Chris Wallace Echoes Media Research Center, Proves Jon Stewart's Point

On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace accused NBC of bias when Today cameras showed a demonstrator with a sign demanding Cheney be investigated for torture.

This line of questioning appears to come directly from the conservative Media Research Center.

At the end of the contentious interview, Lauer declared: “Mr. Cheney, thanks for being with us this morning. I appreciate it.” However, as the camera panned out of the studio, it zoomed in on a protest sign just outside from Amnesty International that read: “Torture is a Crime: Investigate Cheney.”

But the MRC description of what happened isn't accurate. You can see it in MRC's own video.

The NBC camera zooms out of the room with Cheney and Matt Lauer, and when the protestor places the sign in front of the camera, the shot continues to zoom out - the opposite of what MRC asserts. Then again, MRC doesn't have the best track record of accurately describing events.

During his interview with The Daily Show's Jon Stewart in June, Wallace rejected Stewart's assertion that Fox News was a “relentless agenda-driven, 24-hour news opinion propaganda delivery system” and asked him, “where do you come up with this stuff?”

In his critique of NBC Wallace echoes the (shoddy) work of an ideologically conservative organization in order to paint NBC (a competitor) as a tool of the political opposition. In other words, Wallace's actions were fulfilling Fox's role as part of a “relentless agenda-driven, 24-hour news opinion propaganda delivery system” -- thus proving Stewart correct.