On the December 2 edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity asked: "[W]hy wasn't there more media coverage -- in the mainstream media" of MoveOn.org's “General Betray Us” ad? In fact, the media provided extensive coverage of the MoveOn ad, while largely ignoring Rush Limbaugh's “phony soldiers” controversy.
Hannity falsely suggested “mainstream media” did not cover “General Betray Us” ad
Written by Christine Schwen
Published
Hannity: "[W]hy wasn't there more media coverage -- in the mainstream media -- on" MoveOn ad?
From the December 2 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
HANNITY: Look at, for example, MoveOn.org. Look at how ugly this got. Here's a guy that has dedicated his life -- General [David] Petraeus -- to saving his country: “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?”
JOHN GIBSON (Fox News Radio host): This was -- now, the dirty little ugly fact about this was, no one in the Congress, in the Senate, or the House would dare say these kinds of things about Petraeus, but what they said was -- which I've got in the book there -- is “we're expecting outside groups to do that for us.” They were expecting MoveOn or somebody else to do that for us They wouldn't say the words 'cause they knew it was darn near treason, but they got somebody else to do it for them and they were happy it was said.
HANNITY: This recent letter to President Obama from Michael Moore and he sent [unintelligible] -- it says: “Let me be blunt. We love our kids in the Armed Services, but we [bleep] hate these generals.” These generals have literally -- like General Petraeus -- dedicated their lives for the safety of their country. Why do you think there wasn't more outrage and why wasn't there more media coverage -- in the mainstream media -- on this?
Memo to Hannity: Numerous media outlets covered MoveOn ad while ignoring Limbaugh's “phony soldiers” controversy
Numerous media outlets covered the “General Betray Us” ad. Numerous media outlets covered -- in some cases extensively -- the MoveOn.org ad controversy. From September 10-13, 2007, there were eight articles and an op-ed in The Washington Post, four New York Times articles, two articles and one op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, one Wall Street Journal op-ed, and one USA Today article about the MoveOn.org ad and the ensuing controversy. In addition, the MoveOn.org ad was frequently discussed on CNN's Newsroom and The Situation Room, and was reported on during the September 10 editions of ABC's World News and Nightline, the September 11, 2007, and September 12, 2007, editions of ABC's Good Morning America, the September 13, 2007, edition of NBC's Nightly News, and the September 16, 2007, editions of ABC's This Week, NBC's Meet the Press, CBS' Face the Nation, and Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday.
Those same outlets ignored Limbaugh's “phony soldiers” remark. Despite the extensive coverage of the “General Betray Us” ad, as of noon ET on October 1, 2007, not one of those media outlets had covered the bipartisan outcry over remarks Limbaugh made during the September 26, 2007, broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, in which he characterized service members who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq as “phony soldiers.” In addition, there was no mention of Limbaugh's “phony soldiers” comments or the bipartisan criticism of them on the September 30, 2007, editions of This Week, Meet the Press, Face the Nation, or Fox News Sunday.
MSNBC's David Shuster asked about “GOP hypocrisy” in denunciations of MoveOn, but silence on Limbaugh. On the September 24, 2007, edition of MSNBC's Tucker, guest host David Shuster began an interview with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) by noting that there was a “Republican outcry” over the MoveOn “General Betray Us” ad. Shuster suggested that “there's a bigger question ... of hypocrisy when it comes to political attacks” and asked Blackburn: “Where was the outrage when Rush Limbaugh said this about Republican Senator Chuck Hagel [NE] over one of the senator's stances on Iraq?”