NOT EXACTLY FAIR AND BALANCED

Liberal Media Bias Worse Than Ever?

60 Minutes interview and Newtown video editing slammed

Jan 31, 2013 by David Mark

Editor-in-Chief t

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) in a mock swearing-in ceremony with House Speaker John Boehner on Jan. 3, 2013. Image: AP.

Liberal media bias has reached a new low. That's the verdict rendered by Peter Wehner, writing in Commentary.

Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and former senior policy adviser to President George W. Bush, zeroes in on the recent "60 Minutes" interview with President Barack Obama and outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The interview by correspondent Steve Kroft represents "the unprecedented swooning and cheerleading by the press for Barack Obama," Wehner writes.

Some of this can be laid at the feet of old-fashioned liberal media bias, in which Democratic politicians are given a pass for issues conservatives are excoriated for. But it goes deeper than that. President Obama "is liberal, Ivy League, and a person of color. That is simply too powerful of a combination for the elite media to resist. (If Obama were conservative, Ivy League, and a person of color, he would be a marked man, as Clarence Thomas has been.)"

"Mr. Obama touches the media's erogenous zone in ways that no other president, even JFK, ever has," Wehner adds. "One gets to sense that journalists not only like Mr. Obama; they are in awe of him. They want to impress him and please him and are afraid of being rebuked by him."

Media coverage is also being called slanted in the halls of Congress. Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) is none too happy news outlets for reporting that gun rights advocates "heckled" the father of a six-year-old who was killed at last month's elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Stockman (@SteveStockmanUS), who is back in the House after serving a single term 1995-97, tweeted, "MSNBC caught lying again. Bogus claims of pro-gun Newtown heckler." Then, "This is at least the fourth time in seven months MSNBC has been caught doctoring tapes for political reasons."

Via Commentary, and Politix reporting.

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Comments (view in Forum)

Jan '13

PayThatCEO

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No more so than Fox, Hannity, O'Reilly, Limbaugh and the group on the opposite side.
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Jan '13

NTBFW

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Thank you. You are first I know of to admit the bias. Either that or you admitted fox isn't. It's one or the other.
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Jan '13

Hireman

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I agree. Problem is, Fox is one network, among dozens on the other side. Very lopsided.
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Jan '13

thatgirl

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@NTBFW That poster said its BOTH sides. Where did he say Fox isnt biased?
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Jan '13

DyingBreed

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Fox, Hannity, and O'Reilly are all Fox, so thats kinda double dipping.

Limbaugh, on the other hand, is not a journalist. He is Conservative talk show host. He's not "biased," hes doing his job of being "Conservative." Calling Limbaugh "biased toward Conservatism" is like calling a Priest "biased toward Christianity."
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Jan '13

EquinsuOcha

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The difference is that Hannity, O'Reilly,and Limbaugh are commentators.........They don't deliver the news and don't claim to..........
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Jan '13

harold_lloyd

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Both liberal and conservative media, and Fox, are running on very skinny budgets.

A lot of the news you see is really another media outlet's story being reported on.

That means that misinformation spreads quickly, and then is corrected slowly.

Listen for things like," The New York Times is reporting...", or "Stories are coming out of...", and stuff like that.
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Jan '13

jessejaymes

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Well said. Media today is a "TMZ" in every field. They leech onto something and off we go.
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Jan '13

drpeeper

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Correct. No one digs in or tries to report. But you have to admit- they dig in and report what they choose. For example- 2008- when Palin was announced as VP candidate- swarms of reporters dove into Alaska to look things up. If the President ever faced the same unbiased scrutiny from ABC NBC CBS CNN NPR MSNBC PBS ETC ETC. He would have never made it out of Illinois senate.

Another example- everyone knows Toe Tapper Vitter. But THIS WEEK, a Democrat senator who is screwing underage hookers, while traveling on our dime- how often have you seen this mentioned on ABC NBC CBS CNN NPR MSNBC ? You won't.

In Fact CBS had him on for an interview on their Sunday show- they didn't ask a question about it. Not One.
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Jan '13

martydotcom

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@drpeeper Guess you reside in me on weird media zone. google Menezez ".
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Jan '13

drpeeper

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@martydotcom Guess you can't read. Did you see online sources even mentioned? You do know the difference in saturation of network news over online news, right?

Anyway, if you do google him. You end up with Fox, ABC then the LA times stories. Then online publications.

Maybe the NY times..... they would do 57 days straight front page news on Menendez as they did with Abu Ghraib ?
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Jan '13

martydotcom

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@drpeeper maybe journalist are doing their Job Veedrr convicted whore master Menendez nothing proved yet just right wing accusations
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Jan '13

Malitia_Man

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The mainstream media in general has a bias problem!!!
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Jan '13

Your_Name_Here

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If you ever wanted to hide from the media, hide behind the truth. They would never, ever consider looking there.
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Jan '13

DARSB

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"What is truth?" - Pontius Pilate
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Jan '13

stepped_in_it

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Re-using a tired term here......follow the money! If you owned a business and sold lies and the people bought those lies and raved to others how they got a great deal on those lies.......would you then tell them the truth?
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Jan '13

jessejaymes

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Case in point. California has a rodeo circuit. Big state, Lots of competition for the entertainment dollar. Rodeos are attended sparsely. Enter the Latino immigrants. Their brand of Rodeo is not so humane compared to the RCAA. The tripped running horses and it became known that most those horses suffered broken legs or necks. Latinos shrugged. So what? They were glue factory horses anyhow. Enter the Media. Within weeks of the first reporting by a local media at a local rodeo it went statewide and then national. The outrage was enormous. California legislature was on the job and immediately banned tripping of horses. The Latinos immediately sued for racism. Destroying their culture one horse at a time. The entire thing got blown up so big by the media that by the time the dust cleared every white person in California was racist against Mexicans and ever Mexican was a horse killer. And the media never got so much mileage out of a rodeo in the history of America. Everyone else suffered at the hands of the media. REGARDLESS of which side you were on.
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Jan '13

stepped_in_it

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@jessejaymes And $$$$ fell right out of the sky right into those medias lap..."follow the money" jeez!
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Jan '13

jessejaymes

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@stepped_in_it To my way of thinking there should be 4 absolutes in life. 1.) Taxes 2,) Death 3,) Re-elect Nobody 4.) Follow the money, always follow the money.
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Jan '13

stepped_in_it

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@jessejaymes Love those 4....but, can we put death as #4....it is your final "up your's" to the world, is it not? bahaha
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Jan '13

jessejaymes

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@stepped_in_it Well you know the old saying about bury me upside down so the world can kiss my...
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Jan '13

DARSB

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The transitive property: "the unprecedented swooning and cheerleading by the press for Barack Obama," as opposed, of course, to the "the unprecedented swooning and cheerleading by [Karl Rove and Fox News] for Mitt Romney,"
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Jan '13

OhWiseOne

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FOX vs. NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, MSDNC, CNN, NY Times, etc... I'm glad Fox and the internet exists. If not, Obama's regime would get not get any scrutiny.
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Jan '13
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Jan '13

OhWiseOne

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@jessejaymes Not nearly as powerful as previously mentioned networks The comparison is absurd.
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Jan '13
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Jan '13
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Jan '13

Litdes

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Although one can find media sources with a liberal bent, just as one can find media sources with a conservative bias, for the most part the media simply reports the news.
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Jan '13

OhWiseOne

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Let me guess. Obama voter?
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Jan '13

AceLuby

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@OhWiseOne Let me guess, tin foil hat wearer?
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Jan '13

OhWiseOne

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Obama causes Chrissy Matthews to get a tingle up his leg and causes Al Roker to poop his oversized pants. What's next? Randy Maddow sporting a full erection?
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Jan '13

DerivePI

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Most of my media does not have a liberal bias. I have removed most of the liberal bias from my reading list. Politix remains because it affords me the opportunity to be heard.
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Jan '13

OhWiseOne

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I like Politix too. It's one of the few places where free speech still lives.
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Jan '13

thatgirl

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@OhWiseOne Unfortunately, some people take advantage of the commentary section here by posting conspiracy theory based rants, instead of informed, intelligent commentary.
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Jan '13

DerivePI

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@thatgirl - Just as they have the freedom to display their foolishness, we have the freedom to laugh at it and taunt it (until the Politix hall monitor catches us).
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Jan '13

thatgirl

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@DerivePI so true!:P
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Jan '13

OhWiseOne

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@thatgirl I know. I could name many like that on here.
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Jan '13

AceLuby

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Believing in the 'liberal media' is like believing in Santa or the Easter Bunny. There's no hard evidence they exist, but you will never convince the true believers.

The only media bias that exists (outside of Fox and MSNBC, who aren't 'news') is bias towards sensationalism.
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Jan '13

EquinsuOcha

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Blind Runnin'
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Jan '13

Realthinker

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Is grass green? Of course there is a bias. Good heavens, the president called the top anchors from the state controlled alphabet media to breakfast in the White House before Christmas in 2011 and told them to make every election issue about racism. They have dutifully obeyed. It doesn't get any more blatant than that.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/...
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Jan '13

Tralee

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Worse than ever, perhaps, certainly more blatant recently. The MSNBC manipulation was a crime and they should be ashamed, they won't and will continue to do it simply because most of the public, who only get one side of the news, will absolutely believe the manipulations and will continue to even after they are shown for the lie they are. Some people are just so uninformed and so partisan that they will believe any lie simply because they are now so disposed to thinking the worst of anyone who does not follow the script presented by the left.
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Jan '13

EquinsuOcha

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How in the holy hell can there be anyone who thinks there isn't a liberal bias in news reporting........
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Jan '13

Dan_Tien

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I always thought that Clarence Thomas was a marked man because he survived a challenge to his nomination to the Supreme Court despite allegations that he sexually harassed Anita Hill and other women who worked for him, not because he is "conservative, Ivy League, and a person of color". Watching the hearings in which Ms. Hill testified was a bit like watching a trial where a victim is blamed for being raped.
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Jan '13

wangotango

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The liberal media seems to have an orgasmic tone when talking about or mentioning the Almighty obamas name. I even bet the liberal reporters have a binder of obama pictures instead of playboy/playgirl mags for late night adventures....
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Jan '13

Buckfan4life2

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Hats off to Politix for atleast publishing Mr Wehner findings. I never thought I would see the day a liberal base blog that will admit on a few negatives about Obama and the democrat party. Now if you could get your liberal readers to accept the truth on how bias the left is I could show a little respect to some. We will turn on MSNBC just to get a big laugh out of these clowns on there. I have never seen so many hypocrites and flat out liars on one news station in my life. Don't even act like Fox is that bias for the GOP either,its not even close. They would slam Bush when he deserved it, but MSNBC actually worships Obama like a God. If any conservatives out there has never watched Mathews,Maedow,Ed and the middleeastern dude with an english accent, please turn it on and just watch it atleast until you have to puke.
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Jan '13

SomethinsFishy

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I've noticed this particularly when they interview anyone from the NRA. They act as if the NRA were responsible for criminal acts, and they "interview" them as if they were Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay trying to get information out of an enemy combatant. The only thing missing is the loud music, and the water-boarding.
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Jan '13

HPthinker

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Scott Pelly is the most arrogant person on tv or anywere else... LOL
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Jan '13

Keyjo

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Could it also be that if the news isn't what you want to hear, then it is "slanted," or "biased?" So FAUX tells its audience what it wants to hear and MSNBC tells it audience what it wants to hear. Then you have those networks that try to stay a little more moderate and balanced. That's why I sample from various sources, but CNN is my go to network.
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Jan '13

OhWiseOne

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CNN is anti 2nd amendment, pro-Obama, pro homosexual, and they employ racists like Soledad O' Brien. It's a very liberal network.
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Jan '13

Keyjo

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@OhWiseOne
That's your opinion, to which you are entitled
Whoops! Did I sound too "liberal" there? Sorry about that!
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Feb '13
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Jan '13

Vance1

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Does mainstream media coverage have a liberal slant?
Just a "Slant"?
LOL!! The Media doesnt even do their job, They will cover for this Obama
its sickening!!!!
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Does mainstream media coverage have a liberal slant?

Does mainstream media coverage have a liberal slant?