MRC's Tim Graham on Media: 'Government Watchdogs They Are Not'

November 3rd, 2016 10:24 PM

The Fox Business Network show Lou Dobbs Tonight welcomed MRC director of media analysis (and NewsBusters Executive Editor) Tim Graham on Thursday night to discuss the media's failure to cover the Clintons and their pay-to-play Foundation. Graham said that the latest news about an FBI probe into the foundation is either being ignored, of dismissed as unsubstantiated:

LOU DOBBS: Let's start with this rigged system and the fact at the national liberal media is really not reporting on two, two lines of investigation at the FBI. They're running from it. They’re staying away from it, they formed a wall either between the readers and viewers and Hillary Clinton or simply formed a wall around her against everybody. I don't know which it is, but it's horrifying to think about, isn't it? 

TIM GRAHAM: They seem to have two tracks. There is either let's not mention any of this reporting from Fox News or The Wall Street Journal on the FBI looking now into the Clinton Foundation, or we're going to get out there for a few seconds and basically say, this is the latest thing Trump's saying and it has no substantiation whatsoever. Look, if you're going to show The Wall Street Journal and Fox News Channel any respect, you ought to repeat what's out there. This is the amazing thing. This is the same networks — yeah, I’m sorry.

DOBBS: Well, you know, forget the respect of The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, how about respect for the American people? How about respect for their craft? How about respect for the values that made this country great? Their role as watchdog and fourth estate which they completely abandoned to become seemingly some of them part of a fifth column. 

GRAHAM: Government watchdogs they are not and, of course, this is what we saw when Bill and Hillary Clinton were in the White House the last time. A story would break, and they would try to break the story like a piece of china. I mean, they would try to destroy —

DOBBS: This is Obama's government by the way. It's his Justice Department, right? 

GRAHAM: Yeah, right and —

DOBBS: So I mean, I just think of newspapers and the role they played in Watergate, and the immense pride. It’s part of The Washington Post tradition or it at least was, part of its DNA which Jeff Bezos said the hell with. Here we go. We're going to be left-wing partisans and nothing but. How can that be? 

GRAHAM: Well, we could certainly argue that the Watergate story itself was left-wing partisanship in action. Clearly back in the day —

DOBBS: We could do that. But let's argue what I'm bringing up which is Jeff Bezos who owns The Washington Post is committed to left-wing ideology and has driven any semblance of objectivity from the front page of the paper or the home page of its site. 

GRAHAM: Absolutely and you know just coming up the driveway the last few mornings, their coverage of the story has been all about Comey being an evil emperor. You know, Comey did this wrong, Comey unprecedented. Comey’s a problem. It just really does read like, you know —

DOBBS: Well, he is for them now, we can stipulate to that. Tim, it's great to have you with us. We appreciate it.