PBS Using Discredited GOP Pollster to Provide Analysis of Democratic Forum?

Selection of Frank Luntz Raises Serious Questions Heading into Thursday's Democratic Presidential Forum

Washington, DC - Today, Media Matters for America called on the Public Broadcasting Service to reconsider its decision to have discredited Republican pollster and strategist Frank Luntz participate in the coverage of its June 28 Democratic presidential candidates' forum. As a partisan Republican, Luntz has shown open disdain for Democratic priorities and candidates and has a long record of being criticized by his peers for misrepresenting polling data and methodology.

In September 2004, MSNBC dropped Luntz from its planned coverage of that year's presidential debate, following a letter from Media Matters that outlined Luntz's Republican ties and questionable polling methodology.

Today, Media Matters sent a letter to PBS urging the broadcast service to reconsider its decision to include Luntz. Some excerpts from the letter are included below and followed by the letter in full:

"In keeping with the Public Broadcasting Service's long and distinguished history of journalistic integrity, we at Media Matters for America are writing to ask that you reconsider your network's decision to have Republican pollster Frank Luntz take part in coverage of PBS' June 28 Democratic presidential forum.

"According to an April 4 PBS press release, Luntz will participate in coverage of the June 28 candidate forum, which will be televised live and moderated by PBS host Tavis Smiley. In fact, the release states that '[i]mmediate public feedback on the performance of the candidates will be conducted by noted pollster Frank Luntz, who will also appear on "Tavis Smiley" on PBS the following evening to discuss his findings.'

"While we recognize the importance of analyzing the performance of the Democratic field, it is unconscionable that someone with Luntz's partisan history, open disdain for Democratic priorities and candidates, and record of reported reprimand and censure by his peers would be chosen by PBS for such an important role in a Democratic presidential primary forum."

Full text of letter to PBS and Tavis Smiley:

Monday, June 25, 2007

Paula Kerger
President and CEO
Public Broadcasting Service
2100 Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA 22202

Neal Kendall
Executive Producer
Tavis Smiley
4401 W. Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Dear Ms. Kerger and Mr. Kendall:

In keeping with the Public Broadcasting Service's long and distinguished history of journalistic integrity, we at Media Matters for America are writing to ask that you reconsider your network's decision to have Republican pollster Frank Luntz take part in coverage of PBS' June 28 Democratic presidential forum.

According to an April 4 PBS press release, Luntz will participate in coverage of the June 28 candidate forum, which will be televised live and moderated by PBS host Tavis Smiley. In fact, the release states that "[i]mmediate public feedback on the performance of the candidates will be conducted by noted pollster Frank Luntz, who will also appear on 'Tavis Smiley' on PBS the following evening to discuss his findings."

While we recognize the importance of analyzing the performance of the Democratic field, it is unconscionable that someone with Luntz's partisan history, open disdain for Democratic priorities and candidates, and record of reported reprimand and censure by his peers would be chosen by PBS for such an important role in a Democratic presidential primary forum.

• In 1997, the American Association for Public Opinion Research formally reprimanded Luntz for refusing to release documentation in support of comments he made to the media regarding his polling work on the Republican Party's 1994 "Contract with America" campaign platform, according to a Salon.com article.

• Washington Post polling director Richard Morin reported that the National Council on Public Polls censured Luntz "for allegedly mischaracterizing on MSNBC the results of focus groups he conducted during the [2000] Republican Convention."

• In September 2004, MSNBC dropped Luntz from its planned coverage of that year's presidential debate, following a letter from Media Matters that outlined Luntz's GOP ties and questionable polling methodology.

• According to a January 29, 2007, article on The New Republic's website, Luntz "not only helped write Republican House member Newt Gingrich's Contract with America; he was also responsible for its presentation to the public." He also "advised Republicans trying to impeach Bill Clinton."

• Luntz's 2002 memo "The Environment: A Cleaner, Safer, Healthier America" coached Republicans on new ways to talk about global warming and warned the party that the environment "is probably the single issue on which Republicans in general -- and President Bush in particular -- are most vulnerable."

• A June 2004 memo by Luntz, "Communicating The Principles Of Prevention & Protection In The War On Terror," urged Republicans to use concepts such as "[i]t is better to fight the War on Terror on the streets of Baghdad than on the streets of New York or Washington" and "9/11 changed everything," which have been staples of Republican rhetoric ever since.

Additionally, Media Matters has documented several recent television appearances in which Luntz has spread conservative misinformation, smears of Democrats, and praise of Republicans.

• Luntz has asserted that former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) will not be elected president. In a February 24 article, the United Kingdom's Saturday Magazine quoted Luntz as saying: "America won't elect John Edwards president for the same reason we've never elected a used car salesman. America hates trial lawyers." And on the February 9 edition of CNBC's Kudlow & Company, Luntz commented on Edwards' decision at the time not to fire two controversial bloggers from his campaign, saying, "We all know the phrase 'You are judged by the company you keep.' If this is the company that John Edwards wants to keep, he may win the Democratic primary process, but most assuredly he's not going to be the next president."

• On the March 2 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Luntz said of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) treatment of community activist Saul Alinsky in her senior thesis at Wellesley College: "In the language she uses she holds him up almost like an icon. ... I don't know how to say this, but that's like holding up some of the people from Germany in the 1930s and '40s."

• On the March 13 edition of Hannity & Colmes, Luntz said: "We've been analyzing her [Clinton] over the past few weeks on your show. And she doesn't seem to pick up the fact that there's too much negativity. There's too much divisiveness." In the same program, while discussing the abortion rights views of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), Luntz said: "This is someone who defines the phrase 'Says what he means, means what he says.' " But as Media Matters has repeatedly noted, Giuliani has taken a number of inconsistent positions on different aspects of the abortion rights issue.

• On the June 14 edition of Hannity & Colmes, discussing the June 5 Republican presidential debate, Luntz did not correct co-host Sean Hannity's claim that he was "frustrated" by purported differences between the Democratic and Republican debates: "The Democrats don't get the questions on partial-birth abortion or asked if they've read the National Intelligence Estimate [NIE]. It seems like the Republicans are getting more scrutiny." In fact, during an April 26 debate, Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) faced a question on the abortion procedure that critics call partial-birth abortion, and at a June 3 debate, Edwards and Clinton were asked whether they regretted not reading the September 2002 NIE on the threat posed by Iraq. Clinton's response to the NIE question was specifically noted by Luntz on the June 4 edition of Hannity & Colmes -- but Luntz did not point out Hannity's mistake during his June 14 appearance.

• On the October 31, 2006, edition of Hannity & Colmes, Luntz said, "I always use the line for [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi [D-CA], 'You get one shot at a facelift. If it doesn't work the first time, let it go.' "

• During a conversation about Pelosi having access to military aircraft to fly between Washington, D.C., and her home district, Luntz stated on the February 7 edition of Hannity & Colmes that "it is not a security issue. [Pelosi] doesn't need a plane." In fact, Wilson Livingood, the House sergeant at arms, released a statement saying that he had "advised Speaker Pelosi that the US Air Force had made an airplane available to [former] Speaker [J. Dennis] Hastert [R-IL] for security and communications purposes following September 11, 2001."

Again, we hope you will reconsider your decision to include Luntz in your debate coverage. With his well-documented Republican ties and history of being criticized and reprimanded by his peers, it's clear that he cannot be trusted to provide objective analysis of Thursday's Democratic forum. If he must be a part of PBS' lineup, we would expect that your viewers will be informed of these facts on-air.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

David Brock,
President and CEO
Media Matters for America

CC: W. Wayne Godwin, Executive Vice President & COO, PBS; Pat Hunter, Programming Senior Vice President, PBS; Sandy Heberer, Senior Director of Programming, PBS; Reed Walsh, Senior Programming Director, PBS; John Wilson, Senior Vice President & Chief TV Programming Executive, PBS; John Boland, Chief Content Officer, PBS; Lea Sloan, Communications Vice President, PBS; Linda Simensky, Programming Senior Director, PBS; Carole Chouinard, Producer, Tavis Smiley Show; Christopher McDonald, Associate Producer, Tavis Smiley Show; Tavis Smiley, Host, Tavis Smiley Show; Vanessa Smith, Producer, Tavis Smiley Show; Holly Williamson, Producer, Tavis Smiley Show; Michel Martin, Contributing Editor, NPR; Ruben Navarrette, Jr., Columnist, San Diego Union Tribune; DeWayne Wickham, Columnist, USA Today; Jim Lehrer, Executive Editor/Anchor, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer