MRC President Brent Bozell appeared on the June 24 "Hannity & Colmes" to comment on a trend in Iraq reporting that conservatives have known for a while and the New York Times is only now catching on to: the media love to report negative developments from Iraq, while downplaying or ignoring positive developments such as the succeess of the surge or the exonerations of the Haditha "massacre" Marines.
Here's an excerpt of Bozell from the segment:
BRENT BOZELL, MRC President: There's a terrible adage in journalism: good news is no news, bad news is great news. And that's the coverage that we've seen in Iraq. Countless studies have been done, we've done studies on this, showing that as things got worse and worse, you had more and more coverage. But suddenly the surge came around and as the surge took off and was successful, the coverage went down. You see just the other day where the military announced that violence is down 89 percent, and yet NBC and CBS didn't think that was news. Now, they didn't need to send a reporter to Iraq to report that one, they could have done that from their bureaus.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓SEAN HANNITY, co-host: Here the Haditha Marines that [Rep.] John Murtha [D-Pa.] says they killed innocent civilians in cold blood because they couldn't take the pressure, seven of the eight charged have now been exonerated. The New York Times prints nine front page stories, I think you had told me earlier 35 altogether, not one front page story on the -
BOZELL: I'm glad the New York Times reported about the networks' lack of coverage, the flip side though is the New York Times is no different. The New York Times, the print press has done the exact same thing. There's a great example: Haditha. You've got 35 major stories on Haditha, now you've got one exoneration after another, none of it is news.
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What are the chances ..
June 26, 2008 - 09:18 ET by QueenMumthat any news source will ask Sen. Obama to comment on the homicide rate in his Sweet Home Chicago (a single American city) vs. the homicide rate in Iraq? Why should we believe that the Great Community Activist - who doesn't seem to have made much of an impact over a 20-year period - will somehow maintain peace and tranquility throughout the nation and the world?
Good work, Brent. Keep sticking it in the nose of the MsM.
the liberal press, be it paper, TV or other
June 26, 2008 - 09:32 ET by c5thenDo not like producing stories that go against their ideology. If they have no choice (like the SCOTUS decision today) they find ways to spin it so it is more palatable to them.
The Haditha scandle is even easier for them. Hype it up at first when there is no evidence. Then, later, when the evidence is examined and the acquitals and dropped charges occur, just ignore it and tell their paying customers nothing.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
Colmes defense
June 26, 2008 - 09:37 ET by KC MulvilleWhen Alan Colmes argues that we're also not hearing about the lack of political progress in Iraq, he's only half right. There's plenty of progress, but we're not hearing about it.
I also love the justification that they're not sending so many reporters there because of the cost and the security. Because that's precisely the point: they aren't reporting that security is increasing. Ironically, their misconception comes from their own lack of reporting.
Then Colmes drops the ultimate reflection on liberal journalism: he has decided that the public has already turned the page and moved on. In other words, truth and reality don't matter. The public may be uninformed about reality, but so what? What do you expect liberal journalists to do? Inform the public, especially when the stakes couldn't be higher and it will help Republicans? That'll never happen.
Alan Colmes...
June 26, 2008 - 10:58 ET by BS DetectorIs ok with the lack of journalistic integrity as long as it benefits his candidate