LAT Dances Around Calling Schwarzenegger Proposal a 'Tax
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is proposing a new insurance surcharge to plug a budget gap that conservative critics are calling a tax. And objectively speaking, it really is a tax. But the L.A. Times was careful to avoid attributing the T-word to the idea.Here's the teaser from the Times Web site's front page:Gov. urges levy on insuranceBy Marc Lifsher and Evan HalperPlan calls for 1…
LAT Ignores Hillary Clinton Gaffe on Pakistan
Alright, so Hillary Clinton bills herself as better suited for the Oval O because she has foreign policy experience, plus eight years as First Lady. And we all remember that then-Gov. George W. Bush was mocked in 1999 for not knowing who the military dictator of Pakistan is.So why the media silence on Hillary Clinton's goof in thinking that Pervez Musharraf is up for election in Pakistan? In fact…
NBC's 'ER' Fills Rx for Liberal Preachiness with New Episode, Old Char
Out: Green Week on NBC. In: preachy AIDS activism on the peacock network's "ER." Reports Los Angeles Times writer Greg Braxton in the the January 2 paper (emphasis mine): Gloria Reuben raised more than a few eyebrows in 2000 when she went from the front lines of NBC's acclaimed "ER" to the back line of Tina Turner's rock 'n' roll tour. Now she's starting the new year by stepping forward into…
LA Times Wrong, But This Time They Admit It
I hope this doesn't throw you out of your chair, but the LA Times was wrong in an article. The difference between this day and every other day is that this time they admit it. The story in question was one that ran 18 months ago about baseball players on steroids named in court documents which by now you've probably heard plenty about. The LA Times, using anonymous sources of course, (do you see…
Who Is 'We
Was This the Slipping Digit?Found within the confines of the Los Angeles Times "Top of the Ticket" blog -- actually in its URL address -- is an interesting bit of a slip of the thumb (or finger, as I have no idea how Mister Andrew Malcolm types).The entry is entitled "Is (Hillary Rodham) Clinton now planting people in campaign forums?" (we at MRC would never insinuate such a thing), and is the…
LA Times Wrongly Smears Swift Boat Vets
With less than a year to go until the November elections, it seems a metaphysical certitude any media outlet addressing the campaign efforts of a Republican candidate is going to figure out a way to reference the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. After all, supposedly impartial press representatives in 2004 did everything within their power to discredit the claims against Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)…
Outlets Twist Good News on Iraq Into Bad, Except ABC & LA Times
Viewers of ABC's World News on Tuesday night learned of good news in the Pentagon's latest quarterly report on conditions in Iraq, but the positive developments went unnoted on CBS while NBC, the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, AP and McClatchy all stressed the negatives in the status report. ABC anchor Charles Gibson pointed out that “in the past, these reports have offered a…
LAT Fails To Identify Public Activism of Letter Writers
Fervent liberalism is not the only thing that's predictable at the Los Angeles Times. You can bet that when the Times publishes a news article on the Church abuse scandal, rabid letters to the editor that bash the Church will follow a few days later. Such was the case in yesterday's paper (Sat. 12/15/07). Yet the Times also failed to identify that both letter writers critical of the Church have…
Devoutly Desiring Depression
Steve Fraser might look mild-mannered, but when it comes to economic doomsaying, he is the Rocky Marciano of recession, the Tiger Woods of turndown, the David Beckham of depression.Speaking of bending one, Fraser's LA Times column of today, "Symptoms of an Economic Depression," twists U.S. economic data into a harbinger of impending doom. Fraser begins by falsely claiming that "no one wants to…
Johnny Depp: Serial Killer He Plays in 'Sweeney Todd' Is a 'Victim
What is it with Johnny Depp and Victorian Era serial killers?Six years ago the liberal Hollywood fixture played London police detective Frederick Abberline in "From Hell," a violent conspiracy theory-driven whodunnit about the 1888 murder spree of Jack the Ripper. In his newest big screen release, Depp stars as the title character in "Sweeney Todd," a film about a fictional 19th century London…
Hsu Indictment Not Big News to MSNBC.com, NYT, LAT
Hillary Clinton fundraiser Norman Hsu was indicted earlier today in a $20 million Ponzi scheme. I received a text message e-mail alert to this effect shortly after 1:30 p.m. Eastern. Given the heated lead-up to Iowa and New Hampshire, it's major news. In a 24/7 media cycle, it's inconceivable that it major news organization Web sites could not or would not give it top billing shortly after the…
