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Give 'em that liberal media bias Wednesday, Dec 27, 2006 By David Sanders The Media Research Center has released its 19th Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting in its ever-vigilant attempt to point out some of the greatest examples of left-tilting bias in the mainstream media. Next to Christmas, it is one of my favorite things about the month of December. I offer a small sampling of my favorites. "CBS Evening News" team anchor Katie Couric and reporter Anthony Mason captured the Tin Foil Hat Award for Crazy Conspiracy Theories with a report from the Oct. 16, broadcast. Couric: "Gas is the lowest it's been all year, a nationwide average of $2.23 a gallon. It hasn't been that low since last Christmas. But is this an election-year present from President Bush to fellow Republicans?" Mason: "Gas started going down just as the fall campaign started heating up. Coincidence? Some drivers don't think so." (The camera zoomed in on a bumper sticker, "GOP: Grand Oil Party.") Man in a car: "And I think it's basically a ploy to sort of get the American people to think, well, the economy is going good, let's vote Republican." Couric earned honors, or dishonors, taking home two other awards and being a runner-up in four other categories. Capturing the Bring Back the Iron Curtain Award was Associate Press' Vanessa Arrington for her Aug. 4 offering, "Some Cubans enjoy comforts of communism." "When outsiders think of Cuba, it's often the lack of political freedoms and economic power that comes to mind," Arrington wrote. "Cubans who have chosen to stay on the island, however, are quick to point out the positives: safe streets, a rich and accessible cultural life, a leisurely lifestyle to enjoy with family and friends. "For all its flaws, life in Castro's Cuba has its comforts, and unknown alternatives are not automatically more attractive. ... Many foreigners consider it propaganda when Castro's government enumerates its accomplishments, but many Cubans take pride in their free education system, high literacy rates and top-notch doctors. "Ardent Castro supporters say life in the United States, in contrast, seems selfish, superficial, and - despite its riches - ultimately unsatisfying." Columnist and "NewsHour" contributor Mark Shields was a runner-up for the Damn Those Conservatives Award for commentary on the deaths of 12 West Virginia coal miners. "I don't think what happened in West Virginia is totally divorced from the K Street project. It was all about deregulation," Shields wrote. "Tom DeLay fervently and sincerely believes that every regulation - the regulations that have removed 99 percent of lead from the air, the regulations that have saved the Great Lakes - they are a burden and an onerous intrusion upon American business, and I think that what you've seen is Tom DeLay's America in action." (Investigators now believe the mine explosion resulted from a lightning strike. This was probably the fault of the religious right.) Ex-CBS anchor Dan Rather's exchange with CNN's Larry King earned him the State of Denial Award for Refusing to Acknowledge Liberal Bias. After being let go from CBS, Rather continues to pump a story that was based on forged documents taking issue with President Bush's National Guard service. "We had a lot, a lot, of corroboration of what we broadcast about President Bush's military record," Rather said. "It wasn't just the documents. But it's a very old technique used, that when those who don't like what you're reporting believe it can be hurtful, then they look for the weakest spot and attack it, which is fair enough. It's a diversionary technique." King: "You're saying that was a fair report, I mean that was - you believe that report to this day?" Rather: "Do I believe the truth of the story? Absolutely." The MRC's Quote of the Year was awarded to Arthur Sulzberger. The New York Times publisher's address to the 2006 graduation class of the State University of New York earned him the honor. "It wasn't supposed to be this way," Sulzberger said. "You weren't supposed to be graduating into an America fighting a misbegotten war in a foreign land. You weren't supposed to be graduating into a world where we are still fighting for fundamental human rights, whether it's the rights of immigrants to start a new life, or the rights of gays to marry, or the rights of women to choose. "You weren't supposed to be graduating into a world where oil still drove policy and environmentalists have to fight relentlessly for every gain. You weren't. But you are. And for that, I'm sorry." Fair and balanced? Hardly. ------- David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com. |
