MRC's Bozell: 'The Media and Obama: 100 Days and Still Madly in Love'

"The liberal media deserve the Tammy Wynette Award for their coverage of Obama’s radical agenda, as they continue to devotedly stand by their man," quipped Media Research Center President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell in an April 27 statement.[see bottom of post for full press release]

"For the pro-Obama liberal media, the Obama honeymoon is nowhere near over," Bozell argued, reacting to the results of a study in which MRC analysts looked at 852 stories on the Obama administration from January 20 through April 15 on ABC's World News, the CBS Evening News and the NBC Nightly News.

Among the key findings thus far, MRC analysts noticed that the media have actively worked to:

• Sanitize Obama's socialist agenda. None of the three broadcast networks aired a single story focused on whether President Obama's economic policies were driving the U.S. towards European-style socialism.
• Avoid labeling Obama as a"liberal." Amazingly, network reporters never called Obama or his agenda even "liberal." NBC and CBS never used the word, and ABC only aired the term twice, citing Republicans using the word "liberal" to describe Obama's policies.
• Exclude conservative voices. The networks never had a single sound bite from a conservative or free market expert on there of Obama's major policies: his banking bailout, the auto bailout, and his plans for universal health care.
• Drown out critics of bank nationalization. One out of four bank bailout stories (17 of 74) discussed the concept of outright government bank nationalization. In only two was a free market person allowed a rebuttal.

Obama's "is the most radical agenda ever presented to the American people. It is a socialist agenda. Why won't the media -- accurately -- label him a socialist?" Bozell asked, answering, "Because they are completely in the tank, working overtime to help him succeed."

The Media Research Center will publish a detailed report on coverage of President Obama's first 100 days (ending April 29) will be published in May.

The press release in its entirety appears below:

Alexandria, VA - President Barack Obama has put forward policies representing the most radical government intervention in the free market in American history, with more proposals for even greater government interference on the way. But according to the Media Research Center (MRC), DURING Obama's first 100 days in office the media have steadfastly refused to report this. In fact, rather than challenging the President's radical policies, network news reporters have often celebrated Obama's radical agenda.

MRC analysts examined all 852 stories on the Obama administration from January 20 through April 15 on ABC's World News, the CBS Evening News and the NBC Nightly News.  A detailed report on coverage of the Obama's first 100 days (ending April 29) will be published in May.  The trends, however, are evident.

Among the key findings thus far:

• Sanitizing Obama's Socialist Agenda. None of the three broadcast network aired a single story focused on whether President Obama's economic policies were driving the U.S. towards European-style socialism. Not a single network news reporter used the term "socialist" to describe how Obama's policies are shifting economic authority to the federal government, away from the free market. On only four occasions was the word "socialist" used on-camera at all - all by outside sources, once by a random man-on-the-street.

• Obama is not a "Liberal," Either. Amazingly, network reporters never called Obama or his agenda even "liberal." NBC and CBS never used the word, and ABC only aired the term twice, citing Republicans using the word "liberal" to describe Obama's policies.

• No Conservatives Allowed. On three of Obama's major economic policies and plans - his banking bailout, his auto bailout and his plans for universal health care - the networks never had a single sound bite from a conservative or a free market expert.

• One out of four bank bailout stories (17 of 74) discussed the concept of outright government bank nationalization. In only two was a free market person allowed to rebut.

Media Research Center President Brent Bozell:

"For the pro-Obama liberal media, the Obama honeymoon is nowhere near over.  His is the most radical agenda ever presented to the American people.  It is a socialist agenda.  Why won't the media - accurately - label him a socialist?  Why do they refuse even to label him a "liberal"?  Because they are completely in the tank, working overtime to help him succeed.

"The liberal media's dedicated defense of Obama knows no bounds.  Reporting his bank bailout, his auto bailout and his socialist health care plan without including ANY conservative or free market voices is not the work of real journalists, but it certainly is a labor of love.

"The liberal media deserve the Tammy Wynette Award for their coverage of Obama's radical agenda, as they continue to devotedly stand by their man."