-Caveat Lector-
***Media Research Center CyberAlert***
6:55am EDT, Wednesday October 8, 2003 (Vol. Eight; No. 187)
The 1,593rd CyberAlert. Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
> Mark Shields on Saturday: "The Recall Will, In Fact, Fail"
> Gergen Advises Schwarzenegger to Get Along by Raising Taxes
> Jennings Hears Recall Used for "Nefarious Ends" to Reverse Vote
> Williams Grants How Conservatives See Liberal Bias at LA Times
> GMA Gives Huffington Election Day Forum to Trash Schwarzenegger
> On Monday Night Football, Al Michaels Cracks on Huffington
> "Top Ten Possible California Newspaper Headlines for Tomorrow"
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1) Columnist Mark Shields owes a six pack to his Capital Gang
colleagues, all of whom on Saturday predicted the recall would win
while he bet a six pack that it would not. Shields had declared:
"I will bet a six pack that the recall will, in fact, fail,
closely."
2) Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has won after a pledge to not
raise taxes, what should he do? He should raise taxes, David
Gergen of U.S. News & World Report advised on Nightline.
3) Hours before the polls closed, ABC's Peter Jennings delighted
in "the irony" of how the recall, which "conservative Republicans
had engineered" to "get rid of a moderate Democratic Governor,"
had led Gray Davis to sign "a lot of legislation pushed by
liberals." And when Jennings went to the streets, he found a man
who told him that the recall mechanism had been "usurped
for...nefarious ends" and a woman who charged that "it's the
Republicans' way of overturning a vote that they lost....it's
undermining the democratic process."
4) On election day NBC News acknowledged conservative backlash
against the liberal bias of the Los Angeles Times for launching a
last minute hit piece on Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Tom Brokaw and
Brian Williams couldn't resist forwarding the usual media
stereotypes about how only angry white men tune in to talk radio.
Picking up on what has been animating California talk radio, Brian
Williams actually uttered the words "liberal bias" as he
identified the target of talk radio wrath: "It involves the news
media and charges of liberal bias, specifically the groping
accusations against Arnold Schwarzenegger and the LA Times."
Williams contended: "LA remains pretty much a one-paper town. A
liberal paper, at that, if you ask conservatives."
5) Arianna Huffington, who dropped out of the recall race,
remained a vociferous critic of Arnold Schwarzenegger but,
nonetheless, ABC's Good Morning America brought her aboard on
Tuesday to assess the campaign as if she were some kind of
independent analyst. She took the opportunity to raise the word
"rape" as she trashed Schwarzenegger: "It's very hard to dismiss
15 women whose stories are all independently corroborated. In
fact, I think it is really offensive to dismiss them because
that's what makes it so hard for women to come forward and talk
about stories of sexual harassment or even rape. Only one in 10
women come forward to talk when they've been raped."
6) During this week's game, Monday Night Football play-by-play
announcer Al Michaels took an accurate shot at Arianna Huffington,
commenting on how a player who zig-zagged through the other team's
defensive line to pick up nearly 20 yards had shown "more change
of direction than Arianna Huffington," an obvious crack at how
she's moved from right to left.
7) Letterman's "Top Ten Possible California Newspaper Headlines
for Tomorrow." That would now be today.
> 1) Columnist and PBS analyst Mark Shields owes a six pack to
his CNN Capital Gang colleagues, all of whom on Saturday predicted
the recall would win while he bet a six pack that it would not.
Shields declared on the October 4 Capital Gang on CNN: "I will
bet a six pack that the recall will, in fact, fail, closely."
Well, it succeeded, big. So Bob Novak, Margaret Carlson, Kate
O'Beirne and Al Hunt should be awaiting delivery of their beer.
For a picture of Shields, who serves as the liberal political
analyst every Friday on PBS's NewsHour:
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/shields.mark.html
> 2) Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has won after a pledge to
not raise taxes, what should he do? He should raise taxes, David
Gergen of U.S. News & World Report advised on Tuesday's Nightline.
Koppel put the burden on Schwarzenegger for creating a bad
atmosphere as he asked Gergen, who appeared with Clinton's Chief-
of-Staff, Leon Panetta: "Are the Democrats in Sacramento, after
all the nasty things he's said about them, are they going to be in
a mood to deal?"
Gergen argued: "I think they might if he does what Reagan did
and that is, you know, Reagan broke the mold, he raised taxes
after saying he wouldn't. But I just can't imagine in these
circumstances Schwarzenegger's going to do that easily, so that's
the hard part of it."
> 3) Hours before the polls closed, ABC's Peter Jennings
delighted in "the irony" of how the recall, which "conservative
Republicans had engineered" to "get rid of a moderate Democratic
Governor," had led Gray Davis to sign "a lot of legislation pushed
by liberals." And when Jennings went to the streets, he found a
man who told him that the recall mechanism had been "usurped
for...nefarious ends" and a woman who charged that "it's the
Republicans' way of overturning a vote that they lost....it's
undermining the democratic process."
Up against those two loaded quotes about a Republican or
conservative coup d'etat, Jennings highlighted a woman who made
the vague observation that "California is ready for any kind of
change" and another woman who insisted that Cubans "don't like
anything that is not true Republican right wing."
Jennings himself, in Los Angeles, narrated the "A Closer Look"
segment on the October 7 World News Tonight. He began, as taken
down by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth: "Well, we're going to take
another somewhat closer look now at the California recall
election. As we were discussing with George Stephanopoulos, in
almost every state these last few weeks, political activists have
been watching the state, and so let's take it a step farther on
the lessons to be learned when the public has lost confidence in
the government's ability to manage their money.
"In Los Angeles today, we didn't meet many voters who were mad
as hell and wouldn't take it anymore, though Arnold Schwarzenegger
used the line from a movie in the campaign. Many voters recognize
the irony. Conservative Republicans had engineered the recall to
get rid of a moderate Democratic Governor. And, as the recall
gained momentum, he reacted by signing a lot of legislation pushed
by liberals that he hoped might vote for him: Better terms for gay
unions, drivers licences for illegal immigrants, legislation that
forces small businesses to ante up for their workers' health care.
And when Governor Davis realized he was as threatened as he was,
he stacked the bureaucracy with people bound to make it difficult
if Mr. Schwarzenegger wins. The California legislature is already
dominated by Democrats. It is, say California reporters, the
makings of a noxious cocktail.
"Out on the streets today, a reporter could find any and all
political opinion. Did the recall energize the democratic system?"
A man asserted: "I think that recall initiative, referendum,
were all great political mechanisms. But I think that this has
been usurped for, you know, nefarious ends."
A woman maintained: "I think it's the Republicans' way of
overturning a vote that they lost. That's what I think. And it's
undermining the democratic process."
A second woman: "California is ready for any kind of change."
And a third woman, apparently Cuban: "Voting for Arnold, yeah.
Cubans are Republicans by nature. We don't like anything that is
not true Republican right wing."
Jennings: "Do you think the recall election is a good idea?"
A second man: "No, but we live in 'Holly-weird.'"
Jennings: "Yes, he said 'Holly-weird' for 'Hollywood.' People
elsewhere do make fun of California, but this man has a point."
The first man again, sitting outside in front of a store or
restaurant: "I think Californians express emotionally or express
in action what the rest of the country is feeling, which is fed up
with-"
Jennings cut off the soundbite so he could conclude: "Fed up,
he said, so many people said it. Fed up with a lack of leadership
in politics, a bad economy, a terrible deficit, and Gray Davis."
And fed up with, as NBC noticed as detailed in item #4 below,
the liberal media.
> 4) On election day NBC News acknowledged conservative
backlash against the liberal bias of the Los Angeles Times for
launching a last minute hit piece on Arnold Schwarzenegger, but
Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams couldn't resist forwarding the usual
media stereotypes about how only angry white men tune in to talk
radio.
Picking up on what has been animating California talk radio,
in piece aired Tuesday night on the NBC Nightly News, CNBC's The
News with Brian Williams and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith
Olbermann, Brian Williams actually uttered the words "liberal
bias" as he identified the target of talk radio wrath: "It
involves the news media and charges of liberal bias, specifically
the groping accusations against Arnold Schwarzenegger and the LA
Times." (I don't think he meant that the newspaper groped anyone.)
Williams added: "Talk radio is on fire. People here are angry, and
all the incoming fire is directed at a California colossus: the
Los Angeles Times." And Williams contended: "LA remains pretty
much a one-paper town. A liberal paper, at that, if you ask
conservatives."
Tom Brokaw saw only males motivated by talk radio as he noted
how the Los Angeles Times "became the target of some of
Schwarzenegger's most passionate defenders, especially radio talk
show commentators. In the end, that may have helped motivate
Schwarzenegger's male voters." Williams contended: "The angriest
listeners appear to be mostly white male conservatives with a
sprinkling of Reagan Democrats."
Brokaw introduced the Williams story as aired on Tuesday's NBC
Nightly News: "In the closing days of the campaign a lot of the
coverage centered on the claims of 15 women who said that Arnold
Schwarzenegger grabbed them sexually and made lewd remarks. Most
of those stories originated in the Los Angeles Times and the Times
quickly became the target of some of Schwarzenegger's most
passionate defenders, especially radio talk show commentators. In
the end, that may have helped motivate Schwarzenegger's male
voters."
Williams began from Los Angeles: "An interesting subplot has
developed during the closing days of this campaign here, and it
mirrors a split in the nation as a whole. It involves the news
media and charges of liberal bias, specifically the groping
accusations against Arnold Schwarzenegger and the LA Times. The
paper insists it was not a Gray Davis campaign leak that it was
publishing. But Schwarzenegger's supporters say it all has too
familiar a ring to it, and the AM airwaves here have become the
battleground."
Bill Handel on KFI in Los Angeles: "Now, the politics of the
LA Times, you know, I found it astounding."
Williams: "It is all you hear in Los Angeles and, for that
matter, north to San Francisco and beyond."
Male caller: "I will never buy one of those papers again."
Female caller: "I don't like their politics and their liberal
spin on things."
Williams: "Talk radio is on fire. People here are angry, and
all the incoming fire is directed at a California colossus: the
Los Angeles Times."
Man: "I think the times is absolutely, I think it's a rag."
Williams, over a shot of the LA Times building in downtown Los
Angeles: "This is what all the excitement is about. In journalism
circles, it's called a 'late hit,' a front-page story six days
before the election detailing alleged groping incidents involving
Arnold Schwarzenegger. The paper says it ran the story the minute
it was nailed down. It's a big story, in part because it's a big
newspaper. Even despite infiltration by USA Today, the Wall Street
Journal, the New York Times, LA remains pretty much a one-paper
town. A liberal paper, at that, if you ask conservatives."
Handel: "Perception is major newspapers are liberal, CNN is
liberal, the networks are liberal, talk radio is conservative. I
think the LA Times has left a very bad taste in, in my listeners'
minds."
Williams: "The angriest listeners appear to be mostly white
male conservatives with a sprinkling of Reagan Democrats. The
Times says over a thousand readers have cancelled their
subscriptions. One of the paper's political writers says people
should judge the Times by its work over time."
Mark Barabak, Los Angeles Times: "You have to look at our
coverage in its totality. And I would point out that a lot of the
criticisms, a lot of the notions that Gray Davis has his hand out,
that he hasn't been a good Governor, that he's been a pay to play
for Governor, is a result of stories in the LA Times."
Williams: "Journalism veterans say papers used to think long
and hard before dropping a bombshell on any given candidate right
before an election, but those unwritten rules may be changing."
Tom Rosenstiel, Project for Excellence in Journalism: "The
reason for the gray spirit, usually, is that, is an understanding
that it takes some time for voters to sort out what something
means."
Williams: "Today many Schwarzenegger voters were making it
clear:"
Man: "I'm going to vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger for
Governor."
Williams, anchoring live his CNBC show, then noted in that
airing of his piece: "A yes vote for their man is a no vote for a
media monolith in California."
Williams proceeded to interview Phil Bronstein, Editor of the
San Francisco Chronicle, about the role of the California media in
the recall campaign and whether the LA Times aided
Schwarzenegger's opponents. The last question from Williams to
Bronstein: "Final question, 15 seconds, if you please: Should more
newspapers sometimes come out and say yeah, we probably lean left
of center, we're not a conservative paper, it's just the way we
are. That was a big complaint in LA today."
How about more anchors and reporters for cable news networks
coming clean?
Liberal bias at the LA Times isn't a matter of dispute: The
paper's Editor sees it himself. As recounted in the May 29
CyberAlert:
A critic has accused the Los Angeles Times of publishing a
story, on an abortion bill in Texas, that demonstrated the
"occasional reality" that the LA Times is a "liberal, 'politically
correct' newspaper." That critic? John Carroll, the Editor and
Executive Vice President of the Los Angeles Times. Carroll
chastised his staff: "The apparent bias of the writer and/or the
desk reveals itself in the third paragraph, which characterizes
such bills in Texas and elsewhere as requiring 'so-called
counseling of patients.' I don't think people on the anti-abortion
side would consider it 'so-called,' a phrase that is loaded with
derision." Carroll insisted: "We are not going to push a liberal
agenda in the news pages of the Times." See:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030529.asp#2
> 5) Arianna Huffington, who dropped out of the recall race,
remained a vociferous critic of Arnold Schwarzenegger but,
nonetheless, ABC's Good Morning America brought her aboard on
Tuesday to assess the campaign as if she were some kind of
independent analyst.
Robin Roberts asked her to suggest how difficult it has been
for Maria Shriver "to hear these very public accusations against
her husband?" Huffington endorsed the credibility of the accusers
as she raised the word "rape" in her answer: "It's very hard to
dismiss 15 women whose stories are all independently corroborated.
In fact, I think it is really offensive to dismiss them because
that's what makes it so hard for women to come forward and talk
about stories of sexual harassment or even rape. Only one in 10
women come forward to talk when they've been raped."
Roberts brought up the claim from "the Internet" about how
Gray Davis has "a violent temper against some of his staff
members." But unlike the allegations against Schwarzenegger,
Roberts tagged that "dirty politics" as she asked Huffington: "So
is this just more of dirty politics this close to election?"
Huffington, naturally, saw the case against Schwarzenegger as
being much stronger.
MRC analyst Jessica Anderson transcribed Huffington's session
via satellite from Los Angeles during the first half hour of the
October 7 GMA.
Roberts set up the segment: "We want to turn now to Arianna
Huffington, the columnist and commentator who has entered the
recall race as an independent, but who recently dropped out of the
race for Governor. Her name remains on the very lengthy ballot and
she joins us now."
Referring to a previous story on how Shriver weathered the
charges against her husband, Roberts first inquired of Huffington:
"Off the heels of Linda Douglass's story with Maria Shriver, you
know her, Maria Shriver, very well. She is a strong, independent,
career woman. How difficult has this been for her to hear these
very public accusations against her husband?"
Huffington, identified on screen as a "columnist and
commentator," replied: "Well, when the accusations first came out
on the front page of the Los Angeles Times, my heart really went
out to her as a mother because she's a wonderful mother, and there
can't be anything worse than knowing that your children are going
to be reading these very graphic stories about their father. And I
know she's doing a great job campaigning and hiding whatever her
own inner feelings may be, but it can't be easy."
Roberts: "You know some of these women who have come forward
accusing Arnold Schwarzenegger -- you know one woman in
particular. Many people question the credibility and the timing of
these accusations."
Huffington: "Well, the first women who came forward were all
sought out by the LA Times -- none of them volunteered, all their
stories were corroborated. I know one woman who had told me her
story a long time ago, and again, she never came forward to say
anything like that until the LA Times story appeared. So it's very
hard to dismiss 15 women whose stories are all independently
corroborated. In fact, I think it is really offensive to dismiss
them because that's what makes it so hard for women to come
forward and talk about stories of sexual harassment or even rape.
Only one in 10 women come forward to talk when they've been
raped."
Roberts: "Now we're hearing, this morning, accusations against
Gray Davis. In Brian Rooney's report, he said on the Internet
there are accusations of him having a violent temper against some
of his staff members, so is this just more of dirty politics this
close to election?"
Huffington: "Well, these are two very different stories. There
is one journalist who wrote a piece on the Internet,
uncorroborated, without any woman coming forward to say or verify
anything that she had said. We are talking about 15 women who have
come forward, who have worked with him in most cases, and give
very, very graphic, detailed descriptions of whatever. And more
important, he admitted it when he apologized and he said he was
deeply sorry, so I don't even know why we're questioning it. In
fact, this is a very strange strategy on behalf of Arnold
Schwarzenegger. First he denies everything, then he blames the
Davis camp, then he apologizes, and now full circle again, he's
denying them."
The story about Davis may be circulating the Internet, but
it's based on a Saturday column in the LA Daily News by Jill
Stewart, who disclosed: "Since at least 1997, the [Los Angeles]
Times has been sitting on information that Gov. Gray Davis is an
'office batterer' who has attacked female members of his staff,
thrown objects at subservients and launched into red-faced fits,
screaming the f-word until staffers cower....When I spoke to a
reporter involved, he said editors at the Times were against
attacking a major political figure using anonymous sources. Just
what they did last week to Schwarzenegger."
As Roberts noted, ABC's Brian Rooney raised the item during
his update on the Davis campaign: "Now, as to the question of
whether Gray Davis really is a dull guy, there's been a report
circulating on the Internet by a columnist named Jill Stewart
claiming that he has a violent temper and has, at times, either
struck or shoved some his employees at the state house. This is
unverified otherwise. It is making the rounds of the Internet. It
does not seem to have had any effect on the campaign so far. Gray
Davis says the margin is razor thin. There is no independent
polling to verify that and as the politicians like to say, the
only poll that counts for Gray Davis is the one today."
For Stewart's Saturday column in full:
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~24781~1676763,00.html
The American Reporter Web site has posted Stewart's 1997 story
for New Times LA on the allegation about Davis being violent in
the office: http://www.american-reporter.com/2,195/1.html
> 6) During this week's game, Monday Night Football play-by-
play announcer Al Michaels took an accurate shot at Arianna
Huffington, commenting on how a player who zig-zagged through the
other team's defensive line to pick up nearly 20 yards had shown
"more change of direction than Arianna Huffington," an obvious
crack at how she's moved from right to left.
The MRC's Kristina Sewell caught the quip from Michaels which
occurred with about 13:40 to go in the 2nd quarter of the October
6 game on ABC with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers up 14-0, in a game
they eventually lost 38-35 in overtime to the Indianapolis Colts.
As the Buccaneers ran a play, Michaels described the forward
movement of running back Michael Pittman: "2nd down and 2 from the
27 yard line. [after play complete:] Pittman showing more change
of direction than Arianna Huffington, breaking a tackle and
picking up a first down."
For a picture of Al Michaels:
http://espn.go.com/abcsports/mnf/columns/michaels_al/bio.html
For a rundown of earlier conservative comments from Michaels
on Monday Night Football, praising Katherine Harris and Peggy
Noonan and mocking Paul Begala, see the January 9, 2002
CyberAlert:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20020109.asp#4
> 7) From the October 7 Late Show with David Letterman, taped
before the polls closed in California, the "Top Ten Possible
California Newspaper Headlines for Tomorrow." That would now be
today. Late Show Web site: http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/
10. "135-Way Tie Throws State Into Confusion"
9. "Gray Davis Fails To Convince Self To Vote for Self"
8. "Governor Gary Coleman Names Lieutenant Governor Urkel"
7. "Recall Election Just Elaborate 'Punk'd' Prank"
6. "Dejected Comedian Gallagher Takes Sledgehammer To Own Head"
5. "Screw the Recall, How Did the Cubs and the Red Sox Get In the
Playoffs?"
4. "Millions of Californians Move to Nevada"
3. "Confused Al Gore Demands Recount"
2. "Bush Reminds Nation 'You Can't Recall a President'"
1. "Maria To Arnold: 'Why Don't You Ever Grope Me?'"
# I don't know what happened to Dennis Miller. The Tonight
Show guest page
( http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/guests/ )
had him listed on Tuesday afternoon as a Tuesday night guest. He
was not on and Geraldo Rivera was on last night. Chris Matthews is
listed as a scheduled guest for tonight, Wednesday.
And Senator Hillary Clinton is scheduled to appear Wednesday
night on Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart, airing at
11pm, 1am, 10am and 7pm, all times EDT, Wednesday night through
early Thursday evening.
-- Brent Baker
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