Caplis accused Time of “left-wing bias” for omitting Bush from list of world's most influential people

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

Co-host Dan Caplis of 630 KHOW-AM made the dubious assertion on his May 3 broadcast that Time magazine had a “far-left-wing bias” because it omitted President Bush from its list of “the 100 most influential people in the world.” Yet Caplis omitted mention of the notable conservatives on the list, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Supreme Court Justice John Roberts.

On his May 3 broadcast, 630 KHOW-AM co-host Dan Caplis dubiously accused Time magazine of having a “far-left-wing bias” for “omitting” President Bush from “a list of the 100 most influential people in the world.” However, Caplis did not mention that Time's list of “The People Who Shape Our World” included such notable conservatives as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Furthermore, Media Matters for America has noted numerous examples of Time's frequent conservative spin.

From the May 3 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show:

CAPLIS: I just think -- my 20-second take: Listen, obviously Time loses any last credibility it had -- and we subscribe. Listen, I don't try to close my mind to, you know, what, what -- quote, unquote -- you know, the other side is saying, what, what these publications with an obvious far-left-wing bias are saying. I want to know what they have to say. And if they're right about something I want to know it. So I subscribe to Time and Newsweek and all those other publications. But you would think they'd have enough self-control to realize that omitting the president from a list of the 100 most influential people in the world just makes them look silly.

[...]

CAPLIS: Well, then, I, I think we know two things at this point. Number one, that Time is not attempting to offer a serious portrayal of the hundred most influential people. That's fine. That was my point. But, number two, apparently you're denying that there's a left-wing bias on the part of Time magazine. Is that your official position?

CRAIG SILVERMAN (co-host): No, I'd say they lean left. But I, I wouldn't, you know, discredit them any more than I would Fox News 'cause they lean right. I like to observe both of them.

CAPLIS: Well, that was my point. I do too. But nobody can honestly deny that there is a heavy left bias on the part of Time and Newsweek. That's my only point. You want to respond by name calling, great. You know --

SILVERMAN: No, I, I -- I dispute “heavy left.”

CAPLIS: Yeah. OK. Well, anyway.

SILVERMAN: I'd say they lean left.

Published in Time's May 14 edition, the list of the world's most influential people names 21 "Leaders & Revolutionaries," including four Republicans among the eight Americans in that category. In addition to Rice and Roberts, the Time list included California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R), plus U.S. Army General David Petraeus. Democrats named in the “Leaders” category were U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY), U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA), and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (IL).

Time had named Bush among the world's most influential people in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Caplis also failed to mention that the author of Pelosi's profile was former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), who criticized her recent trip to Syria:

Nancy Pelosi and I have something in common in addition to having been House Speaker and grandparents.

We both occasionally allow caution to be overwhelmed by our enthusiasm for an idea, with the resultant public relations consequences. One wonders what Speaker Pelosi was thinking when she went to Damascus to meet with the Syrian dictator. When the White House asked her not to do it, she would have gained points by cooperating. Take it from one Speaker to another: too much enthusiasm has consequences.