LEONARD’S DIGEST

Does some “Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy” control much of the mainstream media?

I used to drive a great deal across country for my job. Before there were progressive radio alternatives I often listen to right-wing radio shows. Hey, I love politics and it was the only thing on. So from Limbaugh and crew to local folks like Rochester’s local blowhard Bob Lonsberry, everyday I put myself through the torture and played the righty radio during my travels. (I am sure I was quite a sight driving down the road screaming back at my radio).

I  discovered a frequent pattern of different righties on the radio addressing the same issues on the same day. I even noticed  this trend with the local righty radio shows. I often wondered how so many different right-wing radio talking heads could be talking about the same subject on the same day (usually it involved Clinton bashing at the time) making the same points. I used to think to myself  that these righty talking heads were using the same script. The same “talking points” issued by the RNC. No, couldn’t be.

Now it is discovered that I was right all along and they were getting their daily talking points from the RNC or some other GOP controlled group. And to think they laughed at Hillary when she claimed that her husband was being attacked by a huge “right-wing conspiracy”. Funny, Hillary was right after all. - Robert

From Media Matters:

Caught red-handed using GOP talking points, Fox caves with apology … for typo

Published Wed, Feb 11, 2009 2:24pm ET by Karl Frisch

Yesterday, Media Matters noted:

In purporting to “take a look back” at how the economic recovery plan “grew, and grew, and grew,” Fox News’ Jon Scott referenced seven dates, as on-screen graphics cited various news sources from those time periods — all of which came directly from a Senate Republican Communications Center press release. A Fox News on-screen graphic even reproduced a typo contained in the Republican press release.

My, how a day of criticism from media critics and progressive bloggers changes things – even at Fox News. Today, Scott offered… an apology of sorts (emphasis added):

Yesterday on Happening Now we showed you how the stimulus bill has grown over time. Our story prompted by a news release from the Senate Republican Communication Center. There point that a $56 billion proposal in September has grown to $838 billion in five months. In compiling the story, our producers and researchers did what we always do — we verified the accuracy of the material. But in double checking the newspaper quotes referenced in that news release we made the same mistake they did. We labeled a Wall Street Journal article as having run in 2009 when in fact it was 2008. That was our error, and we apologize.

Of course, I’m kidding.

See what Scott does there? He apologizes, not for passing along a one-sided argument made in a Senate Republican Communications Center’s press release as Fox News’ original reporting, but for reporting the typo.

In his initial report, Scott didn’t tell his audience that the citations in his report were based entirely on a press release from the Senate Republicans – a fact he glosses over in his half-hearted apology for the typo.

I’d question Fox News’ journalistic integrity; that is of course if they had any to question in the first place.

(See the video by cliking here)

Check out Blinded by the Right, by reformed righty David Brock.