Howard Fineman: Most Powerful and 'Unifying' Media Figures Are 'Oprah, Ellen and The View'
This is a really scary thought.
On this weekend's syndicated Chris Matthews Show, the Huffington Post's Howard Fineman actually said the most powerful and "unifying" media figures in the country today are "the daytime women talk show hosts. It's Oprah, Ellen and The View" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: There's a new retrospective airing this Monday night on PBS called "Johnny Carson, King of Late Night." Here's a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID BRINKLEY: It is commonly assumed in Washington that once somebody reaches the point where you use them in your monologue, they are through.
JOHNNY CARSON: I hope not.
CARSON: Tonight's monologue is dedicated to President Nixon. I've got a monologue that just won't quit.
[Laughter and applause]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: God we love that guy. Which brings us to this week's big question. You heard David Brinkley there telling Carson he moved America. Who in today's media, across the board, movies, music, everything, has that power? Howard.
HOWARD FINEMAN, HUFFINGTON POST: Well, it's not a nighttime figure, I don't think, and it's not a lot of our culture which is so divided. If there is a unifying figure that could go all the way across the country I would say it's the daytime women talk show hosts. It's Oprah, Ellen and The View.
MATTHEWS: Wow!
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, WASHINGTON POST: I think that's exactly right.
MATTHEWS: They have an influence.
HENDERSON: I was going to say Oprah, even though her network isn't doing so well now, I think she has tremendous influence. You saw her in 2008, her, change minds.
So Oprah, Ellen, and the yentas on The View are the most powerful, unifying cultural forces in the media today?
There's only one response to this: Oy vey!
But the torture didn't stop there, because when Matthews got his chance to give input, he said, “I'm with Howard on Ellen DeGeneres. I think more than anybody in America, she opened the door to a mainstreaming, a fully acceptance and celebration of a woman and her orientation, and she's done it beautifully."
Much like a plane, this show should be equipped with air sickness bags.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
I can understand being upset
Submitted by balboa on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 12:58pm.
I can understand being upset wit the View, but what's wrong with Ellen?
What's wrong??
Submitted by Joe W. on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:32pm.
What's wrong is that she is a lesbian with an agenda to convince the rest of us that it is somehow acceptable to engage in a sinful, vulgar life style. That's what is wrong, Balboa. No amount of pandering to the LGBT nutjobs will make their life choices any less wrong than the Bible says they are. Sorry to burst your bubble. And, NO, I do not hate them. I just happen to hate their sin, just like I hate my OWN sins. At least I have the honesty and the faith to repent of my sins and strive to lead a life away from committing more. One cannot rationalize sinful behavior by insisting that it's normal and that Jesus would "approve"...He would NOT.
Still don't see the wrong.
Submitted by balboa on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 8:31pm.
Still don't see the wrong.
Maybe this will help Balboa*
Submitted by cajun2 on Mon, 05/14/2012 - 12:54pm.
http://thefamousfrugalista.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/magnifying-glass5...
Oprah?
Submitted by ricklail on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 12:59pm.
Where is she found on the dial now? The View, with their hosts having a collective IQ of less than 200. I had to watch a bit of Ellen in the doctor's office one day. There is not redeeming value on that show. It seemed silly to me.
Mr. Fineman
Submitted by oldfart on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:03pm.
has obviously never moved passed Junior High School
There is only one conclusion...
Submitted by Bill Brasky on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:04pm.
Liberals really are just a cult of the dumbest people on the planet.
Howard, put the bong down,
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:05pm.
Howard, put the bong down, man! (a little Joe Biden lingo there).
Yeah, they "unify" women who think the same. That's some feat, there!
Yep! Remember how the Stewart/Colbert rally was going to
Submitted by merly1 on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:14pm.
be a watershed moment for the 2010 elections.
Then election day arrived, and it was very, very obvious how small an audience and how little
"influence" they had.
I am starting to believe another dem shellacking may be coming in 2012.........
Mr Fineman*
Submitted by cajun2 on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:26pm.
As an educated, hard working Christian mother and grandmother, I did not appreciate the insult.
Wow, I'm really feeling out
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:24pm.
Wow, I'm really feeling out of the loop now, because I've never watched or listened to ANY of these so-called 'powerful and unifying' media figures, and most of their 'figures' are overweight anyway, so according to Donkeyface Maher, they must be conservatives!!! The only time I ever come in contact with anything coming from these 'influential' people is here on NB, and it usually doesn't interest me, because it is typically shallow and boring and directed at some lib pop-culture subject.
Oprah Ruined Herself over Obama
Submitted by libBuster on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:50pm.
Is this the same Oprah who saw her popularity plummet when she endorsed Obama? The same Oprah who lost tens of millions of dollars on the new Oprah Winfrey Network.
She sacrified millions for Obama only to be brutally snubbed by Michelle.
Missing a pair of quotes, Noel.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:27pm.
"Media figures."
LOL
Submitted by HudsonRiverGirl on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:30pm.
Has anyone ever seen Howard and Joe Biden in the same room?
Evidently idiocy is now the coin of the left's realm.
Unifying.....right
Submitted by spepper on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:34pm.
Unifying....right......about as "unifying" as a HERD of CATS
Joe Bidenesque
Submitted by AMR1960 on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:38pm.
Huffington Post's Howard Fineman is well on his way to becoming the "Joe Biden" of pundentry
_____________________
Long Live...THE REPUBLIC !
They're delusional. They think it's 2007 again.
Submitted by Texndoc on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 1:41pm.
Sorry, folks, the American public turned away from Oprah and she's 300 million dollars in the red. And trying to keep her mouth shut and wished she had.
If this is true
Submitted by grammajane on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 2:46pm.
then why does Rush have more listeners a day then the shows mentioned, by Finemann have in a week?
Fineman Is A Dink
Submitted by rammingspeed on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 4:15pm.
Ellen does not deserve the besmirching of being thrown in with Oprah and the ass clowns on The View - Ms. Hasselbeck being the exception.
Hey, Oprah, go lose $300 million by starting your own addled brained TV network. Oh, you already did.
Howard is smoking crack again
Submitted by Dave. on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 4:28pm.
If Oprah is so powerful, why is her network hemorrhaging millions?
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Who?
Submitted by feisty on Mon, 05/14/2012 - 12:36pm.
Oprah for all intents and purposes is off the air, The View and Ellen -- these talkers interview celebs and can be found on TV while the rest of America is at work?? Very influential. I never watched Oprah, barely have ever seen Ellen, and only see The View when Newsbusters posts clips. So, please don't refer to the working class as being influenced by any of these shows.
Mr. Fineman is not known for
Submitted by John21 on Mon, 05/14/2012 - 12:38pm.
Mr. Fineman is not known for his intelligence, honesty or integrety but the statement is really
"BAT SH*T" crazy.
Look at the ratings of those shows, even reruns on the History channel during the same timeslots are higher.
The standards "Days of our lives" shows that have no social significance at are much higher in the ratings.
Daytime cable news that just repeats itself every 30 minutes are much higher and much more interesting.
Mr. Fineman is still living in the 60's where most women stayed at home and watched daytime TV, well Mr. Fineman that isn't true today only a small part are stay home women the rest are the unemployed which are not exactly the Obama fan base that you are hoping for.
The stupidity of your statements is huge even for a propaganda show and network.