Tag Archives: media bias debate

Worst New Home Market Ever; AP’s Crutsinger Downplays, Lowers the Recovery Bar

There are many annoying aspects of the sea change in media coverage of the economy since Barack Obama became president. At or near the top of the list is how the business press has downplayed the unprecedented housing industry disaster, while lowering the bar that will supposedly represent a real recovery to ridiculous levels. According the the Census Bureau ( 12-page PDF ), 23,000 new homes were sold nationwide in October. That figure ties August 2010 and December 1966 (when the population was 35% smaller) for is the lowest single month since records have been kept. More extensive evidence of how bad things are will come after the jump. On Wednesday , the Associated Press's Martin Crutsinger provided as good an example as any of the press template for housing coverage — acknowledge that, yes, things are really bad; give readers an absurdly low benchmark for what would represent real improvement and how long it should take to get there; locate some “expert” to say it's really not all that bad; and find some kind of anecdote somewhere, anywhere, that will leave the impression that things might somehow be getting better: read more

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Worst New Home Market Ever; AP’s Crutsinger Downplays, Lowers the Recovery Bar

Pity the Prez: NYT Blog Hauls Out the ‘Distraction’ Meme Again (Update: Press Treated NoKo as a Distraction in April 2009)

I heard Rush mention this Caucus Blog item at the New York Times on his program today. It seems that the Times's Michael Shear is disappointed that Dear Leader is yet again caught up in a “distraction” (“Pat-Downs Ensnare White House in New Distraction”) It's headlined in the item's browser window as “Pat-Downs Ensnare White House in New Controversy.” Interesting edit, don't you think? If it's a “controversy,” the President owns it. If it's a “distraction,” well, it's an unfair intrusion. Clever. Shear wrapped it in a narrative whose theme was that “It all felt vaguely familiar.” Well, yeah. What's more than vaguely familiar has been the press's tendency to lament the distractions our supposedly otherwise focused like a laser beam chief executive must endure. On April 9, 2009 (at NewsBusters ; at BizzyBlog ), I noted that “The words 'Obama' and 'distraction' have both appeared in 2,425 articles in just the past 30 days; excluding duplicates, it's about 450.” In his blog entry, Shear listed many other awful distractions the president has encountered. What's interesting are how many of them escalated because of Obama or people working directly for him: read more

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Pity the Prez: NYT Blog Hauls Out the ‘Distraction’ Meme Again (Update: Press Treated NoKo as a Distraction in April 2009)

Searching for Christmas, and the Missing Layoff Stories

This is the sixth year I have looked into how the media treats these two topics:

Bozell, Hannity Tackle Couric-Murkowski Interview, NPR Portraying Bush As Drunkard in Latest ‘Media Mash’

Katie Couric's boosterism of “moderate Republican” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and NPR's cheap shot at former President George W. Bush's recovery from alcoholism were just two of the “Media Mash” topics NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell and Fox News host Sean Hannity addressed on the November 20 edition of “Hannity.” “When will you ever hear the word 'liberal' attached to a Republican?” Bozell asked, noting that Murkowski is in fact a liberal Republican. “In eight years, she was on [CBS] one time. In the last week, she's been on there twice,” the Media Research Center president noted after viewing a clip of CBS “Evening News” Katie Couric's November 15 interview with the Alaska senator. [Video of the full “Media Mash” segment is available after the page break] read more

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Bozell, Hannity Tackle Couric-Murkowski Interview, NPR Portraying Bush As Drunkard in Latest ‘Media Mash’

Name That Party: In Iowa, With Lame Duck Raise-Granting Dem Gov, Drudge Does, Des Moines Register Doesn’t

The seemingly endless variety of “name that party” stunts has yet another wrinkle. In this case, Matt Drudge is currently linking to a Des Moines Register story (“Culver OKs state pay raises”; also saved here at host for future reference) about how outgoing Iowa Governor Chet Culver has decided to rush through union contracts granting thousands of state employees 3% raises (before considering “step” raises that occur with seniority) in each of the next two years before Republican Governor Terry Bransted takes over in January. The headline for Drudge's link is “Lame duck Dem governor in Iowa OKs $100 million in raises for state workers.” Actually, it's $100 million a year for the next two years. But the linked Register article by Jason Clayworth never identifies Culver's Democratic Party affiliation, even though he tags the governor's opposition as Republican twice in the first two paragraphs. In other words, not that it was difficult to show that Culver is a Dem , but Drudge had to figure it out and tell his readers — and we thank him for that. Here are excerpts from Clayworth's clunker: read more

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Name That Party: In Iowa, With Lame Duck Raise-Granting Dem Gov, Drudge Does, Des Moines Register Doesn’t

Former ABC Reporter Jami Floyd Slams Sarah Palin as an ‘Extraordinary Ass’ on MSNBC

Former ABC reporter Jami Floyd appeared on MSNBC, Friday, and slammed Sarah Palin as an “extraordinary ass.” Floyd's attack didn't register much of a shock with Jansing and Co. host Chris Jansing. She simply wondered if the profanity was “allowed” in the morning hours.

Psst! Housing Market News Was Really Bad Wednesday; To AP, That Means It Was Really Good

Gosh, what's a bigger story — that to the extent it was ever happening at all the housing recovery “seems to have been aborted,” or that according to the government there was very little inflation in October? read more

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Psst! Housing Market News Was Really Bad Wednesday; To AP, That Means It Was Really Good

Snarky Bill Weir on Being a Careful Journalist: ‘I’ve Drastically Scaled down the Size of My Meth Lab’

Nightline co-anchor Bill Weir talked to TV Newser on Tuesday and offered a sarcastic answer to the question of how he must be careful as a journalist.

Olbermann Responds to Koppel, Claims Criticized Obama More in a Week that FNC Did Bush in 8 Years

‘Red Eye’ Host Gutfeld Rips ‘Crybaby-in-Chief’ Obama for Rebuke of Fox News

Lately the Fox News Channel’s overnight program “Red Eye” has offered a plethora of media criticism – much of it dead-spot on. Last week during this his “Gregalogue” segment , host Greg Gutfeld took on the so-called “Rally to Restore Sanity” offered up by Comedy Central hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. On the Sept. 29 broadcast of his show “Red Eye,” Gutfeld responded to President Barack Obama’s comments about Fox News he made during a recent interview. “So President Obama was just interviewed in Rolling Stone magazine — that thinning pamphlet for our country’s dwindling supply of pony-tailed pensioners,” Gutfeld said. “When asked about Fox News, this is what our Commander-in-Chief had to say.” Gutfeld read a portion of that interview, which Obama played media critic and attacked FNC that appeared in the Oct. 15 issue of Rolling Stone : I think Fox … is part of the tradition that has a very clear, undeniable point of view. It’s a point of view that I disagree with. It’s a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of a country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world. But as an economic enterprise, it’s been wildly successful. But the “Red Eye” host reminded Obama he has the deck stacked in his favor, yet time and time again, he and members of his administration go after the Fox News Channel . “OK let me get this straight — you’re the President of the United States , with both Houses [of Congress] under your control. You also have the most fawning press of any president in the history of the universe and yet you let FNC get under your skin, because it’s the only network that doesn’t have a thrill up its leg?” he continued. “Obama’s like a sports team who owns the ref, the fans and the field, but refuses to play until the kid in the tenth row stops chewing gum.” And as Gutfeld explained, it wasn’t Fox News Channel that has rallied the biggest thorn in the side of this administration, the Tea Party movement. Instead, it was Chicago CME Group floor reporter Rick Santelli, who works for a competitor of Fox News. “So let’s indulge his fantasy and imagine if Fox News didn’t exist – the good old days, when the only media was a liberal one,” Gutfeld said. “Well, Obama would still be in trouble. See, it wasn’t Fox who started the tea parties. It was CNBC’s Rick Santelli – and then America went crazy with it.” And what would happen if there were no Fox News? This White House, which seems to want to take a page out of the Saul Alinsky playbook and give its political opponents as label, would have to go after someone or something else. Gutfeld suggested it would be the American people. “In fact, it would be far worse for Obama if there was no Fox News, because then he’d only have the American people to get mad at,” Gutfeld said. “There is no Republican adversary right now, and without Fox News – who’s left? You. And this is why the Crybaby-in-Chief needs us. It provides cover, so Obama can criticize Americans without ever saying ‘those Americans.’ He can just say Fox News instead. And I don’t mind. We’re happy to help. And if you disagree with me, you’re a racist, homophobic, taurophobe.”

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‘Red Eye’ Host Gutfeld Rips ‘Crybaby-in-Chief’ Obama for Rebuke of Fox News