CBS President Says at Obama Fundraiser 'Partisanship Is Very Much a Part of Journalism Now'
Les Moonves, the President of CBS, said Wednesday, "Partisanship is very much a part of journalism now."
According to the Los Angeles Times, Moonves made the remark while in line to attend a fundraiser for President Obama in Beverly Hills sponsored by the LGBT Leadership Council:
Before the event began, a long line of partygoers waited on the sidewalk outside the hotel to check in. CBS chief Les Moonves and his wife, Julie Chen, waited patiently for their wristbands. Obama, Moonves said, "has shown great leadership" on the issue of gay marriage.
Though he heads a news division, Moonves said, "ultimately journalism has changed … partisanship is very much a part of journalism now."
He hastened to add that despite his presence, "I run a news division. I've given no money to any candidate."
Says the man at a fundraiser for President Obama that cost as much as $25,000 to attend. As the Huffington Post reported in May:
President Barack Obama will soon have a new arena to test out his "evolving" views on same-sex marriage -- the annual LGBT Leadership Council's gala, which takes place this year at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Tickets for the June 6 event start at $1,250 and are still available. Prices top out at the $25,000 per couple tickets, which include name recognition in the event program, a photo with the President and preferred seating for two. Singer Pink is scheduled to perform that night. [...]
Obama formed the National LGBT Leadership Council in 2007 to gather his LGBT supporters into one fundraising and organizing powerhouse. It launched alongside an Obama Pride site that now contains a blog about the President's statements on gay rights as well as his administration's accomplishments thus far for the gay community.
According to the Times:
The event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel was part of a two-day fundraising swing through California and Nevada during which Obama was expected to raise more than $15 million for his reelection effort. He started the day in San Francisco and ended with a $25,000-per-person dinner for 70 at the Beverly Hills home of "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy.
Comedian Ellen DeGeneres, whose decision to come out of the closet in 1997 was covered as a major cultural — and potentially career-ending — event, emceed the party. Darren Criss, a heartthrob on "Glee," provided entertainment, after the singer Pink withdrew, citing illness.
The gathering was a who's who of gay Hollywood, and included many of the creative minds whose portrayals of gays on screens large and small has nudged society toward accepting gay rights. Max Mutchnik, creator of "Will and Grace," was a co-host. Dustin
Lance Black, Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Milk," was in the audience, as were Cher and her son, Chaz Bono.
It appears Obama's same-sex marriage evolution is paying off - at least financially.
(HT JWF)
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Comments
No, partisanship is NOT
Submitted by johnsonl on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 9:58am.
a part of journalism. Journalism reports the factual occurrance. That's why nobody watches the liberal media. That's why the liberal media is failing as a business model.
Liberal Moron. Just because you say it, doesn't make it so. We are smarter than you think, you elitist prick.
It May not be Journalism but it passes for "News"
Submitted by libBuster on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:11am.
It may not be journalism but it passes for "news" these days. Perhaps MRC should start using quotes around the names of news organizations as in CBS "News". Progressive advocacy broadcasting is here to stay. One need only note the drop in the voice of CNNs "Breathless Blizter" when he learned the exit polls were wrong and Walker had defeated CNNs beloved progressives. Priceless
Richard Maddow 's voice
Submitted by johnsonl on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:24am.
kept getting louder and shriller as s(he) tried to spin the loss into a win for the Annointed One.
I am going to buy popcorn and a bottle of really good single malt scotch for election night in Nov.
What johnsonl said, but add
Submitted by texastommy on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 9:57am.
What johnsonl said, but add "Putz."
Partisanship has REPLACED journalism
Submitted by c5then on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:09am.
See...this is part of the problem. They think that journalism can "evolve" into activism and still be journalism. It can't and it hasn't. What has changed is that they are less careful about it now and letting the info leak out in unguarded moments.
Once FoxNews gave them competition in the "fair and ballanced" segment and MSNBC decided to go full hard left to the activism path, the other's started to realize that they didn't have to try and hide it any more and could go either way, and the activist in them won out. They would rather, for instance, spin the Wisconsin results or try and ingnore them, rather than actually report on them and try and discover any reasons why it came out the way it did.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
I see two parts to this
Submitted by Galvanic on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:35am.
1. Former CBS News correspondent Bernie Goldberg made the point in his best-seller BIAS that the MSM doesn't consciously choose the partisan path because they see themselves as objective. As Dan Rather reminds us every chance he gets, "We know Truth." So, in that sense, they were always partisan to one extent or another, but we weren't aware of just how much until alternative sources of information became available to the general public -- Fox News, Drudge, blogs, et al.
2. Self-described journalists today actually believe that activism is a function of their trade. They take the "We know the Truth" malarky to another level: "Truth to Power." They see themselves as modern-day Woodwards and Bernsteins, fighting for the common man by uncovering corruption in government and the business world. Here, once again, is where the partisanship takes effect; they will pursue the stories of their ideological enemies, but protect their ideological kin. Hence we get a Page 1 story today in the NY Times featuring interviews with Romney's neighbors, while the Fast & Furious scandal is either ignored, or relegated to some page buried deep in the paper.
Basically correct, except...
Submitted by c5then on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:47am.
In my view, the editors and producers and the management know EXACTLY what they are doing. They my hire and use young ideologs who think that, for instance, silencing one side of an issue is OK because "they're wrong anyway", but their bosses know that this is NOT ethical.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Bias is now deliberate
Submitted by libBuster on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 11:36am.
Spot On. A lot has changed since Goldberg wrote his book. The bias is now intentional and deliberate. Moonves just admitted as much.
One need only look at the MRCs reporting on the Journo-List to understand pervasive and intentional bias.
Agreed c5
Submitted by Cappmann1962 on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 12:42pm.
They know exactly what they're doing. They have the stereotypical mindset of the elitist liberals they are - Joe America, just go sit in the corner and color quietly. You're too stupid to make decisions for yourself, so we'll make them for you. We will spoon-feed you what information we decide you should have and silence any opposing views. We will lie to you and keep you ignorant of the deviations and excesses of our chosen leaders because you don't need to know about them and knowing will just stir up difficulty for our planned utopian world (with us, the intellectual elitist liberals in charge, of course). We know what's best for you (really, what's best for us, but that's what's really important).
This is the contempt with which both the liberal media and "progressive" politicians hold us - average American citizens. The sooner people see this and accept it, the sooner we'll all get pissed off enough to throw them as far out of positions of power as we can and eliminate democrats, progressivism, and liberalism and relegate them to the fringe beliefs they truly are.
Cappmann,
Submitted by Agnostic on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 12:52pm.
it isn't just the liberals and progressives. The government from the President all the way down to the Assistant to the Executive Secretary of the Facility Clinical Practice Assistant to the Direct Service Project Development Officer For Specialist Support & Forensic Disability Unit, Aged & Disability Program harbors some feeling of superiority over the common element of society. There are still a very, very few who still see themselves as servants of the people but not many.
I agree Agnostic
Submitted by Cappmann1962 on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 11:50am.
That's why I lumped liberal media with progressive politicians. They all think they're intellectually superior to the rest of us. Their outlook is really one and the same, and the mindset confirms it. I've held this view for several decades, and have yet to be proven wrong. They, as a whole, really truly believe they are smarter and know better than the rest of us, so we should all stand aside and let them run everything, totally unchallenged. They despise anyone who doesn't believe exactly as they do and who refuses to elevate them to the pinnacle of power they believe they're entitled to. They also refuse to admit that their ultimate paradise leaves them in charge. Why do you think Obambi gets so flustered when he's challenged? He honestly (for want of a better word) can't believe it when people don't do exactly what he tells them to. He is the Nth level egomaniac who really believes all the hype spouted about him.
Then why do they excoriate Fox news?
Submitted by ohio granny on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:21am.
Democrats, liberals and the MSM hate Fox News because they are "conservative". If partisanship is now the accepted standard for the "news" maybe Fox will go all out and get rid of all the liberals/demcrats they have on their payroll.
Now wouldn't that p*ss off the so called non-biased journalists at CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, NPR, LA Times, NY Slimes, etc. Go ahead Fox and make my day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fox news keeps liberals on the payroll
Submitted by johnsonl on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:28am.
and invites them on their shows so that they can present all sides of an argument. Liberal news programs don't because liberals can't argue against conservative logic with emotions.
Fox takes the high road. That's why the liberal media is failing.
Because the other side gets air time
Submitted by c5then on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 11:04am.
That's what they don't like. Some in the liberal media don't think they are liberal because they have always been around liberals and they themselves seem to be fairly moderate compared to some of their friends and coworkers.
Some are true activists and want to eliminate the "other side" from getting any message out or even just stating their point of view.
FoxNews seems to actually want to still practice journalism in that they attempt to have both sides (or more) of the issue represented on their news segments. What really pisses off the liberals is that they have mostly conservative opinion shows on rather than the other outlets who have entirely liberal opinion shows.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Wait! I'm confused!
Submitted by Kubrickfilmfan73 on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:50am.
I thought all journalists were conservative. Dan Rather said so.
(By the way, which network did Dan Rather work for?)
"Partisanship is very much a part of journalism now."
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:53am.
Actually The Mooner was referring ONLY to Fox News when he made that statement. At least that's how it will be "walked back" after Axelwrap kicks his ass for uttering the truth.
If you want to see what the viewing public thinks, catch the ratings from Drudge today. (below)
CABLE NEWS RACE
TUES. NITE, JUNE 05 2012
FOXNEWS OREILLY 3,108,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,973,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,802,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,441,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 2,147,000
FOXNEWS FIVE 1,590,000
CMDY DAILY SHOW 1,516,000
MSNBC MADDOW 1,256,000
CMDY COLBERT 1,226,000
MSNBC SCHULTZ 1,119,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 790,000
MSNBC SHARPTON 771,000
CNN COOPER 630,000
CNN MORGAN 591,000
That kind of says it all.
Very much indeed
Submitted by jon_torlin on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 10:55am.
It may be "very much a part of Journalism now" but that depends on what they mean by "journalism." Case in point, how many of them, including the White House, consider Fox News a real news organization(this despite the fact that FNC has higher ratings than the others like CNN, MSDNC combined)?
All this means is that they are no longer trying to hide which side they are on, the worst kept secret has changed to the the most blatantly obvious, which is that they are VERY much in the tank for the democrats and particularly DuhOne and are not afraid to say so.
-Jon
They see real journalism on FOX News
Submitted by Cappmann1962 on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 12:06pm.
That's why they put forth so much effort to discredit them. They see the ratings, and like Obambi's administration, absolutely cannot stand for the truth to be told. It interferes with their agenda - they would much rather have nothing but spoon-fed Obamabots than an informed populace.
While FOX News leans right, at least it isn't literally falling to the left as most, if not all, of the other news outlets do. FOX's pure news is the straightest, most unbiased news you're going to see. Their opinion shows run from moderate (O'Reilly) to seriously conservative (Hannity), but they are OPINION shows, not NEWS. Even Greta is a democrat, and I've watched her swing to the right over the years. Even she can't continue to make lame excuses for what her party has been doing (the only one on FOX who can is Alan Colmes, and he's a puppet with a pull string for dem talking points). FOX News is diametrically opposite the LSM in fairness, not politics. But FOX News tells the truth about BOTH sides of the aisle. The LSM simply can't stand it when their chosen party gets caught and slammed publicly, and FOX, by doing so while the LSM runs cover makes the LSM look like the a$$hats they truly are. THAT'S why all the diatribes against the uber-conservative, lying, not-really-a news-organization FOX News.
Les Moonves
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 11:29am.
He hastened to add that despite his presence, "I run a news division. I've given no money to any candidate."
Guess what, Les? Viewership is partisan too.
NOW? Only now???
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 11:33am.
Did this guy fall off the turnip truck last night?
It's only now, that they're finally admitting it!!
It shouldn't be, but it's almost always been a part of journalism.
Rush Limbaugh has often said that if you aks a liberal college grad why he/she wants to be a journalist, the reason is never to inform, or to report important things, it's to make the world better (according to what THEY think "better" means).
ohio granny above has it right. They don't mind partisanship, as long as it's THEIR partisanship. The same jerks that espouse "partisanship" don't like it when they think FOX is practicing it (whether or not they are is irrelevant).
And, yet, there you are, at a fundraiser
Submitted by CobraMan on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 11:35am.
"I run a news division. I've given no money to any candidate."
And you say that as you're attending a fundraiser? Can you possibly be any more hypocritical?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Hyposcrisy on steroids.
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 11:40am.
They never count the "in-kind" contributions they make as a news division.
That their faces don't simply melt off when they say this crap is amazing.
THE SMILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by Unsane on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 12:00pm.
Thanks for putting up a picture that features His SMILE again! If He promises to SMILE 24/7, I will vote for Him again and again! Oh, that SMILE!!!
(OK, so not really, but think about how many millions of people actually do...)
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
that's interesting
Submitted by lotr on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 1:20pm.
Because Imus, who reasserted that he's no "right-wing nut," interviewed Dave Westin, President of ABC News, on his morning radio program, and pointedly asked him about bias on his network, and specifically bias from Dan Rather and Diane Sawyer, to which Westin flat out denied to be the case.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/imus/index.html#/v/1677690345001/insid...
(the segment occurs at about 3:00 in the video)
Of course, Imus could've / should've pointed Westin to NB, where the evidence stands in stark opposition to his denial.
Les Moonves, Dem party activist
Submitted by CivilWarGuy on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 3:04pm.
Les Moonves has recorded with the FEC 34 campaign contributions, totallying over $37,000. Only 1 to a Republican. Among the recipients are Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy and the DNC
So his shilling for Obama comes naturally..