Last week we profiled a large swath of the media's coverage of the TEA Parties. Well, for those who wondered: how did Time and Newsweek cover the tea parties? The answer is: Barely. Time's April 27 issue carried less than 100 words up front in the Briefing section. There was a photo of a protester -- in Thailand.
Newsweek's April 27 issue carried this very strange entry in the "Conventional Wisdom Watch" box. Tea parties drew a down arrow, with this text: "Protest high taxes after largest tax cut ever [??] -- and miss 'tea bag' double entendre."
Howard Fineman's column on page 31 was largely devoted to the tea parties, although he was not impressed. Under a small photo of a rally, the caption was "STRANGE BREW: Tea parties won't revive the national party."
Fineman said that as well: "Tea parties, of course, will not revive the national party. So what will? There is no one-stop Republican inner circle with all the answers."
Fineman took in a protest in Louisville, Kentucky (where he used to work as a newspaper reporter) and found "The event I saw was a genuinely grassroots one, spawned on Facebook by a 23-year-old restaurant worker who managed to draw 1,000 folks on a blustery day."
But he also wrote, "The speeches echoed the same apocalyptic themes the GOP will sound in the capital when Congress returns this week: that Obama and the Democrats are on a spending spree that will bankrupt the nation and rob us of all that's left of our freedom."
And Democrats didn't sound "apocalyptic themes" about life under President Bush? Or doesn't it sound exaggerated when you're a liberal reporter for Newsweek?
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
**Birth pains
April 26, 2009 - 22:32 ET by pelicanmarshEvery time I read one of these articles, it just comes across to my ears like the sounds of birth pains, heralding the inevitable.
→ Birth Pains
April 26, 2009 - 22:46 ET by Cool ArrowWay I got it figgered, a generation is 70 years.
Israel is now a little over 60 years old.
Armies building round about.
I'm ready. Jesus is coming.
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
**Cool Arrow
April 26, 2009 - 22:49 ET by pelicanmarshIt is refreshing to see there is another who has ears to hear.
Refreshing, indeed.
arrow and pelican
April 26, 2009 - 22:55 ET by botgif a generation is 70 years 67+70=2037
"Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend,------------inside a dog it's too dark to read" ---Groucho
**botg
April 27, 2009 - 11:08 ET by pelicanmarsh..
Pegged Comment
May 6, 2009 - 16:46 ET by rexdraconim"You can have Peace or you can have Freedom; just don't count on having both at the same time." - R.A.H
"I'll take the harsh reality of liberty over the illusion of security...every time!" -me
→ Maybe botg
April 26, 2009 - 23:01 ET by Cool ArrowBut other, myself among them, see the birth of Israel as May 1948.
Coming up on 61 years.
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
**Cool Arrow
April 27, 2009 - 11:09 ET by pelicanmarsh..
Pegged Comment
May 6, 2009 - 16:47 ET by rexdraconim"You can have Peace or you can have Freedom; just don't count on having both at the same time." - R.A.H
"I'll take the harsh reality of liberty over the illusion of security...every time!" -me
well
April 26, 2009 - 23:06 ET by botgnot into Jerusalem until 67,
however as pelican says we need to prepare as though events will not happen in our life but live as though they'll happen today
"Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend,------------inside a dog it's too dark to read" ---Groucho
yes botg, the clock starts counting from 1967...
April 26, 2009 - 23:14 ET by upcountrywaterSo the OAF can't even pull that one off..
Reagan VS 0bama
→ I'd go with that too
April 26, 2009 - 23:19 ET by Cool ArrowI can't read the signs so perfectly as to pin down the Almighty.
But I do know China wants oil, and Russia is all cozied up to Persia for the first time in eons.
I don't know how long these alignments can last without something sparking the inevitable.
Suppose some of these countries who've contracted with China at $20 per bbl decide they don't like the deal?
I'm thinking 1948.
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
**Cool Arrow
April 27, 2009 - 11:09 ET by pelicanmarsh..
Cool, That's why the Chinese are into Navy building..
April 26, 2009 - 23:35 ET by upcountrywaterThey have 100 Billion bucks out there in pipes ,wires and oil refineries. Maybe move to some Chinese "Port of Call", and open a bar?
Nuthin like a drunkin chinese sailer..
Reagan VS 0bama
→ Can't blame them
April 26, 2009 - 23:41 ET by Cool ArrowHere they are, playing by Capitalist rules, and the capitalist world is changing the rules on them.
They buy the futures, they make the loans, and what do we do? Overnight we print One Trillion Dollars without so much as an explanation as to how this does not affect the two trillion of our debt China holds.
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
And because they have no CODE they can be free, to more choices
April 27, 2009 - 00:00 ET by upcountrywaterYes China builds an oil refinery in the sudan, needs a navy, builds a new COAL FIRED POWER PLANT every 60 days, Now that is some slap happy optimism.
Yea open a bar that serves PORK, Them chinese sailers will eat that stuff UP.
I like boobs so we call the bar/hotel,, Beer Boar n Boobs, OR
Aloha Snackbar/Casino
Reagan VS 0bama
→ Too late UCW
April 27, 2009 - 00:08 ET by Cool ArrowI hear Perez Hilton is already opening a chain of He/She bars.
Nothing but raw fish and eels.
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
arrow et al
April 26, 2009 - 23:58 ET by botgi could be wrong though i believe there are certain events described as happening in the temple? Thus until the temple construction begins...................
"Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend,------------inside a dog it's too dark to read" ---Groucho
→ Logistics
April 27, 2009 - 00:06 ET by Cool ArrowI don't see that as a problem. Some of the best engineers in the world have been working on this problem.
Again, all that's needed is a trigger.
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
and i hear the red heifer
April 27, 2009 - 00:11 ET by botghas been bred...
maybe the building is the trigger?
"Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend,------------inside a dog it's too dark to read" ---Groucho
→ I don't know
April 27, 2009 - 00:17 ET by Cool ArrowI don't know how much I'll see before I get snatched out of here.
Who knows? Maybe the Swine Flu is Pestilence.
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
→ It really helps
April 26, 2009 - 22:58 ET by Cool ArrowI realize my life's savings are in jeopardy of confiscation by this Government, so I look at it as so much Monopoly money.
I'm grateful to be living during this last chapter, watching the warning signs tick away.
I don't believe America was pre-ordained to shrink into its pitiable self, but I always was aware it was a possibility.
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
I hear the beast roar,
April 26, 2009 - 23:04 ET by PooveyBut remember, One day with God is as a thousand years to man.
→ Funny Strange?
April 26, 2009 - 23:06 ET by Cool ArrowIsn't it strange the penalty for refusing to follow him is beheading?
Aloha Snackbar, anyone?
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
Both ways
April 26, 2009 - 22:35 ET by klchadwickIt seems as though the media wants it both ways. It is stupid to protest the taxation and ginormous spending (those dumb Conservatives)....but on the other hand the Chaiman Obama Admin and Congress are getting carried away (slap on the wrist and a please stop will suffice?). So which is it?
And what is with the pic of a protestor in Thailand? Do we have more support from the citizens of Thailand than we do the libs and the media? Not that it is suprising.....
http://politicaldesert.wordpress.com
Magazines!
April 26, 2009 - 22:43 ET by blazermaniacDo people really still read "Slime" & "Newsfreak"?
Actually
April 26, 2009 - 22:46 ET by klchadwickit's funny that you should mention that. Today in the ER I saw a baby that couldn't have been more than 18 months old, tearing the new issue of "Time" to shreds. I got a good laugh out of that. ;0) He kept ripping the pages out, crumbling them up, tossing them on the floor and alternately putting the pages in his mouth and covering them with baby drool.
http://politicaldesert.wordpress.com
Sounds not only like a
April 27, 2009 - 03:39 ET by Indiana JoeSounds not only like a fitting fate for Time, but a just fate.
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."-John Adams
A friend sent me this;
April 27, 2009 - 00:23 ET by jdhawkA friend sent me this; please pass on to everyone you know:
April 26, 2009
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington , DC 20500
Mr. Obama:
I have had it with you and your administration, sir. Your conduct on your recent trip overseas has convinced me that you are not an adequate representative of the United States of America collectively or of me personally.
You are so obsessed with appeasing the Europeans and the Muslim world that you have abdicated the responsibilities of the President of the United States of America . You are responsible to the citizens of the United States . You are not responsible to the peoples of any other country on earth.
I personally resent that you go around the world apologizing for the United States telling Europeans that we are arrogant and do not care about their status in the world. Sir, what do you think the First World War and the Second World War were all about if not the consideration of the peoples of Europe ? Are you brain dead? What do you think the Marshall Plan was all about? Do you not understand or know the history of the 20th century?
Where do you get off telling a Muslim country that the United States does not consider itself a Christian country? Have you not read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States ? This country was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and the principles governing this country, at least until you came along, come directly from this heritage. Do you not understand this?
Your bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia is an affront to all Americans. Our President does not bow down to anyone, let alone the king of Saudi Arabia . You don’t show Great Britain , our best and one of our oldest allies, the respect they deserve yet you bow down to the king of Saudi Arabia . How dare you, sir! How dare you!
You can’t find the time to visit the graves of our greatest generation because you don’t want to offend the Germans but make time to visit a mosque in Turkey . You offended our dead and every veteran when you give the Germans more respect than the people who saved the German people from themselves. What’s the matter with you?
I am convinced that you and the members of your administration have the historical and intellectual depth of a mud puddle and should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you.
You are so self-righteously offended by the big bankers and the American automobile manufacturers yet do nothing about the real thieves in this situation, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frank, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelic, the Fannie Mae bonuses, and the Freddie Mac bonuses. What do you intend to do about them? Anything? I seriously doubt it.
What about the U.S. House members passing out $9.1 million in bonuses to their staff members – on top of the $2.5 million in automatic pay raises that lawmakers gave themselves? I understand the average House aide got a 17% bonus. I took a 5% cut in my pay to save jobs with my employer. You haven’t said anything about that. Who authorized that? I surely didn’t!
Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an eighteen-month period, that's $45 million more than the AIG bonuses. In fact, Fannie and Freddie executives have already been awarded $51 million – not a bad take. Who authorized that and why haven’t you expressed your outrage at this group who are largely responsible for the economic mess we have right now.
I resent that you take me and my fellow citizens as brain-dead and not caring about what you idiots do. We are watching what you are doing and we are getting increasingly fed up with all of you. I also want you to know that I personally find just about everything you do and say to be offensive to every one of my sensibilities. I promise you that I will work tirelessly to see that you do not get a chance to spend two terms destroying my beautiful country.
Sincerely,
Every real American
→ What does he care?
April 27, 2009 - 00:29 ET by Cool ArrowAs long as America is reduced to the same level as say, KENYA?
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
Need to hack into his BLACKberry
April 27, 2009 - 00:32 ET by upcountrywaterdump some yt clips on him
Reagan VS 0bama
**jdhawk
April 27, 2009 - 11:10 ET by pelicanmarsh..
Well Done
April 27, 2009 - 00:45 ET by rightwingidiotPlease tell your friend for me, well done.
Well done indeed. This
April 27, 2009 - 03:48 ET by Indiana JoeWell done indeed. This needs to be passed around and even sent to the WH. Hope your friend did so. And that he's ready to be audited! ;^)
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."-John Adams
Missing the Mark - On Purpose?
April 27, 2009 - 02:05 ET by chaosmongerThese articles about the Tea Parties being Republican, just about taxes, bashing Obama and trying to revive the party are missing the mark. Either the journalists are lazy for not finding out what the Tea Parties are really about or they are intentionally marking them this way to dilute the effort or to misinform our already misinformed public. Of course I am on this blog because I believe the last.
This just reafirms my belief that the majority of the media is viewing all of this as a civil war so to speak and they have picked sides. Too bad for them as they go out of business and lie to themselves about why only to keep doing the same ol' thing as their numbers drop.
My belief is, the more they do this horrible reporting, the more it will fuel the effort. America has traditionally had a "F U" mentallity when an establishment or group trying to put them down and out. That is how I am anyways. Tell me I am wrong and my cause means nothing...well I want to pour it on. I'm looking forward to the next Tea Party effort and I hope it will be bigger than the last. They can only ignore it and try to sweep it under the rug for so long.
I myself am willing to take time off of work and family to go to Washington D.C. to do a large scale Tea Party. I know it has been thrown around, but it is a tough deal to accomplish. Most of the Tea Party folks do work and it is hard for them to take off to do this huge events, but I am willing.
Now; where is that memo...
April 27, 2009 - 03:04 ET by DustBunny01Howard Fineman appears to have not received the memo:
The "powers that be" have proclaimed that the Tea Protests are astroterf and not real grass roots initiatives. At least Mr. Fineman was able to recognize and report accurately.
However, his observation:
Is rather odd. First, there is no "national party" but two primary political parties, one presently in power and the other removed from power. Second, the Tea Parties were hostile to both major parties for the most part though the Democrats received more scorn due to being the party presently in power.
The rest is standard liberal boilerplate of minimum import.
The liberal powers that be can not afford to call attention to the Tea Parties as they do not control them. They have not spawned from the liberal fever swamp of ideals so; they are dangerous.
There are none so blind...
April 27, 2009 - 03:51 ET by Indiana JoeThis universal denigration of the tea parties by the MSM just shows how seriously out of touch they are with the average American. If they continue to ignore these types of indicators, they're going to be the most shocked people in the country during the next couple rounds of national elections.
Bet on it.
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."-John Adams
So typical of the Limousine Left
April 27, 2009 - 10:04 ET by Mary Louise TurnerThe wackademics, Mainstream Morons and Hollyweird elite share the same snobbery towards average Americans. These hypocrites claim to be for the poor and downtrodden but live in gated communities, have hired help and drive pricey vehicles to "work". It's not surprising, therefore, that the reporters for "Slime" and "Newsweak" would write about the Tea Parties with such contempt!
Tea or Coolaid?
April 27, 2009 - 05:58 ET by ThisnThatSome people can't stand tea. It's a grown-up drink, and can be quite strong at times. People who enjoy tea often take it after a hard day's work.
The people who can't stand tea, however, enjoy their coolaid. A sweet drink for children, usually made in quantities large enough to satisfy a crowd. Usually taken in the middle of the day, served to them by an adult who's primary concern is to make sure they are all happy. People who drink coolaid very seldom have to work, and always assume someone else is going to take care of them and the world.
___________________________________
The challenge is to follow a consistent plan despite inconsistent prices - Sarah Palin, State of the State of Alaska speech
Starve the beast
April 27, 2009 - 10:01 ET by nolotrippenStarve the beast...
I know some of you who are disgusted with the newsweeklies still PAY for the newsweeklies. Why are you still subscribing? They can't survive without two things: ad revenues and subscriptions. As subscriptions dry up, so do the revenues that can be commanded from advertisers.
Cancel 'em.
Too comical....
April 27, 2009 - 10:22 ET by ScrapironThe Lame Stream Media continues the comedy even while dying. I live in really small town America and the media finally had to admit that the Tea Party drew over 500 concerned citizens. I've cancelled all news ? papers and mags other than a weekly county paper since I don't believe 5% of what the reporters make up. Believing or reading stuff that is 95% wrong must be a democrat thing. If the sicko's Bechel or Jerry Rivers (before he changed his name) show on any news outlet I switch to the western channel.
Old, Retired and glad of it.