6 Comments Add your own

• 1. Mike Carroll  |  May 8th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

  Fortunately, there are now prescription drugs that can help you, and your fellow travelers at Media Matters, with these delusions from which you suffer. Of course, some people don’t suffer from delusions, they enjoy them.

• 2. Pat Cunningham  |  May 8th, 2008 at 1:10 pm

  Prescription drugs, eh? Y’mean like the ones Rush Limbaugh takes? Hey, where can I get some of that stuff? (Mike, don’t forget to use our secret code when you send an answer to that question. A lot of narcs read this blog.)

• 3. Mike Carroll  |  May 8th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

  Pat-for another take on MSNBC see below. Akira Kurosawa’s classic movie Rashomon comes to mind.

  “Broadcasters on cable TV shows used to pride themselves on their efforts to be objective or at least not overt in their biases. But much has changed as the cable TV news universe has been morphed into a fierce competition with the emergence of ratings leader Fox News, which clearly appeals to a conservative-leaning audience. CNN, the old ratings favorite, still leans left but has made efforts at balance. MSNBC, on the other hand, seems to be seeking out more and more liberal-minded viewers.

  But not all liberals are created equal, which has resulted in frequent complaints from Hillary Clinton supporters that the network is biased against her in the current primary fights. Last night, Hardball host Chris Matthews added fuel to that fire when he appeared for a speech at Harvard’s Institute of Politics.

  According to attendees, Mr. Matthews heaped praise upon Mr. Obama during his talk. So much so that during the Q&A, he was asked by an audience member if MSNBC officially backed the Illinois Senator. “Well, it’s not official,” Mr. Matthews replied in a burst of candor. He then launched into a rambling answer that appeared aimed at partially retracting his admission and ended with the assertion that all of his bosses at MSNBC had backed the Iraq war.

  But MSNBC does not have much of a defense. During Tuesday night’s primary coverage, the pro-Obama spin was so obvious that the political tipsheet Hotline joked that MSNBC’s enthusiasm level for the Obama campaign registered somewhere between Richard Simmons and the “American Idol” girl who cried over Sanjaya.

  The storyline of the 2008 election has been dramatically influenced by the favoritism shown Mr. Obama in certain media circles. John Harris, editor of Politico.com, has said he was forced to put certain reporters sent to cover Mr. Obama through a rehab program after they returned to the office. Back in January, NBC News anchor Brian Williams noted that Lee Cowan, the reporter NBC had sent to cover Mr. Obama, had told him that “it is hard to stay objective covering this guy.”

  Some media reevaluations of Mr. Obama are now taking place, fueled in part by revelations such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright that are hard to ignore. But the simple truth is that Mr. Obama has had a free media ride for so long that he effectively wrapped up the Democratic nomination before any of his political weaknesses were generally known.

  As Hillary Clinton wrestles with a way to continue her underdog fight against Mr. Obama, she is said to be seething about the kid-glove coverage he was accorded for so long. What she forgets is that back in 1992, when Bill Clinton and she were the new kids on the political block, they too benefited from glowing coverage that pushed off close analysis of their many problems until after 1992 election was over.”

  – John Fund

• 4. Chuck Sweeny  |  May 9th, 2008 at 7:56 am

  “Progressive author and Internet powerhouse Arianna Huffington?”
  That’s the lede of the leftwing “Media Matters” article you linked.

  How about:

  “Goldbricker Arianna Huffington, who married a really rich guy, divorced him and took him to the cleaners.” That would be telling the truth.

• 5. Chuck Sweeny  |  May 9th, 2008 at 7:59 am

  I should add that I liked the Media Matters article, just the same. I think it would be rather odd for GE, the defense contractor that owns NBC, to do a lot of stories exposing the Pentagon.

• 6. Pat Cunningham  |  May 9th, 2008 at 9:40 am

  Yeah, but admit it, Chuck: Huffington’s got that exotic foreign accent going for her.

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