Tina Brown, the founder and editor of the online publication the “Daily Beast,” said Sunday that conservative talk show host Glenn Beck “has become sort of the white Malcolm X.” Chatting with Howard Kurtz on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” Brown said of Beck, “I think that he’s a fascinating demagogue, actually.” She continued, “It’s white racial politics, in a sense, because he’s really saying — a lot of his message is, you know, that Obama is a racist.” And continued, “[Beck] talks about God, but when you drill down to what he’s actually saying, he calls [Obama] a Nazi and socialist who’s taking over the country. I mean, his language is extremely inflammatory” (video follows with transcript and commentary): HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: On this same topic, Glenn Beck has become an influential and certainly divisive figure after that Lincoln Memorial rally, that huge rally. Do you see him as something of a cultural phenomenon? What’s your take? TINA BROWN, CO-FOUNDER, “THE DAILY BEAST: Well, I do. I think that he’s a fascinating demagogue, actually. He really is a demagogue. And he has become sort of the white Malcolm X in a strange way. I mean, the way he goes out there with this kind of very — he’s very much kind of — it’s white racial politics, in a sense, because he’s really saying — a lot of his message is, you know, that Obama is a racist. You know, I mean, all the stuff that we keep hearing about “Hussein Obama” and the references to Obama being undoubtedly kind of racist, really, in all the terminology. KURTZ: He’s backed off that a little bit, and now he seems to be talking a lot about God and America — BROWN: Yes, he talks about God, but when you drill down to what he’s actually saying, he calls him a Nazi and socialist who’s taking over the country. I mean, his language is extremely inflammatory. And he likes to play it now revivalists, religious bring it together. But he’s playing a double game, because actually he’s a hypocrite. And he’s a Tea Party hypocrite. He’s preaching one thing and he’s actually being another. Notice how Kurtz laughed when Brown called Beck a hypocrite and a Tea Party hypocrite. Not very professional, Howie. As for Brown, given her absurd comments, you wonder if she’s actually ever spent any time listening to Beck or if she’s relied on far-left leaning websites and MSNBC to form her opinion. I opt for the latter – how ’bout you?
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Tina Brown: Glenn Beck Is ‘The White Malcolm X…It’s White Racial Politics’
Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News
Tagged Barack Obama, bennyhollywood, brown, Cnn, daily, glenn-beck, howard-kurtz, hussein-obama, message, News, Obama, politics, racism, reliable sources, tea parties
Howard Kurtz on Sunday asked the editor of Time magazine why he doesn’t have any conservative columnists. “Rick [Stengel], you’ve just hired Fareed Zakaria, whose “GPS” program on CNN precedes mine,” said Kurtz on CNN’s “Reliable Sources. “And you have, of course, Joe Klein, well-known liberal writer and columnist,” continued Kurtz. “Now, with all the hiring that you’ve done, how have you not managed to find a conservative columnist?” Most humorously, after giving what he must have thought was a cute answer, Stengel quickly contradicted himself (video follows with transcript and commentary): HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: Rick, you’ve just hired Fareed Zakaria, whose “GPS” program on CNN precedes mine. And you have, of course, Joe Klein, well-known liberal writer and columnist. Now, with all the hiring that you’ve done, how have you not managed to find a conservative columnist? RICHARD STENGEL, TIME EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: I would love to find one. So I’m talking — if you’re listening and you’re a fantastic conservative columnist, and you want to write for “TIME,” give me a call. Cute answer, but pretty pathetic when you think about it. After all, there are many conservative writers out there. If Stengel wanted to hire one, it wouldn’t be too difficult. Unfortunately, Kurtz gave him a pass on this and moved on: KURTZ: And you know, you have Nancy Gibbs writing the back page column, but at times I look at “TIME” magazine and it seems like a bit of a boys club. You have a lot of prominent male writers. Is that an area you need to work on as well? Here comes the truly delicious contradiction: STENGEL: Of course it’s an area we need to work on. I mean, we do a lot of stories that actually are focused on a female audience and female readers. You know, I do think that just the way “TIME” in many ways is actually a snapshot, a mirror of America — you know, we’re red and blue, we’re in the center of the country, we’re on the coasts — I mean, we should also mirror the way America is too in terms of diversity, gender, all of that. How can a magazine be “red” without one conservative contributor? Doesn’t make much sense, does it? Sadly, Kurtz gave him a pass on this as well.
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Kurtz Asks TIME Editor Why He Doesn’t Have Any Conservative Columnists
Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News
Tagged america, bennyhollywood, Breaking News, celeb news, Cnn, country, fareed-zakaria, hiring, howard-kurtz, mirror-the-way, nancy-gibbs, program-on-cnn, richard stengel
Howard Kurtz on Sunday smacked down liberal talk radio host Bill Press for saying the Park Service allowing Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” event at the Lincoln Memorial was like “granting al Qaeda permission to hold a rally on September 11th at Ground Zero.” Towards the end of the opening segment of CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” Kurtz surprisingly brought up last Friday’s disgraceful editing job by ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Beck himself said was like something Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels would have done. When finished with this admonishment, Kurtz went right after Press who was seated directly in front of him (transcript follows with commentary, video pending): HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: All right. I want to talk about that, but first I want to play this clip that we didn’t have earlier. This is the “Good Morning America” piece that Beck specifically criticized. Let’s take a quick look at it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BECK: Blacks don’t own Martin Luther King. (END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Glenn Beck is no Martin Luther King. (END VIDEO CLIP) KURTZ: Here’s what Beck actually said: “Whites don’t own the founding fathers. Whites don’t own Abraham Lincoln. Blacks don’t own Martin Luther King.” Was that deceptively edited? JANE HALL, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY’S SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION: Well, I think that it should have had the context. I mean, you cannot accuse one side of not including context and not including the context — KURTZ: Somebody makes a statement involving both races — HALL: If somebody says two things, you’ve got to say two things. KURTZ: — and you just show one, I think that was deceptive. I applaud Kurtz for bringing this up. However, maybe he could have put a finer point on this issue if he reminded his guests and viewers of the recent furor involving the editing of former USDA official Shirley Sherrod’s NAACP speech. After all, what ABC and Shipman did Friday was actually far more reprehensible as it was intentionally done and aired on national television. By contrast, Andrew Breitbart wasn’t the person who did the editing of the Sherrod video which was posted at a website reaching far fewer viewers than “Good Morning America.” But Kurtz wasn’t finished, for he next set his sights on Press for what the liberal talker said and wrote in June: KURTZ: You, Bill Press, said that for the Park Service to allow this rally was like “granting al Qaeda permission to hold a rally on September 11th at Ground Zero,” Isn’t that way over the top? BILL PRESS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I think the rally was a stick in the eye to any — KURTZ: I don’t know. But answer my question. You wrote a book about toxic talk. PRESS: No, I said it and I’ll stand by it because — KURTZ: You’re invoking a terrorist analogy for a talk show host. Why is that not over the top? PRESS: No, what I’m comparing are sacred places. We have very few of them in this country. To me, the Lincoln Memorial I think for all Americans is one of our sacred places. Again, it should not be politicized, in my opinion, at Ground Zero. KURTZ: I’m talking about your language, your language in bringing al Qaeda into it. Why is that appropriate? PRESS: I think it is just as outrageous to have the people who offended — I mean, who carried those attacks out at Ground Zero on 9/11, to give them that sacred site, to give a political huckster the Lincoln Memorial, yes. (CROSSTALK) HALL: I think it points to the dilemma, because the left hasn’t known how to respond. And so now we are getting more response from the people. MATT LEWIS, BLOGGER: But this is the toxicity of politics in our nation, where good folks like Bill, who are liberal, believe the conservatives, their political adversaries, not enemies, are worse than terrorists. KURTZ: I’ve got to go, but let me ask you before we — PRESS: That is not true, by the way. KURTZ: All right. Denial registered. Nice job, Howie. We on the right would love to see you tear into hypocritical liberals far more often.
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Howard Kurtz Smacks Down Bill Press for Comparing Glenn Beck to Al Qaeda
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Tagged bennyhollywood, bill press, Cnn, conservatives, context, editing, glenn-beck, howard-kurtz, King, Lincoln, matt lewis, morning-america, park, politics
The Washington Post hyped the news on the front of Wednesday’s Style section that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association , “triggering swift criticism from Democrats that a contribution of that magnitude casts a shadow on his media properties, particularly Fox News.” In paragraph 13, on page C-10, this apparent outrage of Republican favoritism gets ruined by reality: Until now, the News Corp./Fox political action committee had given 54 percent of its donations to Democrats and 46 percent to Republicans , according to the Center for Responsive Politics — including $8,000 to Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid’s campaign committee and $5,000 to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s organization. News Corp. also gave $45,000 each to GOP and Democratic campaign committees on Capitol Hill. So the real story here is that Democrats are having a fit over the RGA donation, even if the overall donation levels are about even. Reporter Howard Kurtz failed to inform readers that Murdoch held a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2006 (and the New York Post endorsed her Senate re-election bid). Kurtz only mentioned he’d “sought accomodations” with her: An outspoken conservative, the Australian-born Murdoch has nonetheless sought accommodations over the years with political rivals, including Tony Blair when he was British prime minister and Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was a senator from New York. Kurtz suggested the RGA donation spurred a new anti-Fox News political campaign by the Democratic Party: The White House refused for months to make top officials available for interviews and assailed Fox as an arm of the Republican Party — an attack that was revived Tuesday. “Any pretense that may have existed about the ties between Fox News and the Republican Party has been ripped violently away,” said Hari Sevugan, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee. “Any Republican that appears on Fox should now have a disclaimer that they are financially supported by the network and any coverage of the elections this fall on Fox should be reported with disclaimer for what it is — partisan propaganda.” But if “disclaimers” were being handed out, wouldn’t every report on Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have to note they were funded by the parent company of Fox News? And wouldn’t that tend to ruin the DNC spin? If Sevugan thinks the on-air FNC product is ridiculously unfair and imbalanced, if anything, the roughly 50-50 donations levels must be more balanced than the TV coverage. It’s quite clear that the Democrats are used to a media environment where every network, every newspaper, and every “news” magazine caters to Barack Obama and find it scandalous and outrageous that anyone wouldn’t march to their drumbeat. Being a “real” news network and not a “partisan propaganda” outlet by their definition actually requires being a partisan propaganda outlet for Obama.
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WaPo Highlights Dem Outrage at Fox Donations to GOP, Downplays Reality of 50-50 Contributions
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Tagged act-together, brzezinski, elections, fox news channel, hillary-clinton, Hollywood, House, howard-kurtz, media, News, politics, TMZ
At this point, we all know the Dave Weigel saga, which is as a so-called blogger for The Washington Post, he made some disparaging remarks about the people he covered as a conservative beat blogger. That eventually led to his resignation at the Post and he addressed it on CNN’s July 4 “Reliable Sources.” Weigel was asked by host Howard Kurtz if in this day and age it was “an uncomfortable fit” for someone to have a lot of opinions and still be a blogger. And according to Weigel, there was despite attacks from what he called “partisan anti-media groups.” “I think there’s room for it. I mean, but I think it’s going to be the source of a lot of attacks from, you know, partisan anti-media groups who just want to score points against mainstream media organizations, ” Weigel said. “So, people have to be ready for that. You have to be ready to defend your opinions.” Newsbusters and the Media Research Center have documented Weigel’s missteps during his brief stint at the Post and even prior to the leaked Journolist e-mails , so it’s not clear if he’s referring to us, but it’s certainly a possibility. Still as a member of the fourth estate, Weigel doesn’t believe he should have to defend his biases, if they’re in private. “I don’t think you should have to defend the opinions you have in private, because people are — every day, you know, people who are in this town are exchanging private opinions,” he continued. “They would not broadcast them. They say things at dinner parties with lots of people around that they would not want out. You shouldn’t have to say — you shouldn’t have to explain that away. But you should be allowed to say I’m a blogger with these opinions and I’m breaking news, my readers know what they’re getting when they read this website. I think that’s perfectly defensible just for me in a different publication.”
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Embattled Weigel Calls Sources of Criticism of His Ideology ‘Partisan Anti-Media Groups’
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Tagged Breaking News, Hollywood, howard-kurtz, media bias debate, media-research, missteps-during, opinions, People, stars
In the Saturday Washington Post, media reporter Howard Kurtz wrote up the resignation of blogger David Weigel, whose disgust for conservatives was too much for the Post to defend for a man hired to cover conservatives. Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli lamented “we can’t have any tolerance for the perception that people are conflicted or bring a bias to their work.” Everyone brings some bias to their work, and some Post reporters bring plenty. I’d guess he means that the Post couldn’t have the perception that a reporter/blogger viscerally hates the people he’s supposed to cover, and wants some of them dead. Brauchli bristled at the idea that the Post didn’t exactly take a hard look at Weigel’s writings before hiring: Asked about Weigel’s strong views about some conservatives, Brauchli said: “We don’t have the resources or ability to do Supreme Court justice-type investigations into people’s backgrounds. We will have to be more careful in the future.” It didn’t require a committee of investigators to read through 40,000 documents. Two NPR interviews would have been a decent start. I’d think that anyone who’d read Weigel’s reports for The Washington Independent would have found a liberal vibe. For the Post, that’s not disqualifying, it’s a plus, just as it was for NPR. Media outlets don’t have to hire conservatives to cover conservatives, and they generally avoid “stooping” to that, perhaps for the sake of newsroom peace. But a reporter-slash-blogger can’t gain access to conservatives very successfully after suggesting you wished Rush Limbaugh would die, or especially that it’s unfair that the media has to offer “equal time” for moronic “real Americans.” Kurtz relayed: The Daily Caller reported more inflammatory comments on Friday, with Weigel writing that conservatives were using the media to “violently, angrily divide America” and lamenting news organizations’ “need to give equal/extra time to ‘real American’ views, no matter how [expletive] moronic.” When Rush Limbaugh, who has called for President Obama to fail, was hospitalized with chest pains, Weigel wrote: “I hope he fails.” Post ombudsman Andy Alexander reported the Post will try, try again , but he suggested two hires: “We will look for someone to replace Dave,” [managing editor Raju] Narisetti said. Instead of just a replacement, The Post might consider two: one conservative with a Klein-like ideological bent, and another who can cover the conservative movement in the role of a truly neutral reporter. In the meantime, Post managers would be wise to remind all staffers that personal opinions, expressed privately on listservs or through social media, can prove damaging if made public…. Alas, it took only one listserv participant to bundle up Weigel’s archived comments and start leaking them outside the group. The result is that Weigel lost his job. But the bigger loss is The Post’s standing among conservatives.
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Weigel-gate: WaPo Editor Brauchli Huffs They Won’t Do ‘Supreme Court Justice’ Scrutiny on Blogger Hires
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Tagged daily, david-weigel, Hollywood, howard-kurtz, marcus-brauchli, mma, News, People, supreme-court, TMZ, using-the-media
A couple of college students with camera phones approached Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., after a fundraiser and asked him if he supports “the Obama agenda.” He did not respond well . Etheridge was obviously out of line, but did he commit a crime ?
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Open Thread: When Congressmen Attack
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Tagged asked-him, Breaking News, celeb news, etheridge, helen-thomas, howard-kurtz, Obama, open thread, phones-approached, politics, Thomas, TMZ
The night before Joe Halderman was busted in a sting operation for trying to extort David Letterman out of $2 million, the Late Show aired a parody of a Geico ad that seems, in retrospect, rather prescient. The skit comes to us by way of Kansas City Star TV critic Aaron Barnhart , who credits one of his readers for picking up on it.
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Did David Letterman Try to Warn His Blackmailer?
Posted in Celebrities, Hot Stuff
Tagged crime, hidden meanings, highly-unlikely, Hollywood, howard-kurtz, mad men, phone, posts-tagged, Television, writer
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