I voted for the Media Research Center's 22nd Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting and got so involved that I decided to write a post even though I have been taking a writing hiatus for the holidays.
A few stats about MRC's nominees
10 Different Print/Online Publications were nominated
Newsweek got 7 nominations
Times Mag got 6 nominations
NY Times got 4 nominations
MSNBC got the most broadcast nominations at 21
8 of those were given to Chris Matthews and 6 to Keith Olbermann.
ABC had 20 nominations
World News getting 8 and Nightline 4
NBC got 19 Nominations
Nightly News got 10, Today Show 6, and Meet the Press 2
CNN got 15 nominations with Newsroom getting the most at 5
CBS got 14 nominations and Katie Couric got half of those at 7
The Coronation of the Messiah Award for Fawning Inaugural Coverage
I was leaning toward ABC's Bill Weir saying that Obama made a cold day warmer and even the seagulls must be awed by the mass of humanity and I also considered CNN's Carol Costello describing the inauguration as one giant love-fest and NBC's Andrea Mitchell who said the flickering cell phone cameras seemed like the "stars shining back on Obama" But I had to go with Tom Brokaw for comparing it to the joy Poland felt when they overthrew their communist regime. I made this choice because Tom Broke Jaw has been an embarrassment to journalism for so many years and since the anniversary of that day was when Obama choose to slap Poland in the face with the announcement that he was removing Poland as home to the defensive missle program.
“You know what it [Obama’s inauguration] reminds me of? It reminds me of the Velvet Revolution. I was in Prague when that happened. And Vaclav Havel was a generational leader and was in the square in Prague and the streets were filled with joy. And we’re not overthrowing a communist regime here, obviously, but an unpopular President is leaving and people have been waiting for this moment.”
— NBC’s Tom Brokaw during live coverage prior to Obama’s inauguration, January 20.
Master of His Domain Award For Obama Puffery
Interesting choices include AP's Liz Sidoti who did everything but declare that Obama could walk on water, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann who discussed the "touch of greatness and Terry Moran of ABC who claimed that ghosts of past presidents were cheering for Obama. Although NBC's Chuck Todd portrayed some of Obama's failures as success, my pick was Joe Klein who tried to turn ALL of Obama's bad policies into spectacular achievements
“The legislative achievements have been stupendous — the $789 billion stimulus bill, the budget plan that is still being hammered out (and may, ultimately, include the next landmark safety-net program, universal health insurance). There has also been a cascade of new policies to address the financial crisis — massive interventions in the housing and credit markets, a market-based plan to buy the toxic assets that many banks have on their books, a plan to bail out the auto industry and a strict new regulatory regime proposed for Wall Street. Obama has also completely overhauled foreign policy, from Cuba to Afghanistan. ‘In a way, Obama’s 100 days is even more dramatic than Roosevelt’s,’ says Elaine Kamarck of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. ‘Roosevelt only had to deal with a domestic crisis. Obama has had to overhaul foreign policy as well, including two wars. And that’s really the secret of why this has seemed so spectacular.’”The Crush Rush Award for Loathing Limbaugh
— Time’s Joe Klein in the magazine’s May 4 cover story on Barack Obama’s first 100 days as President.
This was a tough choice between Bryan Burwell, who launched the fake slavery quote by Limbaugh in the October 14 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, then said it didn't matter if it was fake because Rush deserved it for other unspecified comments. MSNBC Chris Matthews compares Rush to James Bond villains and the Darling of the Left Who the Hell Is Janeane Garofalo compared Rush fans to women that love mass murderers on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Jack Cafferty of CNN blames "that corpulent Oxycontin aficionado of right-wing talk radio, Rush Limbaugh" for Obama's declining approval ratings, Rick Sanchez promoted the made-up quote, but had to give it to (the worst of the worst) double nominee (in this category) Chris Matthews for hoping to witness Rush Limbaugh getting murdered in a horrible manner.
“Rush Limbaugh is looking more and more like Mr. Big, and at some point somebody’s going to jam a CO2 pellet into his head and he’s going to explode like a giant blimp. That day may come. Not yet, but we’ll be there to watch.”
— Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Morning Meeting, October 13.
Damn Those Conservatives Award
Another hard choice... Ed Schultz, host of MSNBC’s The Ed Show, rants that Republicans lie and loves to see women die of cancer; In Times Magazine Joe Klein wants Rumsfeld tortured for his part in Bush Administration war crimes; Newsweek's Evan Thomas fears that the right might go apeshit over the Ft Hood shootings and, presumably, start mowing down American Muslims; Keith Olbermann calls Michelle Malkin a "mashed up bag of meat with lipstick" among other things; CNN host/comedian DL Hughley says the Republicans "literally look[s] like Nazi Germany"; MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan says those opposing ObamaCare just want to bring down Obama even if half the country dies and dual nominee in this category Keith Olbermann wants to run Dick Cheney out of the country. But my choice for the award is Thomas Friedman who expresses his loathing of the right as fear.“I was in Israel interviewing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin just before he was assassinated in 1995....The parallels to Israel then and America today turn my stomach: I have no problem with any of the substantive criticism of President Obama from the right or left. But something very dangerous is happening. Criticism from the far right has begun tipping over into delegitimation and creating the same kind of climate here that existed in Israel on the eve of the Rabin assassination.”The Poison Tea Pot Award for Smearing the Anti-Obama Rabble
— New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, September 30.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper pushes the vulgar teabagging slur to the edge. Susan Roesgen, a 'journalist' for CNN, said the tea partiers were anti government, anti-CNN, backed and funded by Fox News and not fit for family viewing. Of course she didn't show her deliberate goading of the crowd before and after the on-air report... gotta love those camera phones. Another nominee was ABC's Dan Harris, (who pretends to be a real reporter) saying that Obama's opponents were falsely accusing the president of everything from death panels to communism and that SOME unnamed "prominent Obama supporters were now calling the opposition racists." Janeane Garofalo, (the nobody that the left loves to put on all their shows) may have been the first to openly call those that oppose Obama racists. Charles Gibson of ABC, falsely reports a pattern of disruption at the townhall meetings caused by opponents to change. Don Lemon of CNN also calls the town hallers racists (as well as yelling, gun toters who refuse to let kids hear the Commander in Chief) and also praises Bill Maher for calling them racists as well. But I choose Keith Olbermann for kicking it up a notch by claiming that the protesters were also terrorists.
“The truth is out about the societal sabotage dressed up as phony protests against health care reform....When Hamas does it or Hezbollah does it, it is called terrorism. Why should Republican lawmakers and the AstroTurf groups organizing on behalf of the health care industry be viewed any differently — especially now that far too many tea party protesters are comparing President Obama and health care reform to Hitler and the Holocaust?”
— MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann talking about anti-ObamaCare protests on Countdown, August 7.
Spread the Wealth Award for Socialist Sermonizing
CBS Evening News Katie Couric advocates the take over of the banks; The Times Mark Halperin says on CNN that the lack of government health care is immoral; ABC's medical editor calls it a national shame; Terry Moran of ABC asks Obama why he doesn't just go ahead and fire all the bank CEOs and take over; Newsweek's Anna Quindlen criticizes the "cheerleaders of American exceptionlism" and the constitution (checks and balances) for trying to stop ObamaCare; and The NBC medical correspondent thinks the US will cease to be a world power without government ran health care. My choice is Tavis Smiley because he openly expresses is disdain for capitalism.
“I don’t think that left to its own devices, capitalism moves along smoothly and everyone gets treated fairly in the process. Capitalism is like a child: if you want the child to grow up free and productive, somebody’s got to look over the shoulder of that child.”
— PBS host Tavis Smiley in a Time magazine symposium on “The Future of Capitalism,” May 25 issue.
Long Live Camelot Award for Lionizing Ted Kennedy
This choice wasn't as difficult even though there were plenty of notable fans of Kennedy such as: Andrea Mitchell (a multi-nominee) saying of the rainy day of the funeral that the heavens were weeping for Kennedy and Katie Couric (another multi-nominee) said Kennedy's are the closest thing to royalty America has and Teddy was the voice of people who had no voice but the winner hands for me too outrageous for words.“Mary Jo wasn’t a right-wing talking point or a negative campaign slogan....We don’t know how much Kennedy was affected by her death, or what she’d have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history....[One wonders what] Mary Jo Kopechne would have had to say about Ted’s death, and what she’d have thought of the life and career that are being (rightfully) heralded. Who knows — maybe she’d feel it was worth it.”
— Discover magazine deputy web editor Melissa Lafsky, who formerly worked on the New York Times’s Freakonomics blog, writing at the Huffington Post, August 28.
The Half-Baked Alaska Award for Pummeling Palin
I don't think the nominees represent the worst of Palin bashers, but these nominees call Sarah Palin everything from petty and vindictive to a joke to a Barbie to herpes, and would rather have needles stuck in the eye than listen to her speech and one describe her crowds as car wreck watchers, but I choose Newsweek which managed to trash Palin twice in one issue.“In a smear that sounds even worse in retrospect, Sarah Palin goes rogue and stirs up prejudice by accusing Barack Obama of ‘palling around with terrorists.’”
— From Newsweek’s list of “The Biggest Losers” of 2008, those “who set the high-water mark for low behavior in 2008,” December 29-January 5 issue.
Sarah Palin: Ill-informed, inarticulate shopaholic has ego bigger than Alaska — and she’s still the darling of the GOP.”
— From a “Conventional Wisdom” assessment later in the same issue.
The Un-Fairness Doctrine Award for Slamming Media Conservatives
Another category for which I am not convinced that the worst of worst is on the nominee list, but they are right up there. Chris Matthews makes a rather mild statement about right wing books being crap but he is also nominated for his comment that conservative talk radio will be responsible if any violence is attempted against the president with Roger Simon agreeing with him; Baltimore Sun David Zurawik spews crazed hatred against Robert Novak just hours after his death; CBS' Harry Smith attacks Ann Coulter and calls her a whiner; Joe Klein trashes Fox News and says it borders on sedition while criticizing Team Obama for their war on Fox on the Times Magazine's Swampland blog but my choice is Rick Sanchez for dedicating a whole segment of CNN Newsroom to blaming right wing media (and the constitution) for the Holocaust museum shooting...“Was there a tone in this country that was actually started with the election of our first black president that is bringing the crazies out of the woodwork, and are they being motivated to move by right-wing pronouncements, like he’s dangerous, he’s a socialist, he’s a Muslim, and he isn’t even a U.S. citizen? This is what we hear on some TV and radio outlets, which, by the way, according to our Constitution, they are entitled to what they believe and even propagate.”
— CNN Newsroom anchor Rick Sanchez setting up a segment suggesting “hateful talk” can be blamed for the Holocaust museum shooting, June 11.
Let Us Fluff Your Pillow Award for Obsequious Obama Interviews
The left wing media's love affair with Obama is nauseating, icky and just plain embarrassing for this retired journalist. There were notable nominees such as: CBS's Bob Schieffer (2nd nomination in this category), NBC's Brian Williams and David Gregory, but I had to choose the twice nominated (in this category) Katie Couric for this specific interview question as well as all her typically adoring reports on Obama.“You’re so confident, Mr. President, and so focused. Is your confidence ever shaken? Do you ever wake up and say, ‘Damn, this is hard. Damn, I’m not going to get the things done I want to get done, and it’s just too politicized to really get accomplished the big things I want to accomplish’?”
— CBS’s Katie Couric in an exchange with Obama shown on The Early Show, July 22.
Barry’s Big Brain Award for Journalists Bedazzled by Obama’s Brilliance
These nominated quotes are mind-blowers. Someone needs to explain this smart thing to me, I just don't see it and these quotes don't convince me of Obama's brilliance. David Gergen (CNN) says Obama has taken mastery of issues to whole different level; Front page Washington Post story calls him a political chess master; ABC Medical Editor is amazed that Obama could talk about Health Care without a script; Chris Matthews is as impressed with the president's analytical mind almost as much as his own. But it was a tie for me between ABC's Terry Moran who compared Obama to George Washington in that taking the job as president was a step down from his position in private life and Steve Daly who garnered my pick because he did a whole story on Obama's brilliance.“Spock’s cool, analytical nature feels more fascinating and topical than ever now that we’ve put a sort of Vulcan in the White House. All through the election campaign, columnists compared President Obama’s unflappably logical demeanor and prominent ears with Mr. Spock’s.... Like Obama, Spock is the product of a mixed marriage (actually, an interstellar mixed marriage), and he suffers blunt manifestations of prejudice as a result....”
— Newsweek’s Steve Daly in his May 4 cover story, “We’re All Trekkies Now.”
The Audacity of Dopes Award for Wackiest Analysis of the Year
This award is well-named... dopes they are... one might even say duped dopes. MSNBC David Shuster thinks the idea that the press is gaga over Obama is a fantasy; CNN founder Ted Turner compares the honorable work of the FBI with the honorable work of the KGB; Katie Couric finds a way to make Obama's "wee wee'd up" comment presidential; Chris Matthews says Obama is the last Kennedy brother and New York Times Thomas Friedman expounds on the benefits of autocracy using China as an example (good example). But my choice is...
“Reagan [at the 1984 D-Day commemoration] was all about America, and you talked about it. Obama is, ‘We are above that now. We’re not just parochial, we’re not just chauvinistic, we’re not just provincial. We stand for something.’ I mean, in a way, Obama’s standing above the country, above — above the world. He’s sort of God. He’s going to bring all different sides together.”The Obamagasm Award for Seeing Coolness In Everything Obama Does
— Newsweek’s Evan Thomas to host Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, June 5.
This is another category that almost makes me physically ill while reading the Obama Mania side-by-side. Chris Matthews saying "we girls agree," and that he is getting all excited and thrilled; USA Today article by Mimi Hall and Maria Puente is thrilled by the cultural flair of the first family; Diane Sawyer & George Stephanopoulos are excited by Obama serving cookies during the Super Bowl in the WH screening room; ABC's David Muir calls Obama the cool kid of the G20 convention complete with pictures; Eli Saslow is verbally trembling with excitement over Obama's buff body in a Washington Post front page story; New York Times Judith Warner is dreaming of Obama in her bathroom and like many women having sex with the president but my choice thinks is Dirty Harry or better yet... Super Man.
Correspondent John Harwood: “He had this fly that was persistently buzzing around him....He swatted his hand and he said, ‘I got the sucker.’ He threw it onto the ground. It was a, you know, Dirty Harry ‘make my day’ moment.”...
MSNBC anchor David Shuster: “Amazing...An amazing interview....It never fails — great weather, rainbows, incredible speeches, and three-point basket. A fly and he nails it. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.”
— Exchange on MSNBC after Harwood’s CNBC interview with President Obama concluded, June 16.
Michelle, the Media Belle Award
You have plenty of poetic waxing about her charm, clothes, education and her arms... arms? "Michelle's Magic" is compared to Jackie Kennedy; One thinks she may be about to overtake Oprah as the inspirational IN girl as well as praise for her clothes and arms. (I don't get the arm thing.) Michelle's rock star success in Europe is predicted and praised before she even gets there. Her success at the Olympic Committee is also predicted saying she won't leave a dry eye in the house (she did) My choice features several of these gaga subjects with a musical love song by Andy Williams in the background. She's just too good to be true...
Correspondent Dawna Friesen: “Her husband is, of course, the big star of the show, but this is Michelle Obama’s first foray on to the global stage as First Lady. And you can bet that her every move, her every fashion decision will be dissected and analyzed, especially when the couple go to meet the Queen. But she’s got a lot of good will on her side.”
Video of Michelle Obama shown as Andy Williams sings: “You’re just too good to be true/Can’t take my eyes off of you.”
Friesen, as song continues playing in background: “Ask the British about Michelle Obama, and you’ll hear a lot of what you hear in the states.”
Woman on the street: “Oh, I think she’s really cool. She’s got a lot of really good styles. It makes a change from politicians’ wives to look good.”
Man on the street: “She looks supportive and that’s what a man needs in life.”
Second man: “I have been totally stunned at the awesome nature of Michelle Obama.”...
Friesen: “Then there’s those arms, the envy of a lot of British women....” — NBC’s Today, March 31.
Makes me think of this little bit of Homespun Wisdom: If something seems to be too good to be true... it probably is.
Media Hero Award
CBS Bob Schieffer makes a hero out of Sonia Sotomayer; Newsweek calls Al Gore the Thinking Man's Man; Katie Couric throws admiring softballs at Pelosi during an interview; Diane Sawyer & Claire Shipman champion Sotomayer on ABC's Good Morning America; Brian Williams asks questions picked to make Carter look good; Katie Couric calls Al Gore the "Godfather of Green" but my choice is Andrea Mitchell for trying to hit a double.
“Clinton and Gore, back in the international spotlight again. A reminder to some of a different time, almost two decades ago, when the two campaigned across the nation, a Boomer buddy team....Both are now international superstars, Gore a Nobel laureate. But the homecoming that they engineered together this week has to remain one of their best joint ventures.”The Barbra Streisand Political IQ Award for Celebrity Vapidity
— NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Today, August 6.
Renee Zellweger talks about her crush on Jimmy Carter in USA Today; Actor Denis Leary gushes about Obama being the greatest thing ever on Larry King Live; Oliver Stone says Reagan was dumb and George W dumber to wild applause from HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher audience; On NBC's Today Show, Lily Thomlin trumpets that torture is being performed at Guantanamo and zoos; Springsteen rants about the eight year nightmare of Bush in Britain's Observer; but my choice is D.L. Hughley's rant on Reagan.
“I grew up in Los Angeles inner city — you never saw drugs or drive-bys or homeless people or anything like that. All the social programs that were cut as a result of Reagan coming into office and greed just became a hobby... I remember watching... him say people in America who are homeless are homeless because they want to be. That seemed to be one of the most — and I was a kid — I knew how cruel that was and I would never, you know, ascribe any level of greatness to somebody who would say, you know, if somebody’s hungry in America it’s because they’re on a diet. Like that, to me, made greedy white men feel good about being greedy white men. He was the kind of the Moses of leading them to feeling good about being greedy white men. So to me he wasn’t a great man.”
— Comedian and former CNN host D. L. Hughley on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, June 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment