in order to make a poor choice right and ensure a better future for our children. Provide money to charities that help the troops, advocate for civilian leadership that will not abuse that trust and lives of those service members, honor them through the passing days of freedom my family and I get to experience because they decided to give that up. In some cases forever by continuing their service to this nation as a name carved in granite or bronze to remind future generations that freedom is not free.
A few days from now will mark the 67th anniversary of D-Day. On that day those men who decided that Europe should be free decided to do something about it. They were led by brave leaders who knew that failure was not an option, they knew that to not meet evil with violence and death only meant that one day evil would find its way to their families and homesteads. So they acted with resolve. My Grandfather was one of these men in a B-24 over France on D-Day, and if the weather was better his bombing group could have saved a lot of allied lives. Because of that bad weather so many of those men had to hit beaches chock full of death and destruction.
But, even in the face of this certain death, they did not give up.
As I watched those pilots fly those planes and marveled at the Golden Knights parachute team hit their marks on the beach I know that the sacrifice of those men so many years ago did not occur in vein. Their heroism, and desire to sacrifice, for something bigger than themselves, is alive and well in this nation, and instead of squandering it, we should foster it. I also witnessed something else, thirty or so new recruits into the United States Air Force, raise their hands to take an oath. I think it is an oath that you took Mr. Obama, but these men, and women, may be called upon to keep it with their lives.
They deserve better civilian leadership than what we have given them and on November 6, 2012 we will be doing our part to bring that about.
Respectfully,
Joe Doakes
This may cause a stir
Submitted by ctophfranko on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 5:56pm.
But I see no problem whatsoever with a completely partisan media. We had it at the start of this republic. Just tell everyone from the get-go that you are a leftist. The problem with leftists, and Mark Steyn writes about this in his new book, is that they think that they are objective. Progressivism is truth. We rightists on the other hand understand that we see the world through an objective prism. Lefties are so deluded that as Colbert said at his disgraceful presentation in front of Bush 43, "Truth has a well known liberal bias." The sad truth is that far too many seem to think this is the case.
I guess Star would tell BO to
Submitted by katiejane on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 6:15pm.
grow a pair and tell his people to stop whining when there is a pic of him emphasizing his ears? Or if people make fun of Michele O's questionable taste in clothing?
Dummy Deutsch is back.
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 6:14pm.
What a sickening low life. How about saying something meaningful and instructive instead of spitting your poison you douche bag?
Back?
Submitted by almostacowboy on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 6:44pm.
From where? Can we get him to go back to where he was?
Donny Douche -
Submitted by almostacowboy on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 6:44pm.
A buffoon asking other buffoons a buffoonish question.
Donni Douche and Star Jones - Ass Monkeys on Parade
Submitted by Motormouth KOS on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 7:02pm.
Donni Douchebucket... What is your claim to fame? Giving handjobs to CNBC execs? You have no apparent talent.
Star Jones, you are a fat slob with a stapled intestine. You have no self-control which is why you used to weigh 300. This matters why? Because you want to run your fat mouth and tell Michelle Bachman, a woman who has actually accomplished something meaningful to do what...?
"suck it up"???
How dare you? You got fired from one of the worst shows on TV... The View.
and you were replaced by who? The Ultra PigWoman Rosie O'Donnell? Could you be any less competent if you tried? I doubt it, Tubby. Shut your piehole and crawl back under that rock.
The Obamination... A crisis leading to a catastrophe..(please donate to MRC)
Because they buy ink by the
Submitted by Miroco on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 8:48pm.
Because they buy ink by the barrel liberal reporters can always get you back one day, and will. What struck me early on was that college professors and cretin reporters are way beyond statistical probability, in news organizations ninety five percent Dim is not unusual. They worked so hard to build it up, I say quit buying---- all of it. "Sorry Mr. computer man, got to buy elsewhere, you support the Communist Times". The college thing is more difficult, I'm thinking, target practice.
Heeeeeere's Donny!
Submitted by HockeyKid on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 9:52pm.
Old "tan in a can" Deutsch. What a complete phony.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me