New York Times, AP fail to disclose Bill Donohue's own 'credibility problem' as a critic of Edwards' campaign bloggers
Media outlets reporting on this conservative attack have a responsibility to disclose hypocrisy of Donohue and conservative bloggers pushing this story
Washington, DC - Today, The
New York Times and Associated
Press have both reported criticism of bloggers for Sen. John
Edwards' presidential campaign by Catholic League President Bill Donohue
-- but neither report made any mention of Donohue's long
history of vulgar trash-talking and defense of bigotry. Other
media
outlets reporting on this conservative attack have a responsibility to disclose
the clear hypocrisy of critics such as Donohue.
"In the past week, three of the most influential national news outlets have quoted Rush Limbaugh and Bill Donohue accusing progressives of prejudice -- without noting either man's own extensive history of bigotry," said Media Matters Managing Director Jamison Foser. "News organizations that repeat attacks by Limbaugh and Donohue, without noting their own previous statements, deprive the public of information necessary to assess their credibility and judgment. Such one-sided reports are deeply unfair and a grave disservice to the American people."
Edwards hit pushed by conservative blogosphere since at least Feb. 1
The New York Times and Associated Press also failed to mention this story has been actively pushed online by conservative bloggers for several days prior to their respective articles, starting on Feburary 1. Michelle Malkin -- who also operates Hot Air, which she has described as "the world's first full-service conservative internet broadcast network" -- attacked Amanda Marcotte, Edwards' new blogmaster, starting on February 3.
Following are selected Media Matters items on controversial statements made by Donohue, Malkin, and Limbaugh:
Donohue Items:
The New York Times and Associated Press have both reported criticism by Catholic League president Bill Donohue of two bloggers hired by John Edwards' presidential campaign; Donohue contends that the bloggers are "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots." But neither the Times article, by reporter John M. Broder, nor the AP article, by writer Nedra Pickler, included any mention of Donohue's own history of vulgar, trash-talking bigotry -- or of Donohue's decision to dismiss anti-Catholic bigotry on the part of a key anti-Kerry operative in 2004.
Malkin Items:
Summary: Malkin has advocated racial profiling; defended the internment of Japanese-Americans (and other ethnic minorities) during World War II; and called for the removal of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, claiming that he couldn't be objective on the issue of racial profiling because of his personal experience as an interned Japanese-American.
Summary: Malkin's primary issue of concern is immigration, and her thoughts on this subject appear on her Immigration Blog, as well as VDARE.com, a website that describes itself as "white nationalist." In 2003, the Southern Poverty Law Center added VDARE.com to its list of hate websites.
Limbaugh Items:
ABC aired Limbaugh as "observer" on race issues in Biden controversy
On the January 31 edition of ABC's World News, during a report on Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s (D-DE) controversial description of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), senior national correspondent Jake Tapper cited radio host Rush Limbaugh as an "[o]bserver" who "questioned what Biden meant, especially by the word 'clean.' " Tapper aired an audio clip of Limbaugh saying, "And see, folks, this is the problem for the libs. Once they get off script, they expose their idiocy. They expose their prejudice."
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