MediaMatters: Comparing FOX/MSNBC

Jamison Foser of Media Matters wrote a great piece about the FOX/MSNBC/White House nonsense. In a nut shell, the White House has come to the conclusion that FOX News is not a real news organization, FOX says that MSNBC is the left version of them, and a ridiculous amount of people in journalism have decided to not only defend FOX, but also accept that equation. This is something Aaron Sorkin would pitch as a movie idea. Foser puts it all into a perspective that ignores the petty pundit soundbites and gets to the heart of the controversy.

First, he discusses the actual programming content and the time allotted to partisan ideals on both networks:

But hey, guess what? Maddow, Schultz and Olbermann account for three hours of original programming a day -- exactly the same as Joe Scarborough, who hosts the agenda-setting Morning Joe. That's conservative Joe Scarborough. Former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough. And if you watch MSNBC during the day, you'll see a parade of anchors and reporters who frequently adopt conservative frames, pass along GOP spin, and routinely fail to challenge obvious falsehoods from conservative guests. I'm not saying these daytime reporters are conservatives, but I am saying they frequently (unknowingly, I'm willing to assume) traffic in conservative misinformation. Taken as a whole, it's awfully hard to say with a straight face that MSNBC leans to the left.

And yet reporters keep insisting that not only does MSNBC lean to the left, it leans as far to the left as Fox. (And, in the process, they ignore or downplay the central truth that the real problem with Fox isn't merely that it leans to the right, but that it is fundamentally dishonest; that its goals are not to inform the public, but to destroy people it sees as its enemies.)

Next, Foser demolishes CNN's Campbell Brown for attempting to capitalize on this feud by agreeing with the FOX/MSNBC comparison:

And in Brown's telling, MSNBC "leans left" just as much as Fox "leans to the right." Of course, Brown doesn't actually provide any examples; doesn't even name any names. In a segment that ran nearly 1,000 words, Brown didn't provide a single example of slanted commentary, flawed journalism, false claims, or anything else at all. No facts, no details, nothing.

It sure is easy to insist that Fox and MSNBC are equivalent when you don't have to actually assess what they do, isn't it? But that isn't really journalism; it's just pontification and spin.

But Brown can't offer examples; can't get into details, because if she did, the fantasy she constructs that Fox and MSNBC are polar opposites would fall apart.

She'd have to try to find MSNBC equivalents of Fox -- not just Hannity, but Bill Hemmer and Brett Baier, too -- falsely accusing an Obama administration official of covering up statutory rape. And of Hemmer falsely claiming Democrats "voted to give special protection to pedophiles."

She'd have to find the MSNBC equivalent of Fox reporter Jon Scott repeatedly being caught passing off GOP talking points (typos and all) as his original reporting. She'd have to find the MSNBC equivalent of Fox anchor Martha MacCallum having to apologize for passing off a six-month-old Joe Biden quote about the economy as a current comment -- a clip Fox deceptively cropped to make it appear Biden was saying something that he was actually criticizing John McCain for saying. And of White House correspondent Wendell Goler cropping an Obama comment and taking it out of context, completely reversing the statement's meaning in the process. Not Sean Hannity, not Glenn Beck -- Wendell Goler.

She'd have to find the MSNBC equivalent of Chris Wallace calling the Obama administration the "biggest bunch of crybabies I have dealt with in my 30 years in Washington." Anyone think David Gregory ever said anything like that about the Bush administration?

Campbell Brown knows she can't find any of these things, so she doesn't even try. And I haven't even scratched the surface of Fox's malicious and deeply dishonest attacks on those they disagree with; their assault on fact and reason, or their cheerleading for pet causes.

But even if Brown could find the MSNBC equivalent of all that and more -- which, again, she simply cannot do -- she'd still have to find the Fox equivalent of MSNBC handing over three hours a day to former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough. And of MSNBC employing Pat Buchanan, the nation's most famous bigot. And of raging Clinton-hater, liberal-basher and on-air misogynist Chris Matthews hosting one of MSNBC's signature shows. And of MSNBC's "straight news" reporters regularly adopting conservative frames and failing to challenge right-wing lies during interviews. She'd have to find the Fox version of MSNBC's use of Michelle Bernard, a right-wing activist who has been sending out false and despicable anti-health care reform attack emails, as host of a special forum dealing with health care.

Campbell Brown can't do that, either.

Read the whole thing here.

Gov. Jindal Makes Rachel Maddow Speechless

This is a clip of the immediate reactions of Rachel, Keith Olbermann, and Chris Matthews regarding the Republican response of President Obama's SOTU.

Rep. Barney Frank On ABC's "This Week"

Barney Frank was great yesterday with Sen. Jim DeMint. Here is the transcript. A highlight:

FRANK: Spending can be stimulus. I don't understand what you think stimulus is.
(CROSSTALK)
DEMINT: But this is the largest spending bill in history, and we're trying to call it a stimulus when it's just doing the things that...
FRANK: Well, let me tell you what I think is the largest...
DEMINT: ... you wanted to do anyway.
FRANK: The largest spending bill in history is going to turn out to be the war in Iraq. And one of the things, if we're going to talk about spending, I don't -- I have a problem when we leave out that extraordinarily expensive, damaging war in Iraq, which has caused much more harm than good, in my judgment.
And I don't understand why, from some of my conservative friends, building a road, building a school, helping somebody get health care, that's -- that's wasteful spending, but that war in Iraq, which is going to cost us over $1 trillion before we're through -- yes, I wish we hadn't have done that. We'd have been in a lot better shape fiscally.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That is a whole another show, so I'm going to...
(CROSSTALK)
FRANK: That's the problem. The problem is that we look at spending and say, "Oh, don't spend on highways. Don't spend on health care. But let's build Cold War weapons to defeat the Soviet Union when we don't need them. Let's have hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars going to the military without a check." Unless everything's on the table, then you're going to have a disproportionate hit in some places.

Rev. Robinson's Prayer Not Broadcast On HBO

Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay Episcopal Bishop, delivered a moving prayer today at the request of President-elect Barack Obama to kick off the inaugural festivities in Washington D.C. this afternoon. Unfortunately, HBO did not broadcast his invocation. Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend talks about it here. I also read about it at Queers United and AmericaBlog. Which means this is going to get around very fast. If I were in charge at HBO, I wouldn't expect huge ratings on Tuesday for the inauguration (unless, of course, they also don't broadcast homophobe Rev. Rick Warren's invocation). People don't respond well to being ignored.

Here is a transcript of the Rev. Robinson's prayer:


A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire

Opening Inaugural Event Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC January 18, 2009

Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God's blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will...

Bless us with tears - for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger - at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort - at the easy, simplistic "answers" we've preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience - and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be "fixed" anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility - open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance - replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity - remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln's reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King's dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters' childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we're asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand - that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

What I Have Learned This Week

A lot of talk out there in the internet tubes about the slamming Joe Scarborough received from Zbigniew Brzezinski on "Morning Joe". It's nice to hear that there are people who are not afraid to be completely honest about his "stunningly superficial knowledge". However, while Joe tried to recuperate, Mr. Brzezinski mentioned the Taba Summit. I had never heard of this before. I know about it now. Thank you, sir.

New Mexico Rail Runner now runs from Santa Fe: The Central New Mexico corridor, which is home to half the state’s population, contains Santa Fe, the state capital, and Albuquerque, the largest city and economic hub of New Mexico. The two cities are connected by a single four-lane interstate highway, I-25...The high real-estate prices in Santa Fe mean that many of the people who work there must commute from the Albuquerque metro area. Furthermore, the capital is home to many of the state’s cultural institutions and tourist attractions, and most out-of-state visitors are forced to make the 60-mile journey from the Albuquerque International Sunport by car. As the population of the region grows, commute times are expected to increase 80% on some routes by 2025, making the introduction of additional forms of transportation a priority to local governments.[7]

Roland Burris, Blagojevich's appointee for Obama's Senate seat, has a mausoleum. It's actually quite nice. It's bigger than my kitchen. And really, really weird.

Charles Barkley feels that speeding is understandable if the possibility of sex is the reason. Alabama's future Governor, everyone!

Apparently, It's A Very Big Bus

Newsweek: Rachel Maddow Article

Olbermann Reacts To Palin's Nonreaction Of Turkey Slaughter

American Journalist Taken Hostage

Unattributable.com is reporting that an American journalist has been taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Now, this website does describe itself as "hot humor, idle chatter, and wildly unsubstantiated rumor". Also, I am currently flipping back and forth between CNN and MSNBC and there has been no mention of this. However, Spencer Ackerman at The Washington Independent has confirmed knowledge of the journalist as well. Neither site is saying his name for safety reasons, although I have a good idea who. Let us all pray that this is incorrect information. This is one time I would appreciate bad reporting.

Olbermann's Special Comment on Prop 8

"My Friends" - A Medley By Humanitainment

Maddow and Ana Marie Cox Discuss McCain Campaign's Bad Week

New YouTube Feature

Audio button will read your comment aloud before you post.

NYT's Bob Herbert Details McCain's Healthcare Plan

Apparently, Obama Does Not Give Interviews Like McCain

Until this morning, I have avoided watching MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program since well before the Olympics. I would flip to it to see who was on as a guest and tune in for a few minutes and then change the channel. Actually, I didn't even know that they have a new format. Joe and Mika are not sitting together anymore and there are these huge desks everywhere. But, I was reminded about twenty minutes ago why I stopped watching and went to CNN even though their morning program is boring. The people of "Morning Joe" are condescending, accusatory whiners.

Senior Obama Advisor Linda Douglass was just on. Mika Brzezinski asked her why Senator Obama has not done interviews about the economic crisis when Senator McCain was on the show three times in a week. This is of course after Joe Scarborough tossed a random question out there in the previous segment questioning Obama's leadership because he won't do interviews. Douglass mentions that Obama did some rallies where he spoke to thousands and that those speeches were carried on all of the major networks. The "Morning Joe" crew then start yelling about how speeches are not the same as interviews and how the American people deserved to know what Obama's position was. I totally agree with that. Douglass then mentions that Obama did seven interviews two days in a row and three interviews the other day and did "Face the Nation" on Sunday. She said that she didn't understand what they were talking about and she suggested that maybe they were upset because Obama had not been on their show specifically. I think she hit the nail on the head. It seemed like a sore spot for Joe because he became even more pissy after that. Douglass didn't even get a chance to mention that Obama spoke on the Senate floor about his position regarding the bill. McCain did not. Pat Buchanan said something about Obama taking ownership of the bill by his vote and Douglass was quick to respond that McCain did the same.

I find it interesting how disjointed the Republican party is about this bailout bill. Both McCain and Obama held their nose while voting for it. Then, McCain went on "Morning Joe" and said that the President should veto it. All the while, the RNC is running ads accusing Obama of voting for a bad bill - the same bill McCain voted for. This morning on CNN, I saw a 527 ad accusing Obama of voting for the bill because he and other Democrats failed to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Seriously, the ad actually named Reid, Pelosi, Biden, and Obama. It was weird. I just want to shout "McCain voted for the bill!!!" Ugh.

Rachel Maddow Interview On AfterEllen.com

This is an excellent interview by Julie Bolcer. Maddow answers questions on a variety of topics:

On her "Talk Me Down" segment: “I don’t get mad because somebody has a different perspective than me,” she explains. “I get mad at people who are screwing things up in the country, and screwing things up in the world. But if you disagree with me about even serious issues, and you’re willing to debate them with me in a civil way without being insulting, I’m going to enjoy that conversation.”

On her looks: “I feel like in terms of what I look like, I’m working in a very visual medium for the first time in my life, and I’m just sort of trying to get by in terms of the basic, the minimum that I need to do visually in order to be allowed to be on television,” she says. “And so I put on the suit, so that I can go on TV. I let the makeup ladies put makeup on me, which they do to their own satisfaction. I don’t pay much attention to it.”

On the importance of being out: “That’s the thing that we owe the people who came before us who are the pioneers, and that’s the thing we owe the next generation of gay people in terms of clearing the way and making life easier for them. I think that there is a moral imperative to be out, and I think that if you’re not out, you have to come to an ethical understanding with yourself why you are not."

Lately, there have been many articles and interviews with Maddow; however, this one is the first one I have seen in a long while that doesn't rehash the same information over and over again. Click on the post title to read in full.

CNN's Campbell Brown Declares Her Disgust With McCain Camp's Sexist Treatment Of Palin

Chris Matthews Vs. Rep. Eric Cantor

Olbermann: Republicans Hijacked 9/11

Is Nice the New Nasty?

The execs at MSNBC sure hope so. She's quirky without being infantile, informed without being bookworm boring, and wholly intelligent without being intellectually condescending. She's Rachel Maddow, now on 5 nights a week somewhere other than just AM ( radio, not morning. I doubt she even gets up that early). Can MSNBC's new Princess Leia help a growing network tamp down on it's growing internal conflicts? Only time will tell. However, one thing's for sure - we will all love watching her navigate the finicky world of visual media on more than a guest host basis with enthusiasm, confusion, and laughter. Guest punditry by Pat Buchanan and all.