Fox & Friends

As NewsBusters previously reported, the same broadcast networks that two years ago could not get enough of the Mark Foley scandal, are offering little to no coverage of Foley’s successor, Tim Mahoney, now embroiled in a sex scandal of his own. The networks on October 21 completely ignored the news that Congressman Mahoney’s wife is now filing for divorce. Fox News’ "Fox and Friends" only provided a brief news read. After co-host Brian Kilmeade read the brief, Steve Doocy editorialized "I think [the Foley] scandal got more ink, didn’t it?"

In related news, Mark Foley himself recently announced his endorsement for Barack Obama. Though Obama won over another Republican, it’s a safe assumption it will not receive the same news coverage as Colin Powell.

Update: Mark Foley issued a statement denying his support for Obama:

It is no surprise that Barack Obama receives much better treatment in the media than John McCain, but the non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs actually conducted a study that concluded just that. The Center’s evaluation found that since both candidates were formally nominated "Senator Obama on the network evening news shows have been 65% positive, compared to only 36% positive about John McCain."

While the networks ignored the study, the October 20 edition of "Fox and Friends" interviewed CMPA’s founder Robert Lichter. Lichter noted that Obama fits the media’s template of a "fresh face," "some sort of special dimensions," and "charismatic quality." He did note that the media eventually sours on such candidates, but curiously have not done so for Senator Obama.

"Last night I thought it was very poor, quite frankly. I thought he had opportunity after opportunity to go after Barack Obama. I don't know why he held back," noted MRC President Brent Bozell in his October 16 appearance on FNC's "Fox & Friends." [audio version available here]

Reacting to co-host Steve Doocy suggesting that McCain may have "made the case" to sway some undecided voters, Bozell strongly disagreed:

No. I think he had great opportunities to score bigger points. Take the abortion issue, and by the way, I'm glad finally that issue was raised by a moderator. On abortion, Barack Obama's record is perfectly clear. He is in favor of every form of abortion imaginable. He's in favor of taking off all restrictions on abortion. He's in favor of federally-funded abortion, meaning you and I will pay for all the abortions in America. And John McCain never made that point.

Tom Brokaw hit a "home run" in moderating the October 7 presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee, earning a "tip of the hat" from MRC President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell for presenting a balanced agenda of debate questions.

Appearing on the October 8 "Fox & Friends," Bozell noted that of the 18 questions asked at the Belmont University-hosted debate, former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw allowed 14 neutral questions and two each of conservative-leaning and liberal-leaning questions.

Asked about MSNBC's Chris Matthews calling Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), "debonair," however, the MRC president proclaimed that the "Hardball" host was "an embarrassment as a journalist."

"If he [Matthews] were to put an Obama button on... I'd have more respect for him, really. I don't have any respect for somebody who is as shameless as he or that sidekick Keith Olbermann," Bozell added.

Update: Matthew Vadum responds to the questions that the Huffington Post refused to ask him.

Specifically, their "reporter" Seth Colter Walls in "Fox News, GOP Tag-Team Obama With Voter Fraud Smear." Let's begin the deconstruction.

Friday morning, I made a 7:45am appearance on the Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends to discuss how nearly every media outlet is avoiding like the plague any coverage of Illinois Senator Barack Obama's long relationship with ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), the serially criminal voter registration outfit.

So as to better explain why the press, who love Sen. Obama with the intensity of a thousand suns, would be steering clear of reporting on the connections, I cited briefly some basic factual information about Sen. Obama's dealings with ACORN. The media are sitting on this information because they know it would be very damaging to Sen. Obama and his Presidential campaign.

The Media Research Center's Director of Communications and NewsBusters.org Contributing Editor Seton Motley appeared this morning on the Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends to discuss the media's ongoing silence about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known by it's acronym, ACORN.

Seton asserts that the media has remained steadfastly silent about ACORN due to the group's extensive and extended connections with Sen. Obama, and have done so so as not to damage Sen. Obama's chances in this year's Presidential election.

Seton discusses how ACORN has been in the past convicted of voter registration fraud in six states and is currently under investigation for either registration fraud or misuse of funds in fourteen. He points out that they have routinely registered to vote dead and underage people, and fictitious personages with names like "Jive Turkey," "Mary Poppins" and "Dick Tracey". He mentions that in 2006 in Washington state, ACORN turned in 1,800 registrations of which six were valid.

This morning, Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, appeared on Fox News's Fox & Friends to answer a few questions about tonight's vice presidential debate between Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Delaware Senator Joe Biden.

Grabbing the headlines the past few days has been the news that Gwen Ifill, debate moderator, has written a book subtitled "The Age of Obama" which is set to be released on the day of the inauguration of the next president in January. A win by Barack Obama could positively impact book sales and have caused some to question the impartiality of Ifill.

Media Research Center President and NewsBusters Publisher L. Brent Bozell, III appeared this morning on the Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends to discuss the media's nearly unanimous acclamation of Illinois Senator Barack Obama as the winner of last Friday's Presidential debate.

Mr. Bozell noted one of the few press exceptions, Newsweek, who gave the nod to Arizona Senator John McCain, but pointed out that they then said of the win, "Who cares?"

Mr. Bozell also discussed Sen. Obama's continuing to wear and discuss the bracelet of fallen soldier Sgt. Ryan David Jopek, and how his family has been asking since at least March that he stop doing so. Mr. Bozell pointed out that if the tables were turned, and it was Sen. McCain refusing the repeated requests of the family of KIA Cpl. Matthew Stanley, whose bracelet he wears with their continued blessing, the media would be apoplectic.

Networks have given more coverage this year to the 6-year-old collapse of Enron than the role of federal government-sponsored mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the present financial crisis, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell noted in a September 25 interview with the hosts of Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends." The NewsBusters publisher argued that the media's lack of interest was due to its ideological commitment to the liberal social aims of Fannie and Freddie: extending loans to people who otherwise were priced out of owning their homes.

Bozell appeared via satellite from Nashville, Tennessee. A portion of the transcript follows [audio of segment here]:

STEVE DOOCY, co-host: Look at the coverage that the Fannie Mae catastrophe is getting as opposed to say the Enron collapse a number of years ago. Much different.

BOZELL: That's an understatement.... If you look at the height of the crisis during that time period, you know that the word Fannie Mae never appears in an ABC transcript? ABC never reported it. And ask yourself what's bigger, Enron or this? CNN, how about this, CNN gave at the height of this gave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac three percent the coverage that they gave Enron. Get this statistic: This year, this year, there's been more coverage by the networks on Enron -- which isn't in the news -- than on both of these calamities combined.

To explain the high level of hatred for Governor Sarah Palin, the September 18 edition of "Fox and Friends" invited Bloomberg News columnist Caroline Baum. Ms. Baum, who claims to have studied it extensively, later used a vulgar term to describe which direction women voters will lean.

The Bloomberg columnist explained that Governor Palin "made the Democrats’ road to the White House less inevitable." Democrats, feeling a sense of entitlement, are outraged that, in a very hostile political environment for the Republicans, this election remains competitive. When Gretchen Carlson asked what this close election means "for the future of the Democratic party" Baum hypothesized that the Democrats are "bankrupt in terms of appealing to the population in terms of ideas."

Warning: vulgarity below.

MRC President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell appeared live in the New York studio on the September 16 "Fox & Friends" to discuss negative campaigning this presidential season, as well as the media's bias.

Bozell noted that the bias in the media often manifests as a bias by omission and/or a double standard:

STEVE DOOCY, co-host: Because everybody in the mainstream media seems to be beating up Sarah Palin, what stories are nobody covering on the Left?

The good folks at "Fox & Friends" Monday morning credited NewsBusters for exposing the four hit pieces the New York Times published Sunday about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

With the words "Palin Panic? NYT Puts Out 4 Hit Pieces In One Day" on the screen, co-host Gretchen Carlson teased (video embedded right):

In the meantime, we should talk a little New York Times, and the articles that they've been writing about Gov. Sarah Palin. In one day, in fact, I think that they had four articles on Sarah Palin, and last time I checked she was running for VP, wasn't she?

Co-host Steve Doocy ably took the handoff (h/t NBer blonde):

"The idea to make these guys [Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews] news anchors, I don't know who came up with this idea. It's sort of like people who believe if you add water you get sea monkeys. It just doesn't make any sense that you can add water and make an objective news anchor," NewsBusters Senior Editor Tim Graham quipped on the September 9 "Fox & Friends" program. [audio version here]

Graham questioned in particular the notion that Olbermann once told President Bush "to shut the hell up" on his "Countdown" program.

Co-host Brian Kilmeade asked the MRC's Director of Media Analysis if MSNBC's decision to remove Olbermann and Matthews as co-anchors of election coverage was too little too late:

MRC President and NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell appeared on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" Thursday morning to discuss the outrageous media bias against Alaska Governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Regarding the attacks on Palin's experience, Bozell claimed:

For two years Republicans, conservatives, have been saying that Barack Obama was perhaps the arguably the singularly most unaccomplished presidential candidate in the history of the republic, and for two years, the national press corps, the networks, particularly, have absolutely refused to cover his lack of experience. Now, Sarah Palin comes on, and what have we heard all week long from the same reporters? If this isn't a double standard, I just don't know what is.

[Audio available here.]

In the last 48 hours, the establishment media’s bias against Republican Sarah Palin has become a full-fledged feeding frenzy. This morning on FNC’s Fox & Friends, the anchors noted how the pop culture mag Us Weekly is now bashing Palin with a harsh cover story, “Babies, Lies, and Scandal,” when just a couple of months ago the same magazine ran a sappy cover piece featuring Barack and Michelle Obama: “Why Barack Loves Her.”

Co-host Steve Doocy cited NewsBusters’ recent “Quick Study” study of cable news as providing proof of the incredible double standard against Palin: “The Media Research Center did a study of the two hours of prime time after Joe Biden was announced as a Vice President and after Sarah Palin was announced, and overwhelmingly it was so against the Republican.”

This is way too funny, and deserves no intro. Just watch it (h/t NBer Blazer):

Barack Obama, who boasts about his alleged "post partisan" philosophy, can not seem to resist appeasing the left wing blogosphere by making cheap shots at Fox News. Obama, who enjoys overwhelmingly positive coverage from the mainstream press, blasted Fox News for daring to interview an author critical of him.

"I don’t find myself particularly scary or particularly risky. But, but, you know, I mean they’re good at it. So they got these ads with Paris and Britney. They’ve got some guy who just wrote a book. He’s just making stuff up. Just make stuff up. But it gets a lot of play on Fox News."

The co-hosts of "Fox and Friends" responded to this attack on the August 21 edition. Gretchen Carlson and Steve Doocy acknowledged that Jerome Corsi, author of "Obama Nation," did appear on "Fox and Friends," but to debate Democratic partisan Bob Beckel.

Steve Doocy also noted Fox News was not the only venue that gave Jerome Corsi air time. Both CNN and C-SPAN interviewed Corsi.

The entire transcript is below.

Rich Noyes, the MRC's Director of Research, appeared on FNC's Fox & Friends program earlier this morning. He disucussed how the news media are all too eager to publicize anti-Bush administration books with harsh allegations, such as the much hyped 'The Way of the World' by Ron Suskind and the recent book by former Bush administration spokesman Scott McClellan.

"They certainly do have a lot of promotion. This book by Ron Suskind -- he was on the Today show two days this week, he was on NBC Nightly News. He was on MSNBC. CNN's had him."

It's now been widely reported that during what Jesse Jackson thought was an off-mic moment from Sunday's "Fox and Friends," the reverend stated he would like "to cut [Senator Barack Obama's] nuts off." However, a look at the on-air conversation shows that the FNC hosts had to prompt Jackson to say anything positive about Barack Obama's plans for faith based initiatives, the subject that drew his wrath in the first place.

During the July 6 segment, Jackson was discussing health screenings for African Americans and the need to have a low blood pressure. Quite unprompted, during an unrelated question, he suddenly shifted topics from screenings and blurted, "And so, while I'm very concerned about the focus now on faith-based, I'm concerned about a government-based commitment to give us structure and equality whether it is education or health care, because we know unemployment is a factor in people's health." Co-host Ainsley Earhardt later brought the subject up again and queried, "Barack Obama thinks that the government should oversee how these faith-based organizations are using their money, who they are hiring. Do you agree with him on that?" Jackson replied "yeah," but then immediately shifted towards listing all the limitations of faith-based initiatives.

The network news outlets - ABC, CBS and NBC - have missed a great opportunity to cover actual political news in the last week by failing to report on the loan scandal surrounding two Democratic senators, Business & Media Institute Managing Editor Amy Menefee told "Fox & Friends Weekend" June 21.

"This story has everything," Menefee said. "It has a former presidential candidate, Chris Dodd. It has two senators who are getting, like you said, sweetheart loans. It has Kent Conrad, another senator, who called the CEO of the lender to get his loan, which is not what we normally do, and then said, ‘Oh, I didn't get any preferential treatment and I didn't do anything wrong, but I'm going to give a charitable donation to remedy the fact that I didn't do anything wrong.'"

Menefee said it was "very sad" that the networks failed to report the scandal - not just because they refused to go after two Democrats, but because they missed an opportunity to expose the bailout plan Dodd has been defending.

While print media and cable news channels are all over the "sweetheart" mortgage deals given to two Democratic U.S. senators, network news shows on ABC, CBS and NBC are keeping mum even though the scandal involves one of their favorite targets: Countrywide.

"This is a huge story ever since Portfolio magazine broke with this story. Print media outlets have covered it, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, the cable networks are there," Business & Media Institute Vice President Dan Gainor told "Fox & Friends" June 20. "And then you look at the evening news shows: they're non-existent."

MRC President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell appeared on the June 10 "Fox & Friends" to discuss yet another poll noting that the public perceive what the MRC has documented for nearly 21 years: the media are not only biased ideologically, they tailor campaign coverage in a way that goes softer on candidates they favor, such as Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

For example, Bozell note, the Illinois Democrat's numerous gaffes have received widespread play in blogs and on video-sharing sites like YouTube, yet are virtually ignored by the MSM:

Barack Obama has a long history of gaffes on this campaign trail, Bosnia sniper type of gaffes. We've documented them. Others have documented them. But you won't see them on the news media. So you just can't say, I mean it's, what Ed has said is true, Hillary did stumble and did make mistakes and Bill did make mistakes but so did Barack Obama and they weren't covered.

Audio from the two segments is available here. Transcript below by MRC intern and NewsBusters blogger Lyndsi Thomas:

"Fox and Friends" called out left wing anchor Keith Olbermann on his own lies. The co-hosts on the June 4 edition of "Fox and Friends" discussed the TV Newser story that NBC veteran Tim Russert is reportedly taking orders from Olbermann. Steve Doocy noted Olbermann’s rising in the ranks at NBC and also a blogging for the hard left site, "Daily Kos."

After Gretchen Carlson responded to Olbermann’s intelligence insult, Doocy noted Olbermann’s claim he does not go after public figure’s children, but named Doocy’s own son "Worst Person in the World." Doocy fumed "So next time you see Keith Olbermann on TV, just remember he is somebody who picks on people’s children. And he is a liar."

Olbermann also named Doocy’s son "Worst Person in the World," after issuing an apology for David Shuster’s Chelsea Clinton "pimped out" comment.

The entire transcript is below.

MRC President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell appeared this morning on the May 28 "Fox & Friends" to discuss the Oprah effect on the 2008 presidential race. It appears the daytime host may be taking a ratings hit from erstwhile loyal viewers chagrined by her backing the Illinois senator, although Obama himself seems to be benefiting from the backing. Also discussed: former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan's new book. [audio available here]

Below is a transcript taken down by MRC intern and NewsBusters blogger Lyndsi Thomas:

GRETCHEN CARLSON, "Fox & Friends" co-host: All right, so the details being leaking about this book, who better to discuss it than media hounds like you guys. Brent, let me start with you because McClellan says in this book that "as Press Secretary I spent countless hours defending the administration from the podium and the White House briefing room. Although the things I said then were sincere I have since come to realize that some of them were badly misguided." Is this a bitter guy or this a guy who just wants to get the truth out?

The news media have covered recent economic trials with four times as much negativity as they covered the worst economic period in the nation's history - the Great Depression - a new study from the Business & Media Institute shows.

"They were four times more negative during the Bear Stearns buyout than the worst economic couple days in our country's history," BMI Vice President Dan Gainor said on "Fox & Friends" May 27, announcing the release of the new study, "The Great Media Depression."

On Friday’s Fox & Friends, Fox News military analyst Colonel David Hunt rattled off a series of U.S. and Iraqi achievements, then blasted the liberal media for failing to report them. “If you talk about success in Iraq, then you’re somehow giving credit to McCain,” Hunt surmised, “and I think it’s wrong, because it does not give credit to the soldiers who have earned this, and we need to stop it.”

Hunt noted that the Iraqi military and police have become more professional and are acting independently of U.S. forces, putting down a Shiite rebellion in the southern city of Basra; that an Iraqi force is stabilizing the Sadr City portion of Baghdad and the government has achieved a truce with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr; al-Qaeda in Iraq is badly damaged and could lose its last stronghold in Mosul; and the successful campaign against al-Qaeda in Iraq has contributed to a 40 percent decline worldwide in deaths due to terrorism.

Yet, Hunt pointed out, “if it’s not Abu Ghraib with 50 stories in the New York Times, no one in the press that I’ve heard -- besides here -- will even talk about success.”

I just wanted to provide a little follow-up to Brad Wilmouth's excellent coverage of Keith Olbermann's outrageous performance of telling the President to "shut the hell up". If you didn't hear about this you can find the transcript of his rant here. (See also video embedded below page break)

I wanted to provide this follow-up because I thought the readers at NewsBusters would enjoy this video of Fox and Friends nailing MSNBC and Olbermann for their bias.

This morning's "Fox & Friends" repeated some misreporting on a dozen nuns who were supposedly "barred" from voting yesterday at their South Bend, Indiana, polling station due to lack of proper ID. As I noted in my May 6 blog entry, the sisters were not refused the vote, they chose not to vote using the provisional balloting option. [audio available here]

As the AP's Deborah Hastings reported in an early draft that was later excised from her story:

They weren't given provisional ballots because it would be impossible to get them to a motor vehicle branch and back in the 10-day time frame allotted by the law, Sister McGuire said. "You have to remember that some of these ladies don't walk well. They're in wheelchairs or on walkers or electric carts."

Of course last night's race between Clinton and Obama was close, but not by a margin of 12 votes. Simply put, these sisters could have voted and opted to not follow up with the validation process should none of the races they voted in remain undecided within the 10-day window. In other words, no one barred these sisters from voting but the sisters themselves.

Hillary Clinton's recent appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor" was a play for superdelegate support at the Democratic Convention, MRC President Brent Bozell argued on the May 2 "Fox & Friends" in a segment joined by liberal talk show host Mike Papantonio. [audio available here]

Asked about the media and if it will follow up any more on the Rev. Wright controversy, the NewsBusters publisher quipped that, "[u]nless Jeremiah Wright sends a cruise missile back in their direction, no, the networks aren't going to touch this, and the New York Times is going to leave this alone. That's the end of the story, that's the way it goes."

Below is a transcript of some remarks from Bozell's appearance on the May 2 "Fox & Friends":

MRC President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell appeared on both the April 29 "Hannity & Colmes" and the April 30 "Fox & Friends" to discuss media treatment of the ongoing Barack Obama/Rev. Jeremiah Wright saga. Bozell discussed a taxpayer-funded "puff piece" interview by PBS's Bill Moyers on "Hannity & Colmes." The next morning on "Fox & Friends," in addition to addressing Moyers's bias, Bozell discussed reports that Hillary Clinton backer the Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds was the person responsible for arranging Rev. Jeremiah Wright's April 27 National Press Club event.

While Reynolds has a political agenda in view, Bozell noted, he doubted there was a direct link to Hillary Clinton herself. [Audio excerpt here]

An excerpt from the "Fox & Friends" segment:

GRETCHEN CARLSON, co-host: Well how did Rev. Jeremiah Wright end up as a keynote speaker at the National Press Club? And what role Barbara Reynolds, openly a Clinton supporter, what role did she play in arranging Rev. Wright's appearance? More details coming out this morning now.

BRIAN KILMEADE, co-host: Yeah, Brent Bozell, you have a theory here. And we know now thanks to one of the reports that she had brought up Rev. Wright's name two years ago as a speaker and he has spoken before at 2007. But when they needed Rev. Wright, they had to go to Reynolds who does know him personally.