Media Reaction to the Best Notable Quotables of 2009

The Media Research Center's "Best Notable Quotables of 2009: The Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting" are garnering some media attention of their own. MRC President Brent Bozell drew laughs from the gang on Fox & Friends this morning as he reviewed a few of the winners, but other journalists have also found the awards worthy of coverage:

The American Spectator's Quin Hillyer, who participated as a judge of this year's awards, wrote a December 11 column going over the quotes "that particularly enraged/amused/befuddled me" even before the official results were tallied. Hillyer observed:

Sometimes you must wonder how some members of the establishment media live with themselves. Their double standards are so egregious, as is their refusal to observe the boundaries between straight news and opinionizing (to coin a word), and as are their utter contempt for and viciousness against those anywhere to the political right of them, that one would think there is no way they retain any conscience at all.

The Washington Examiner's "Yeas & Nays" column was first out of the box with the official results, as summarized in their Monday, December 21 edition: "From inauguration coverage to the reporting of the president successfully killing a fly, the right-leaning Media Research Center compiled 'Obamagasms' from the news media all year and Monday announced its awards for the 'year's worst reporting.'"

The Examiner's Nikki Schwab and Tara Palmeri touted the winner of the "Media Hero Award" -- "'I'm honored to be joined today by the Godfather of Green, the King of Conservation: Former Vice President Al Gore,' Katie Couric said in November on a CBSNews.com webcast."

Over at U.S. News & World Report, Washington Whispers columnist Paul Bedard noted that while "he didn't have much political luck on Capitol Hill in his first year, President Obama did succeed in winning the attention of both sides of the political media. But the result was the same: The left adored him, and the right mocked him."

Zeroing in on the "Half-Baked Alaska Award for Pummeling Palin," Bedard noted: "It's not just liberals the Media Research Center quotes. It even featured New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks dissing Sarah Palin: "She's a joke. I mean, I just can't take her seriously."

On Christmas Eve, KOA radio host and Denver Post columnist (and longtime Notable Quotables judge) Mike Rosen spotlighted our pick for Quote of the Year, the "Damn Those Conservatives Award" and the "Crush Rush Award for Loathing Limbaugh."

He also regaled readers with the winners of the "Obamagasm Award for Seeing Coolness in Everything Obama Does." Back in June, President Obama swatted a fly during an inteview with CNBC's John Harwood. Appearing on MSNBC a few minutes later, Harwood gushed: "It was a, you know, Dirty Harry, 'make my day' moment." Anchor David Shuster fawned: "It never fails -- great weather, rainbows,  incredible speeches, and three-point baskets. A fly and he nails it. Unbelievable. Unbelievable."

And, as MRC's Brent Baker and Brad Wilmouth both noted over the weekend, Fox's Newswatch program also included a rundown of this year's winners. Viewers were treated to "Let Us Fluff Your Pillow Award" winner Katie Couric pining to Barack Obama: “You're so confident, Mr. President, and so focused. Is your confidence ever shaken? Do you ever wake up and say, damn, this is hard?”

Even liberal panelist Ellis Henican found Couric's fawning to be "icky."

Often, the New York Post also runs an editorial with their observations on the worst quotes of the year; be sure to check their site on December 31 to see their take on this year's media "winners."