
On Saturday, NewsBusters reported an Associated Press story about the campaign by MoveOn.org and Daily Kos to get sponsors to pull their ads from Fox News.
According to Advertising Age magazine, "MoveOn has been pitching this story for weeks now," and has "been trying, with absolutely no success, to target Home Depot."
As a result, in AdAge's view, the AP bit on a story that nobody else was interested in covering until maybe this effort had some success.
As Ken Wheaton wrote Friday in an article entitled "MoveOn Gets Someone to Bite on Faux Fox Protest" (emphasis added throughout, h/t Glenn Reynolds):
What's left unsaid in the AP piece is that MoveOn has been pitching this story for weeks now. According to the AP piece, "the groups want to first concentrate on businesses running local ads, as opposed to national commercials." That seems to contradict the AP's own story which points out that the groups have been trying, with absolutely no success, to target Home Depot.
By its own admission in press materials, this is the "fourth stage" of MoveOn's attempt to take down the "Republican spin machine."
Might have been nice for the AP to point this out, wouldn't you agree?
But it isn't news. And if I had my way, the media wouldn't waste any time with any of these efforts until it was actually shown that someone somewhere lost a sale.
I quite agree. Yet, what's also interesting is how the AP bit on a story that, up until this point, only liberal bloggers cared about:
Funnier still is that MoveOn, until now, has been unable to get much media coverage -- unless one counts The Huffington Post and DailyKos as the sort of media that's going to move the masses. Both of those, by the way, are part of this little coalition of speech police, so that's kind of like getting recognized by your parents for a job well done.
As such, not only has the AP shilled for MoveOn.org, but has similarly so for HuffPo and Daily Kos.
Isn't that special?
Yet, maybe even more delicious was how Daily Kos proprietor Markos Moulitsas congratulated his troops Friday for getting the home improvement retailer Lowe's to cancel its ads from Fox News:
Lowe's pulls advertising from O'Reilly show by kos Fri Jul 27, 2007 at 05:59:06 PM PDTA reader emailed Lowe's about their ads on O'Reilly's show. They got this response:
Replied On 07/27/07 15:41:09
Dear Lowe's Customer,
Thank you for your comments regarding the program, The O'Reilly Factor.
Lowe's has strict guidelines that govern the placement of our advertising. Our company advertises primarily in national, network prime-time television programs and on a variety of cable outlets.
Lowe's constantly reviews advertising buys to make certain they are consistent with its policy guidelines. The O'Reilly Factor does not meet Lowe's advertising guidelines, and the company's advertising will no longer appear during the program.
We are dedicated to providing the best service, products, and shopping environment in the home improvement industry. All three of these are very important to our business, and our customers will always be our number one priority.
We appreciate your contacting us, and hope this information addresses your concerns.
Thank you,
Lowe's Customer Care
Emphasis was mine.
Two can play at this game.
There's only one problem, Markos: Lowe's pulled its sponsorship of "The Factor" back in - wait for it! - January, and it had nothing to do with the efforts of MoveOn or Daily Kos. As reported by Radar Online February 2 (h/t Charles Johnson, emphasis added):
Home-improvement chain Lowe's has pulled its advertising from The O'Reilly Factor following comments host Bill O'Reilly made about Shawn Hornbeck, the 15-year-old Missouri boy who recently returned to his parents after four years in captivity.
[...]
According to News Hounds, a watchdog website that monitors Fox News Channel, viewers who complained to the retailer about its financial support of The O'Reilly Factor got e-mails back notifying them that Lowe's had pulled its ads as of Jan. 25.
A search of the tag "Lowe's" identified absolutely no stories posted about this company by Markos or anyone else at Daily Kos between September 8, 2006, and April 26 of this year.
As such, Kos reported Friday - and appeared to take credit for - something that actually occurred six months ago totally without his involvement.
Now that's quality journalism.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.















Editor at Large

Comments Policy
These McCarthy type tactics
July 29, 2007 - 11:42 ET by Gat New YorkThese McCarthy type tactics of threats and shakedowns will not succeed. Media buys are based on numbers and audience demographics - not political beliefs. Unless it is a qualitative evaluation based on something that can be regarded as generally immoral or defamatory to the company, a CEO must do what is in the best interest of all their shareholders. Otherwise they risk their own removal.
Gat
July 29, 2007 - 12:03 ET by Noel SheppardGat,
And, as FNC is the highest-rated cable network during most time slots, it's absurd to think that companies are going to abandon them.
Furthermore, the folks making these ad decisions are likely FNC viewers and NOT liberals. After all, as the exit polls from 2004 clearly showed, the more money somebody makes, the more likely he/she votes Republican: http://www.cnn.com/E...
In 2004, 58 percent of voters who made more than $100k voted for Bush. That number is 63 percent for those who made more than $200k.
As such, the left is trying to thrust liberalism on conservatives. Good luck. ns
News Hound Help
July 29, 2007 - 11:50 ET by dervishIt's probably been mentioned in other threads, but the lefties at "NewsHound" have compiled a nice list of Fox's BOR advertisers that, by now, they probably wish they'd kept secret. If you get my drift.
I particularly love the plaintive wail they make about Michael Moore's advertising his POS on Fox. Whatta country!
In reviewing the list I
July 29, 2007 - 11:57 ET by Gat New YorkIn reviewing the list I don't think there will be a lot of takers to this shakedown strategy - particularly since many fo these corporations are operated by Republicans (i.e. Michael Dell, Richard Parsons of Time/Warner).
GAT
July 29, 2007 - 12:03 ET by botgHow then is Time/Warner so leftist?
"Television is where you watch people in your living room that you would not want near your house." Groucho
If they are so leftist then
July 29, 2007 - 12:59 ET by Gat New YorkIf they are so leftist then why are they advertising on O"Reilly? Because it's about good business sense. If you want to advertise Time/Warner Cable you want to reach the most people.
Also, Parsons may be a Republican but he is running a multi-compenent corporation and his first reponsibility is shareholder value and not a political agenda.
Doesn't mean much
July 29, 2007 - 15:06 ET by nkviking75Most likely those of you seeing Time/Warner Cable ads on Fox News are seeing them on Time/Warner Cable systems, just as I see Mediacom promos on my cable TV. Most cable nets leave local "avails" (availabilities), time slots that local cable systems can sell to local advertisers. Unsold time most likely would be consumed with promos for the cable provider or for other channels on the system. I sometimes see CNN or MSNBC promos on Fox News.
Don't read much into those Time/Warner spots.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
Gat
July 29, 2007 - 16:59 ET by botgMy point is that Time/Warner is edited by leftists while the owner is a Republican? That does not make sense imo Time has lost readers (and revenue) with their blatent bias which shows a lack of responsibility for shareholder value. I was more expressing my surprise at hearing this than making any challenges to the information
I understand that most large corporations will advertise to ALL segments of the market, thus i would expect to see Ford here and at Kos, on FOX and ABC and grants to PBS
"Television is where you watch people in your living room that you would not want near your house." Groucho
But I did take a moment to
July 29, 2007 - 13:50 ET by danboBut I did take a moment to send off a few thank you notes.
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of truth and knowledge will be shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods. Albert Einstein
That was my drift.
July 29, 2007 - 14:40 ET by dervishNicely done.
It will be most amusing to watch this effort fall flat -- just like their Kerry campaign -- and expose these guys for what they aren't. No doubt the press will provide appropriate cover, though.
Thanks for posting the
July 29, 2007 - 12:07 ET by BlondeThanks for posting the list, dervish.
I can happily continue to feed and medicate my pets, and if I were to buy a car, I'd be pleased to support any of the manufacturers (I've always liked bimmers).
The Michael Moore whine was rather funny in a very pathetic sort of way. As was the narrative about faux and neo-cons, blah,blah,blah.
Dirty Tricks Democrats
July 29, 2007 - 11:52 ET by stratmanThank you for the expose on the lying liars and the lies they lie about.
Markos/Marxist (whatever) Moulitsas' DKos propaganda machine would make Stalin very proud.
Killing them with kindness isn't working. Time to get scrappy with the Donkeys.
Coming from a group who
July 29, 2007 - 12:26 ET by danboComing from a group who loves nazi Collaborators. A jew who helped confiscate the property of other jews.
They would make Hitler proud.
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of truth and knowledge will be shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods. Albert Einstein
Danbo
July 29, 2007 - 12:40 ET by botgthat interview with Soros unbelievable
"No, no guilt at all, as a teenager" well George you are no longer a child
"Television is where you watch people in your living room that you would not want near your house." Groucho
"Right. I was 14 years old.
July 29, 2007 - 13:10 ET by danbo"Right. I was 14 years old. And I would say that that's when my character was made."
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of truth and knowledge will be shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods. Albert Einstein
For Sure!
July 29, 2007 - 12:42 ET by Ran56These folks DO wear brownshirts, right? Hitler would be proud!
Add up their totals and
July 29, 2007 - 13:26 ET by Right2thePointAdd up their totals and moveon plus the Kos kids are a pimple on the a$$ of our population.
These people continue to drink their own kool aide and think that they are a force to be reckoned with.
Every thing I read by them and their brothers reads like someone running around the room with their hair on fire and others in the comments saying all sorts of cr*p about how valid it is and expresses the intonment of some indescribable wisdom that is the new universal basic truth revealed only now to the masses.
Hell this vast left wing conspiracy couldn't even take down JoeMentum and yet they supposedly rule the democrat world.
Yeah I got all that.
They still need to be
July 29, 2007 - 19:09 ET by Gat New YorkThey still need to be stopped if there are signficant advertisers who do succumb to their shakedown tactics.
The reality is they are
July 29, 2007 - 13:32 ET by Right2thePointThe reality is they are simply being totally used and stuck on reading their own press clippings believing they are a real force.
Useful idots nothing more.
Taking credit for others' work
July 29, 2007 - 16:27 ET by sarcasmoTaking credit for others' work, whether you're as small as the Daily Kos or as big as the US government's "Justice" department, is certainly a sign of questionable leadership. It can also effectively work as a wholesale method of jury manipulation, and the biased news media will largely-ignore that aspect of things -- even if no lawyer has yet explained to me why it's not exactly what I just said it is.
JMR
bring'em on
July 29, 2007 - 16:33 ET by CatherwoodI say let's do it; bring'em on. I for one will double my financial support for every Fox advertiser. I will go out of my way to buy and support every advertiser on Fox News. We should encourage the loony liberals at the Kos to publish their list and start their boycotte. Let's see who's left standing.
What! Markos outright
July 29, 2007 - 19:03 ET by bigtimerWhat!
Markos outright lied again?
Color me shocked...shocked I tell ya!
Poor lefties, the truth would set them free....
Miserable critters that they are.
I won't miss
July 29, 2007 - 22:47 ET by kimschthe AARP commercials... Can't stand them anyway...
Shills
August 1, 2007 - 18:44 ET by brewski01Noel, when you say AP is shilling for MoveOn.org do you mean in the same way NewsBusters, and your parent Media Research Center shills for ExxonMobil?
since these AP shills are at least getting paid...
August 1, 2007 - 18:47 ET by sarcasmoI'll ask the same question I asked last time. Where's my check?
JMR
XOM in the media biz?
August 1, 2007 - 18:52 ET by LionKingI did not know that Exxon-Mobil was in the media business. Thanks for the insight. </sarc...