Leftist blogger Ian Murphy is "a liar who broke every rule of journalism," with his phone call to Gov. Scott Walker in which he pretended to be conservative donor David Koch, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell told the audience of last night's "Hannity."
The Media Research Center founder was reacting to CNN having practically promoted Murphy's prank by awarding him the title "Most Intriguing Person of the Day" on February 24 and by plugging his website, BuffaloBeast.com, on air.
Had Murphy been a CNN employee, he'd have been fired for his unethical and highly partisan manuever, Bozell noted, citing none other than CNN's own media reporter/critic Howard Kurtz. What's more, Bozell added, the media have been silent about Murphy's rabid left-wing rantings in the past, such as in 2008 when he wrote a piece entitled, "F**k the Troops" in Iraq.
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"So, 4,000 rubes are dead. Cry me the Tigris. Another 30,000 have been seriously wounded. Boo f*****g hoo. They got what they asked for and cool robotic limbs as well," Bozell quoted from a May 2008 Murphy column.
"This is a hate-filled wretch," that CNN was celebrating as intriguing, the MRC president complained.
Also discussed on the March 3 "Media Mash" was the media's gauzy, even heroic treatment of the runaway Democratic Wisconsin state senators. Observed Brent Bozell:
In the last two weeks, these hidden legislators have given 17 interviews or been part of 17 stories on the national [over-the-air broadcast] networks alone. Who knows how many hundreds of stories [the media have] done. These hidden legislators in fact are the most visible, celebrated legislators in all of the United States of America, so that's how the media are covering them. And the public ought to be asking themselves this question, "Why are they hiding from the public yet running to the press?" Maybe it's because with the press they find common ground.
