Philadelphia Radio Station Blocks Democratic Ad

Posted by on July 3, 2008 at 5:48 pm. 7 Comments :

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has produced a radio ad for broadcast in 13 Republican held House districts. In the Philadelphia district served by Jim Gerlach KYW-AM is refusing to air this ad.

The advertisement features a George W. Bush impersonator pretending to be talking to the Republican representative and thanking him for standing by the administration’s agenda on behalf of Big Oil and the “Grand Oil Party.” But apparently that’s too much for the tender sensibilities of KYW’s audience, at least according to its general manager, David Yadgaroff.

“As an all-news station, we were concerned that our listeners would have been misled by usage of an impersonator in the creative delivery.”

Were I a Philly resident, I would be insulted by Yadgaroff’s condescension. Does he really believe that his audience is too stupid to figure out that this is a political ad? More importantly, does he have such disrespect for his community that he would engage in wholesale censorship based on such a disparaging assertion? Apparently so.

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Chris Wallace OD’s On Fox News Kool Aid

Posted by on July 3, 2008 at 10:18 am. 1 Comments :

In an interview with the Martha’s Vineyard Times, Chris Wallace reveals that his re-education program has been successfully completed. Having been fully immersed in the Fox News program for attitude adjustment, Wallace has emerged a changed man. It took four and a half years but now he finally realizes that all the time he spent at what he calls the “mainstream media” was nothing but a delusional fantasy:

“…when I was in the mainstream media, when I was working at NBC and ABC – those were my big jobs for about 25 years – I thought we were fair and balanced. But since coming to Fox four and a half years ago, I have come to see things a little differently. And I, in fact, do believe there is a bias in the mainstream media and that is something I was only able to understand when I was outside of it.”

Wallace’s acknowledgment of media bias is a major breakthrough. And his repeated, mantra-like, references to mainstream media reflect the fullness of his indoctrination. He never bothers to explain how Fox, the number one cable news network and part of the vast Murdoch family of international TV, newspapers, and magazines, is not itself mainstream. But he does explain why Fox is an important player in modern media:

“…whether you like Fox News or don’t like it, it seems to me that it is a healthy development if only because it creates another view point.”

As we all know, it is essential that new viewpoints be “created” if we are to effectively manipulate public opinion. Even if that creation is the product of fiction writers at Fox headquarters. However, by conceding that Fox propounds a manufactured position, Wallace comes dangerously close to exposing the heart of the rightist conspiracy. He may need a little more Kool Aid after all.


Cable News Viewers: The Next Generation

Posted by on July 2, 2008 at 3:49 pm. 1 Comments :

Ratings for the second quarter of 2008 are in and it has ceased to be news that Fox is the slowest growing cable news network:

2nd Quarter 2008 vs 2007 – 25-54
Network % Gain/Loss
MSNBC +46
CNN +22
Fox -2

Far more interesting are the trends that point to long term viewing patterns. While the 25-54 demo is most prized by advertisers, it is not a static metric. As people age they grow into and out of that demographic group. So which networks are poised to benefit over time as audiences mature?

An analysis I did last month showed that only 22% of primetime Fox viewers were in the 25-54 demo, compared to 31% for CNN and 38% for MSNBC. The quarter-end numbers for the first half of 2008 further illustrate the aging of Fox News. In the ranking for cable news networks in the 18-34 demo, MSNBC is first with about 35% more viewers than CNN and Fox who are virtually tied.

These 18-34 year olds are the next generation of 25-54 year olds, and they are establishing their viewing habits now. At this point in time they are expressing a notable preference for MSNBC’s brand of news and analysis. So while Fox News has been trending down for a couple of years, the composition of the audience is forecasting even more downside for Murdoch & Co.

Fox viewers and John McCain have something in common besides a hard-right leaning network. They are also precisely the same age. What remains to be seen is if the demographic dead weight that is dragging down Fox News will do the same to candidate McCain.


Bill O’Reilly Controls The Stock Market

Posted by on June 30, 2008 at 7:37 pm. 6 Comments :

Jed Babbin, the editor of Human Events, has written what may be the stupidest article of the year. In it he wastes 1200+ words arguing that GE/NBC is terribly upset with the prodigious success of its cable news network MSNBC. Obviously – anyone would be disturbed with a business enterprise that doubles its audience year after year. As evidence of the concern, Babbin introduces two “exhibits” to affirm his hypothesis.

Exhibit A is a letter sent by presidential counselor Ed Gillespie complaining about an interview of President Bush conducted by Richard Engle. Babbin doesn’t actually explain why whining by a White House crony demonstrates any discomfit in the halls of NBC’s executive suites. The fact of the matter is that it’s just another politician working the refs to try to get more positive coverage.

Exhibit B is the contention that Keith Olbermann has a relationship with his bosses. Why Babbin thinks that there is something extraordinary about the host of a network’s number one program receiving accolades from the network honchos is also not explained.

But the truly idiotic part of the column is Babbin’s assertion that Bill O’Reilly is responsible for the poor performance of GE stock:

“O’Reilly’s high-temperature criticism of GE and Immelt — calling him a “despicable human being” responsible for the deaths of American troops in Iraq — may even have contributed to GE’s stock slide. From a high of $42.15 on October 2, 2007, GE’s shares have lost 36% of shareholder value, closing last Friday at $26.83.”

That’s a lot of power that Babbin has placed in the hands of a lowly TV blowhard. However, GE’s stock is not alone in suffering severe losses. Maybe Babbin hasn’t heard that the economy is near (or in) a recession. Perhaps he has also not heard that the stock of News Corp., the parent of Fox News is itself down 38% – even worse than GE. Is that also the work of Market Magician O’Reilly? Or has Olbermann been casting counter-spells of his own?

Indeed, O’Reilly has been tough on GE, NBC, MSNBC, and Jeff Immelt (although O’Reilly will never utter the name Olbermann). Just last week O’Reilly wondered how Immelt kept his job. Does he also wonder how Fox News chief Roger Ailes keeps his? At least MSNBC has been increasing their viewership, while the Fox News audience has been cratering. But the extremity of O’Reilly’s pique goes even further with overt threats aimed at GE’s CEO:

“That Immelt man answers to me…That’s why I’m in this business right now, to get guys like that.”

And lest you dismiss O’Reilly’s intent, he has made it clear that he is serious:

“[T]here is a huge problem in this country and I’m going to attack that problem. I’m going to attack it. These people aren’t getting away with this. I’m going to go right where they live. Every corrupt media person in this country is on notice, right now. I’m coming after you…I’m going to hunt you down […] if I could strangle these people and not go to hell and get executed…I would.”

[For more on O’Reilly’s sociopathic paranoia, see The O’Reilly Fear Factor: Collected Verses]

Babbin concludes his article by attempting to foment an insurgency within the ranks of NBC News. He advises NBC journalists to issue ultimatums directed at the NBC brass and, if they do not get satisfaction, to resign forthwith. I’m not sure why anyone would take advice from the likes of Babbin. He has proven with this article to be intellectually deficient, and a poor editor to boot. But one person has already taken advice proffered in this column. John McCain has initiated a “Truth Squad,” and staffed it with well known liars. I guess that’s something Babbin can take comfort in.


John McCain’s Truth Squad

Posted by on June 30, 2008 at 12:16 pm. NO Comments :

On Face the Nation this weekend, Gen. Wesley Clark made the obvious observation that John McCain’s captivity in a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp was not a qualification to be president. McCain’s ordeal was certainly horrific, but not leadership training. Clark’s comments will no doubt be controversial, but the reality is that living in a hut for five years, far removed from any management or policy development responsibilities, does not prepare one for executive leadership positions. McCain has other experience to promote, like his tenure in the Senate, but if he is considered to be qualified to be president solely on the basis of his time spent in jail, then Martha Stewart is qualified to be his Attorney General and Snoop Dogg his Secretary of State.

McCain’s response to the matter is to set up a “Truth Squad.” Leaving aside for the moment that nothing Clark said was untrue because it was merely his opinion, there are serious problems the new McMod Squad. The principle members include folks like Orson Swindle and George “Bud” Day.

Lt. Col. Swindle has a long and infamous resume. He is the McCain campaign’s veterans liaison as well as a board member of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), an independent advocacy group that has long backed McCain. CAGW has also been associated with unethical, if not illegal, activities on McCain’s behalf, and is tied to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Swindle himself is also a Senior Policy Advisor at the big DC lobbying firm of Hunton & Williams. All of these duties violate McCain’s own policy of not allowing people working for “independent entities” from serving on his campaign staff.

Col. Day was a member of another organization that misused the word “truth” in their name, the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. He is now the director and president of the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, a group comprised of former swiftboaters and the owner of the rights to “Stolen Honor,” the crocumentary featuring the swiftboat liars. It is interesting that McCain now employs Day to speak on his behalf. In 2004 he called Day’s slandering of John Kerry “dishonest and dishonorable.” Apparently those qualities are required by the McCain of 2008.

Now McCain is criticizing Barack Obama for comments made by Wes Clark. Obama has already rejected Clark’s statements, but that hasn’t stopped McCain from demagoguing the character issue. McCain himself, not a surrogate, said Saturday that “Obama’s word cannot be trusted.” Will McCain now condemn himself for engaging in dirty politics?


Bill O’Reilly: No Peabody For You

Posted by on June 28, 2008 at 10:33 am. 1 Comments :

Little Billy O’Reilly is poor loser (or just a loser, period). The delusional narcissism that prompted him to falsely claim that he had won two Peabody awards a few years ago has swelled to consume an ever greater portion of his diseased ego. For the record, O’Reilly has won precisely zero Peabody’s. He later claimed that he meant Polk Awards, but he never won of those either. Inside Edition, which O’Reilly hosted for a spell, did win a Polk Award, but that was two years after O’Reilly had left the program.

[For more on O’Reilly’s dementia, see The O’Reilly Fear Factor: Collected Verses]

A few weeks ago, the most recent collection of Peabody honorees were announced and O’Reilly was, of course, not on the list. Why would he be? The purpose of the Peabody’s are to…

“…recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious public service by TV and radio stations, networks, producing organizations, individuals and the World Wide Web.”

Nope. Nothing in there describes Bill O’Reilly. So, consistent with the nature of his personality disorder, he is now striking back at the offending academics who fail to recognize his superiority.

The envy is so thick it could be smeared with a loofah. O’Reilly has used his “Reality Check” segment to advance his fantasies. He no doubt gets great pleasure from disparaging his nemesis, Bill Moyers, who has won ten Peabodys. But he goes further in attempting to discredit the entire enterprise by asserting that it is a bastion of liberalism. Unfortunately, O’Reilly just ends up providing more evidence for why he is unqualified for this award.

In labeling the program’s director, and nine other board members, as liberals (he says two are conservative), O’Reilly offers no evidence for the claim. However he does mangle the facts related to the board’s composition. There are sixteen members, not twelve, as O’Reilly says.

Now we can add the Peabodys to the growing list of O’Reilly’s enemies: Al Franken, Keith Olbermann, NBC, MSNBC, GE, Jeff Immelt, Newsweek, San Francisco, DailyKos, CNN, Paul Krugman, Brian De Palma, Cindy Sheehan, Ludacris, Howard Dean, Ariana Huffington, Dumbledore, plus those inducted to his fearsome Hall of Shame.

What must really hurt is that amongst the winners this year was an upstart from Comedy Central, Stephen Colbert. So the guy who plays a character mocking O’Reilly is honored with the most prestigious award in journalism, and O’Reilly is reduced to mocking the institution:

“”[W]e’re sure the judging is fair and balanced. Party on, Peabody guys.”

Party on, Bill.

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Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
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Clear Channel Bans Bushmen Ad

Posted by on June 27, 2008 at 10:50 am. 2 Comments :

Harry Shearer BushmenAuthor, satirist, and the voice of innumerable Simpsons characters, Harry Shearer, has a new CD coming out that typically skewers politics and culture. The title of the project is Songs of the Bushmen and features a debut single about the “935 Lies” told by the Bush administration in the run up to the invasion of Iraq.

Clear Channel, however, despite being an avowedly conservative media enterprise (they gave 77% of their $300K+ PAC contributions to Republicans in 2004), is demonstrating their opposition to free speech and markets by refusing to allow ads for Shearer’s work to appear on their billboards.

This is consistent with Clear Channel’s history of partisan censorship. They have previously refused ads for VoteVets and they nixed the Dixie Chicks from their radio network. And let’s not forget their ludicrous list of banned songs post-9/11.


Who Is Snubbing Muslim Americans?

Posted by on June 25, 2008 at 1:55 pm. 9 Comments :

At a recent campaign rally for Barack Obama, an event volunteer had the poor judgment to tell two women wearing head scarves that they could not be seated behind the stage where Obama was speaking. The concern was that the pictures would add fuel to the false assertions circulating about Obama being a stealth Muslim. Obama apologized to the women publicly and personally, but that did not stop the New York Times from publishing a front page story on the controversy and how it may be affecting his support in the Muslim community. The Times also accused Obama of ignoring Muslim voters:

“While the senator has visited churches and synagogues, he has yet to appear at a single mosque.”

That statement could apply with equal accuracy to John McCain, but the Times has not seen fit to address that. Not surprisingly, Fox News has also weighed in with those worried about the beleaguered voters of Islamic heritage.

Obama & MuslimsThis new found advocacy on the part of the media for respect for Muslim Americans is encouraging, if not mysterious. Since when has the press been known to stand up for Muslim rights? Yet here are just a few examples of media outrage due to the Obama campaign’s alleged insensitivity and struggles with Muslim voters:

[Note: The New York Post’s headline actually used all caps and a fabricated quote that appears nowhere in the story]

The New York Times Times article is also not alone in criticizing Obama for not visiting mosques in the course of his campaign. But neither the Times, nor any other major news outlet, has held John McCain to the same standard. How many mosques has McCain visited? So far as I can tell, none.

While the media is awash in analyses of Obama’s support from Muslim Americans, they don’t seem to have the same concern for McCain. Perhaps there is an unstated assumption that Muslims are a more natural fit for Obama than McCain; that an African American candidate with a Muslim father and the middle name Hussein would all but lock up the Muslim vote. But that assumption would require the dismissal of all of the anti-Saddam, pro-Iraq war, Muslims that ought to be flocking to the campaign of the war-mongering architect of the “surge.” It would also demonstrate ignorance of the fact that George W. Bush carried a plurality of Muslims in 2000.

So why is the media curious only about the state of Obama’s relationship with Muslims? Why is there this sudden outpouring of empathy for how Muslims are treated by the Democratic candidate for president, but not the Republican, whose party’s support amongst Muslim’s has cratered in just a few years? Could it be that it allows the media a pretense of tolerance of minorities while they bash the first African American to become the nominee of a major political party?

If the the New York Times wants to question the depth of Muslim support for Obama, they ought to also ask the same questions of McCain. Otherwise it is just an exercise in hypocrisy. And it wouldn’t hurt if both candidates took time from their schedules to visit a mosque or two.


John McCain Says Terrorists Threaten Our Very Existence

Posted by on June 23, 2008 at 3:02 pm. NO Comments :

Struggling in recent election polls, John McCain is resorting to the old and familiar Republican campaign motivator – unrelenting fear. When asked in an interview with Fortune magazine what he sees as the gravest long-term threat to the U.S. economy, McCain answered…

“Well, I would think that the absolute gravest threat is the struggle that we’re in against radical Islamic extremism, which can affect, if they prevail, our very existence.”

You have to give him credit for finding a way to evade a question on the economy by turning it into a national security issue. But his answer elevates the destructive force of a band of cave-dwelling fanatics into an awesome superpower capable of annihilating America. Does McCain really believe that Al Qaeda is capable of doing something that Germany, Japan, Russia, and China have never been able to do? Probably not. What he does believe is that terrorism can be used to instill fear in the minds of Americans. His purpose being to distract them from the economic crisis that they currently regard as the most important issue of the day – an issue he has admitted he does not understand – to the frightful specter of imminent doom at the hands of the Islamo-fascists (or whatever he’s calling them this week).

To drive the point home, McCain’s chief strategist, Charlie Black, in the same article, gave a surprisingly candid answer when asked if a new terrorist attack on American soil would benefit McCain’s campaign. Black said…

“Certainly it would be a big advantage to him.”

[Note to idiotic politicians: When asked if a terrorist attack will help your campaign, the answer is always “NO! A terrorist attack will only hurt America and all Americans.”]

Black is saying outright that a terrorist attack would be good for McCain. McCain agrees as he tries to shift the debate from economics to terrorism because he perceives that as an issue that favors him. And while Black’s remarks are disgusting and stupid, the media has all but ignored the remarks of McCain himself. Isn’t McCain the candidate? Why is it appropriate for him to exalt our enemies by declaring that they are powerful enough to threaten “our very existence?” If that’s an example of McCain’s foreign policy expertise, America can do without it.

If you think that this is repulsive, just wait until election day nears and McCain is still trailing. Look for this sort of coordinated message to continue and sink further into the muck.


The Fox Frame: Seven Dollar Gas

Posted by on June 22, 2008 at 11:52 am. 2 Comments :

To the surprise of no one, Fox News has been promoting the notion that the rise in gas prices is the fault of Democrats. Neil Cavuto posited that very theory a couple of months ago in a segment subtly titled, “Democrats to Blame for High Gas Prices?” The introduction to the piece referenced the GOP talking point that current rates are the consequence of the “Pelosi Premium.”

$7.00 GasYesterday, the Fox business program “The Cost of Freedom” featured a segment that stretched even further to predict that Al Gore’s endorsement of Barack Obama would send gas prices soaring to seven dollars a gallon. Nothing in the broadcast explained how a political endorsement could have such a profound impact on the price of gas, but a lack of intelligent analysis never stopped Fox before.

In addition to misleading discussions and graphics, the Fox News Ticker often articulates the right-wing view that fuel costs only became a problem with the advent of the Democratic Congress. The problem for Fox is that, despite their best efforts, the availability of facts persists, and they contradict the Fox propaganda. Indeed, gas prices have increased 78% since January 2007, when the new Congress was sworn in. What the Fox Ticker does not tell you is that prices increased 54% from the Bush inauguration until the January 2007, and 174% throughout the Bush administration. Neither does it tell you that Republicans in Congress and the President, whose signature is required to pass legislation, have worked to stifle every Democratic proposal.

In case you didn’t know, you can correspond with the Fox News Ticker. So if you want to tell the Ticker off, write theticker@foxnews.com