objectivity, credibility, and more truth back to the media and journalism in my opinion!

I have argued the need for bringing back the Fairness Doctrine and fighting back against Rush Limbaugh's huge talk radio media empire for years. Gen. Clark also agrees with that:

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/16333

VIDEO: Dan Abrams showed how Rush Limbaugh can be a liability to GOP candidates!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on August 18, 2008 - 4:15am.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13497

ANALYSIS: Why Rush Limbaugh is especially vulnerable to attack right now!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 2, 2007 - 9:44am.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/12971

Bush met with 10 Neocon talk radio hosts and in private with Rush Limbaugh!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on August 9, 2007 - 3:28am.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/12446

Center for American Progress: "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio"

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on June 21, 2007 - 1:41pm.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/06/talk_radio.html

The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/11762

Keith Olbermann asks good questions about Imus leading to the Fairness Doctrine!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on April 13, 2007 - 4:35pm.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/11479

ZOGBY: 83% of voters think that the media is biased; Democrats seem to be losing

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on March 16, 2007 - 1:25pm.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10583

Limbaugh & Hannity react to Democrats trying to bring back the Fairness Doctrine

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on January 18, 2007 - 2:51pm.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/9122

DOCUMENTATION & ANALYSIS: Bush met with Sean Hannity & Media to Firm Up Support!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 19, 2006 - 7:59am.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7735

ANALYSIS & DOCUMENTATION: PEW stats on Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly & the Media!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on August 1, 2006 - 3:29am.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191

Listen to Wes Clark fight for Dems on Hannity

Submitted by larry on June 22, 2006 - 7:57pm.

http://www.rapidfire-silverbullets.com/2006/12/wes_clarks_feeling_on_media_co.html

Wes Clark's feeling on Media Consolidation

"We need to distribute the ownership in media. We need to have the fairness in broadcasting rules put back in place."

Here is the link to the Washington Post article that Lou Dobbs referenced in the CNN transcript below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503100.html

Obama's Edge in the Coverage Race

By Deborah Howell
Sunday, August 17, 2008; Page B06

"Democrat Barack Obama has had about a 3 to 1 advantage over Republican John McCain in Post Page 1 stories since Obama became his party's presumptive nominee June 4. Obama has generated a lot of news by being the first African American nominee, and he is less well known than McCain -- and therefore there's more to report on. But the disparity is so wide that it doesn't look good..."

I was really glad to see Lou Dobbs bring up this very important topic as bluntly as he did:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0808/24/ldtw.01.html

LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK

Barack's Battle; Personal Attacks; Democracy at Risk; Food Contamination Solution

Aired August 24, 2008 - 19:00 ET

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: "And the national media in the tank for Senator Obama just about all the way. Well the race is still a dead heat despite all of that. I'll be talking with the best political analysts in the country.

Stay with us...

LOU DOBBS, CNN HOST: Joining me now three of the best political analysts and CNN contributors in the country, in our D.C. bureau is syndicated columnist Diana West. Diana, good to have you with us. Here in New York with me, syndicated columnist Miguel Perez. Miguel, welcome. And democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf...

DOBBS: You know, it's really not working because the fact is we have a tied race here. You know, with all the national media, as I've been saying here for months, in the tanks. My colleagues in the national media are absolutely biased, in the tank supporting the Obama candidacy while claiming the mantle of objectivity. Whether they're in the front page of "The Washington Post," "The New York Times," whether it's any one of the news casts, I mean, it's ridiculous.

Now we have a situation where everything is tied up here, Diana. Is it possible, however, for Senator McCain to actually gain a significant lead here?

DIANA WEST, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think it is possible. I mean, it's really, it's really hard to say exactly how these things are going, but this kind of superficial attack from the Obama campaign is not helping him at all. You have to remember that this particular attack came within 24 hours of another Obama ad that was trying to link McCain to Ralph Reed, to the convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

DOBBS: They have 527s. They've got 527s all over the town -

WEST: Exactly, and the McCain campaign came back with another huge response talking about if you want to play guilt by association, let's talk some more about former weatherman -

DOBBS: What happened to the post partisan lofty elevated discourse we're going to have, Miguel?

MIGUEL PEREZ, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I'm still waiting for it, unfortunately.

WEST: But who wants it?

PEREZ: Look, what the media has failed at here is putting pressure on Obama, especially, because McCain wanted to do those meetings together with Obama, those public forums.

DOBBS: The town hall meetings.

PEREZ: Yes, and Obama has really evaded the issue and the media has not been after him for it. And I think that's disgraceful.

DOBBS: Well, I think the way the national media in this country right is performing, is disgraceful. And I mean, when we - "The Washington Post" had the courage to admit that it - Deborah Howell, the public editor, the ombudsman for the "Washington Post" ran a piece this past Sunday acknowledging that "The Washington Post" has put Barack Obama on the front pages of the Washington Post three times as many times as Senator McCain. "Time" magazine has run seven covers with Obama. McCain two. I mean, this is not close, folks. And it is ugly. It is nasty. And I guarantee you, we are watching a shift in the way in which the media in this country, which is already reviled by the public, I believe it's going to be even worse.

I'm an advocacy journalist. I'm an independent populist. When I speak, people know where I'm coming from. When these news organizations are doing this and trying to pretend cloaking themselves in the mantle of objectivity, you know, they're silly, (trulish), absolutely in my opinion, despicable phonies. They need to step out, they need to be objective or get their opinions out where it can be examined. We're going to be right back. Next, Hank Sheinkopf. He'll tell us about what he thinks of media bias. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Well, we're back and I want to take a look at the "Time" magazine cover. Seven times, seven times in the past year, Barack Obama has been placed on the cover of "Time" magazine. Now, John McCain twice. Hank Sheinkopf, that is rather typical of the inundation of affection, the inundation of Barack Obama with the affection of the national media. What is your reaction as a democratic strategist?

HANK SHEINKOPF, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good for democrats, not so good for the nation in the long term. Barack Obama is interesting, he's new, therefore he is news. OK. The fact that a black man can reach that pinnacle of success, raise the amount of money, run this kind of organization, beat Hillary Clinton is big news. At some point there has to be some fairness in the discussion. The problem here from the beginning is from day Obama showed up, I was wondering when the reporters will start chiseling his face on to Mt. Rushmore and the guy hadn't even won the nomination yet. That's the danger here, Lou. And people know it and they're not stupid. Average guy says wait a second, I want news and he isn't getting it.

DOBBS: He's not getting it. He's not getting it for a lot of reasons, and she's not getting it. We're not getting it, because budgets have been cut by corporate, main stream media. We have fewer people making any point of fact, in many cases, making less money to do even bigger job in a more complex society. Miguel, your reaction?

PEREZ: Oh, look, in reaction to what both of you are saying, and what Hank just said about what's new. I went to journalism school. I teach journalism. You have to put aside what's new in terms of, when it comes to fairness. And when you're covering an election, you definitely have to be fair to both sides. And what's new is not a valid argument for the media. So you know, as a member of the media, I can tell you it's wrong to be doing that, you know, absolutely wrong.

DOBBS: I mean, I've said for some time, Diana West, that I believe, because I issue from time to time, like you, a few strong opinions. But as I say, everyone knows where I come from and I'm making no bones about what I'm doing. I'm an advocacy journalist. But I truly believe, Diana West, that every - I like you all to think about this, maybe every reporter on television, every editor, every reporter in the newspapers and magazines and on the web, there ought to be a little identification like we put on the lower third of the screen for an elected official, D or republican from Iowa or Des Moines or whatever, put that under there, we're journalist, declare yourself.

PEREZ: That's why newspapers have an opinion page.

DOBBS: Right.

PEREZ: It should be, opinions should be left to that page, not to the front page.

DOBBS: Right. Well, you and I know that..."

which is NOT a healthy thing in my opinion!

I think that Michael Medved, who called this unprofessional behavior "healthy" in the CNN transcript below, is dead wrong but unfortunately that is what he is expected to say because he is a biased extreme right wing talk radio show host. This blatant admission of media bias is definitely a very big reason why I think that we need to bring back The Fairness Doctrine as soon as possible:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0809/21/rs.01.html

CNN RELIABLE SOURCES

The Media and the Meltdown

Aired September 21, 2008 - 10:00 ET

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: "When Charlie Gibson sat down with Sarah Palin, it was a much-anticipated showdown between journalist and VP candidate. When Sean Hannity sat down with the Alaska governor this week, it was a very different atmosphere. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST, FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S "HANNITY & COLMES": Has Senator Obama been using what happened on Wall Street this week, is using it for political gain?

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, there's a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we're talking about today.

HANNITY: Why does everyone benefit if the rich pays less or if everybody pays less in taxes?

How did you take on your own party specifically? And do you think you'd be able to do that as well in Washington?

Do you see media bias in this campaign?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Paul Krugman, obviously, Hannity is going to do a friendly interview, but shouldn't he have asked a couple of tough questions, just to show he's not in the tank here?

PAUL KRUGMAN, COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Who's he going to fool? He is in the tank. So what are you going to do?

I mean, this has -- this has been a problem. We do have -- can I say this? FOX News is an arm of the conservative coalition, pretending to be a media organization.

KURTZ: Well, on the other hand, Michael Medved, we played on the program last week Keith Olbermann doing an extremely friendly interview with Barack Obama. So are we now in a media world where partisans are kind of coddling their own candidates, particularly on networks like FOX and MSNBC?

MICHAEL MEDVED, HOST, SALEM RADIO NETWORK'S "THE MICHAEL MEDVED SHOW": Absolutely, and I think it's healthy, frankly. I mean, everybody knows where Sean Hannity is coming from. Sean does a daily talk show, as I do, and he does three hours a day of his opinion. So you know where he's coming from.

I think people increasingly know where Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann are coming from on MSNBC. And what that creates is a wonderful opportunity for you guys on CNN to be the network that tries to play it up the middle.

KURTZ: Why do you say it's healthy?

MEDVED: Because it seems to me everybody has biases. Professor Krugman acknowledges his bias, as I acknowledge mine. And I think that it would have been a better interview if Charlie Gibson, with some of his questioning, had acknowledged that he was coming from a deliberately adversarial place in some of the questioning.

It's normal in the media for people to have values and biases and outlooks. Why not acknowledge them?

KURTZ: All right. Well, I would just add that being adversarial or tough doesn't necessarily mean that you are biased..."

Also, both Sean Hannity being "in the tank" and giving Sarah Palin "a friendly interview" and Keith Olbermann being "in the tank" and giving Barack Obama "a friendly interview" are NOT healthy either. No serious candidate for President or Vice President should ever be getting "a friendly interview" from a journalist who is "in the tank" for them. That is how you elect candidates with a lack of serious vetting and with a lack of real accountability!

We need to have a law requiring media outlets, both print and electronic, to label their articles, segments, and shows. If it's good for food for the body, it must be good for food for the mind. They should clearly be labeled either "News" or "Opinion." If it's "Opinion," the label should specifiy whose opinion it is.

CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox do a pretty good job of covering hard news, especially in their morning shows. They deteriorate in the afternoons and evenings. But even there, while they do well with "what," "when," and "where," they enter dangerous territory with "why" and "how."

Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
"We're no better than our own sense of humility."

and Roger Simon told him "Well, you are correct."

This is a very big reason why I definitely believe that serious journalism and the media system are broken right now and it is also a major reason why candidates do NOT get properly vetted by the media:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0810/12/rs.01.html

CNN RELIABLE SOURCES

Observing the Media in America

Aired October 12, 2008 - 10:00 ET

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: KURTZ: "Well, we'll get into the debate structure in a moment.

But Roger Simon, I mean, this was a substantive debate, primarily about the economy, the issue that everyone agrees we all care about, especially now. And I'm just getting the impression that journalists don't care very much about the substance, and they're interested in the tactics and the one-liners and the zingers and all that.

ROGER SIMON, POLITICO.COM: Well, you are correct.

KURTZ: You're supposed to talk me down.

SIMON: These are the most theatrical part of the campaign. The candidates rehearse, and they tell people, we're going down for a week to rehearse. And they have mock stages and they have scripts with the issues called issued books, and their task is to regurgitate on stage, to give their lines.

The press doesn't like that. We've heard their lines. We've heard their lines for 19 months.

We want combat. We want them to mix it up. So when we get to a debate that is supposed to be drama and it's not dramatic, like any audience we say, we were cheated, we were robbed, we paid for these tickets. Where's the drama?

KURTZ: I thought you got in for free..."

in the Washington Post article below! 

While this is really nice to see, it is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion that an article actually has to written saying "But there ought not to be any moratorium on asking hard questions of both candidates right now, and especially of the Democratic nominee who sits in the pole position heading into the final three weeks" when this SHOULD BE the standard practice of serious journalists and the news media:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/13/questioning_obama.html

Dan Balz's Take

Questioning Obama

Posted at 12:53 PM ET on Oct 13, 2008  | Category:  Dan Balz's Take
Share This: Technorati | Tag in Del.icio.us | Digg This

two times so you know up front what his show is about:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0810/14/ldt.01.html

LOU DOBBS TONIGHT

McCain Ridicules Obama's Economic Policies; ACORN Tries to Register Mickey Mouse; Cover-Up by Top Democrats?

Aired October 14, 2008 - 19:00 ET

ANNOUNCER: "This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT; news, debate and opinion for Tuesday, October 14th. Live from New York, Lou Dobbs...

ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT; news, debate and opinion. Here again, Mr. Independent, Lou Dobbs..."

It would be really nice in my opinion if other media pundits who are expressing their own personal opinions would also make the same type of disclaimer for their shows!

like this where NEITHER of them are objective or believable in my very strong opinion:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27188346/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27188417#27188417  (03:16)

Olbermann: McCain, suspend your campaign

October 14, 2008: In a brief Special Comment, Keith Olbermann expresses his disapproval of the McCain/Palin campaign’s “lynch-mob mentality” and their refusal to discourage surrogates and supporters from threatening Barack Obama at GOP campaign rallies. Full story

FNC

Campaign Connections

http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=3150772&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/hannitysamerica/  (06:15)

These two partisan wrongs do NOT equal one right, they only make the problem of "serious news at risk" even worse than it already is in my opinion.  I do NOT recognize either one of those false choices above as being objective or credible news stories!

is right about Bill O'Reilly.  This is a sad thing and it shows how that serious journalism is broken right now in my opinion:

http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?RsrcID=36016

Tim Graham: NBC Coverage Is 'Just Embarrassing'  (4:54)

Posted: September 19, 2008
Posted By: ken.shepherd
Views: 97  |  Network: FNC

"Throughout the long primary campaign, NBC was just embarrassing," Media Research Center Director of Media Analysis Tim Graham told Bill O'Reilly in an "O'Reilly Factor" segment.

http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?RsrcID=36016

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10403

Joe Scarborough challenges Bill O'Reilly to debate, KO to Bill-O: "come on down"

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on January 8, 2007 - 2:55pm.

I think that this is a symptom of most of the mainstream media being in the tank for Obama and of their NOT holding him fully accountable for what he does:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0810/19/rs.01.html

CNN RELIABLE SOURCES

Analysis of Third Presidential Debate

Aired October 19, 2008 - 10:00   ET

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: "Mark Halperin, we learned this morning that Barack Obama in the month of September raised $150 million, the early estimates had been about $100 million. They always kind of leak a lower figure so they can exceed it.

If a Republican had not taken public financing and had raised all that money, and the Democrat was struggling financially, wouldn't we see a lot of stories about one candidate essentially trying to buy the election?

MARK HALPERIN, SR. POLITCAN ANALAYST, "TIME": We would. We'd also see a lot of stories about his going back on his word saying that he would accept the public money and would reach out to Senator McCain to try to work out a deal. So I think this is a case of a clear, unambiguous double standard, and any reporter who doesn't ask themselves, why is that, why would it be different if it's a Republican? I think is doing themselves and our profession and our democracy a disservice.

KURTZ: I think that's an excellent point, and that's the point we're going to end on..."

about what they are reporting on which I thought was very professional on his part!

Lou Dobbs caught himself asking a reporter an opinion question about the story that she was reporting on at the end of this transcript and he apologized for doing that:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0809/24/ldt.01.html

LOU DOBBS TONIGHT

Senator McCain Suspends his Campaign Temporarily; Obama Rejects McCain's Challenge; FBI's Criminal Probe; Is E-Verify Dead?

Aired September 24, 2008 - 19:00 ET

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: "Let's go to Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill. She has the latest for us -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, we've just learned exclusively that in just a short time House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader John Boehner (ph) will release a statement that says -- a joint statement that says they have made progress, that they have come to agreement on key issues and that they will continue to work towards agreement on this bailout proposal.

It was really late this morning that we first started to see Republicans and Democrats gaining some common ground in their negotiations. A key breakthrough having to do with Democrats demand that CEOs not be given golden parachutes or hefty salaries if their corporations are bailed out by government money.

Well Republican leaders in House and the Senate last night and this morning agreed with that, and then this afternoon we saw Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson signaling that the White House would capitulate on this issue of golden parachutes and hefty salaries for these CEOs.

We're now expecting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to be making a statement shortly, along with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd. We're expecting Reid to basically tell John McCain that really what he said to John McCain on the phone, which is that he said it wouldn't be helpful for John McCain to come to Washington at this point.

Obviously, Lou, some political maneuvering going on here because we saw Democrats for the past couple of days, they've actually been calling on John McCain to take a stand on this, saying that if John McCain did not support this bailout, there would be a loss of Republican votes and Democrats said they weren't going to be carrying this thing on their own.

We have also seen a number of statements coming out from Republicans in the Senate and the House basically commending John McCain for making this move, coming back for Washington, saying that he's taking an active and even presidential role here, Lou.

DOBBS: Well, isn't that an act of hubris on the part of the Senate majority leader to suggest that a man who has at least at this point, a 50/50 possibility of being president of the United States in a few months should not be engaged in this issue? Well you can't answer that. And I apologize.

KEILAR: Well, Lou...

DOBBS: I put you in a position of opinion. I don't mean to do that. But I just find it amazing, partisan politics dominating this issue and people defining it as an issue that should be resolved in a certain way without understanding its shape, its cost, its impact. It is really Washington nonsense at its height, in my opinion. Brianna Keilar, thank you very much for being with us..."

being held to the same journalistic standard on Morning Joe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MNmswO7AFs

Dan Rather: " if Sarah Palin had said this" (2:37)

Added: October 21, 2008

I am definitely NOT a fan of Sarah Palin and I do NOT think that she is qualified to be VP BUT I think that the media should cover Biden by the same standards that they cover Palin in order to be professional and to be fair!

http://www.journalism.org/node/13436

The Color of News

October 29, 2008

How Different Media Have Covered the General Election

"When it comes to coverage of the campaign for president 2008, where one goes for news makes a difference, according to a new study.

In cable, the evidence firmly suggests there now really is an ideological divide between two of the three channels, at least in their coverage of the campaign.

Things look much better for Barack Obama—and much worse for John McCain—on MSNBC than in most other news outlets. On the Fox News Channel, the coverage of the presidential candidates is something of a mirror image of that seen on MSNBC.

The tone of CNN’s coverage, meanwhile, lay somewhere in the middle of the cable spectrum, and was generally more negative than the press overall..."