MSM Obama Confession Time: WashPo, NewsWeek, MSNBC, LA Times

Bias on Record:
Washington Post
Chris Matthews
Newsweek
Los Angeles Times

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Mainstream Media: Yes We Can!

Deborah Howell, the ombudsman at the Washington Post completely agrees [An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage]:

The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts.

Human Gaffe Machine Joe Biden?

One gaping hole in coverage involved Joe Biden, Obama's running mate. When Gov. Sarah Palin was nominated for vice president, reporters were booking the next flight to Alaska. Some readers thought The Post went over Palin with a fine-tooth comb and neglected Biden. They are right; it was a serious omission.

John at Power Line wasn't surprised [Ho Hum] and offers a possible solution.

Howell finds that the Post's coverage of Sarah Palin was especially biased. To which my response is, tell us something we didn't already know. Anyone who can still be shocked by newspapers' liberal bias hasn't been paying attention for a long time. The Washington Post is a Democratic newspaper, and a good one, for the most part. As I've said before, the Post is the most respectable voice of the Democratic Party. But it would be foolish to expect objectivity from what is essentially an arm of the Democratic Party.

Conservatives should stop talking about media bias and start founding (or buying) some newspapers of our own. Of course, until that happens we'll probably still complain about bias from time to time.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air [Right on time!] sums up DBKP's position on the matter exactly.

Why didn’t the Post want to look at the files of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Barack Obama’s only executive experience prior to his run for the presidency? The media never bothered to make a hundredth of the effort on Obama that they did with Palin, and they had two years to do it.

That’s the issue Howell should have addressed in her column. We already know that the Post gave imbalanced coverage of Obama and McCain, as did most of the rest of the media. And now Howell gives the mea culpa in her first column after Election Day, when it’s far too late to do anything about it. Where was Howell during the last three months? Why wait until the election is over to speak up? That’s an answer in itself.

Gateway Pundit has a video of MSNBC's Chris Matthews. [Now That the Election is Over... Media Admits Bias For Obama] Matthews declares that his job as a journalist is to continue his Grand Obama Pimp he perfected during his election coverage.

There will be no traditional press honeymoon between Chris Matthews and Barack Obama, Matthews already having been guilt of the press equivalent of premarital sex.

Journalists not only love new...
They love Democrats.
Sarah Palin was new but they raked her over the coals.
Such is the demise of our mainstream media.
The one thing that is clear after this election-- If you want to find the truth you will have to go elsewhere for your news.

Two words-- Rashid Khalidi.

Jammie Wearing Fool, WaPo Ombudsman: Yes, We Were Completely In the Tank for Obama :

They found plenty of space to go over McCain's health in agonizing detail but ignored Obama's drug use, shady connections and mysterious undergrad years.

I'm sure they'll make up for their grossly imbalanced coverage now that their guy is safely in office. And I have an oceanfront spread in Wyoming up for sale.

It's to the Washington Post's credit to admit that its coverage emanated from within the tank. We may see more stories like this.

More likely, we'll see the usual apologia from the MSM about how they were non-biased stalwarts looking out for the interests of the unwashed sheeple who remain as their customers.

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NEW YORK Times



Since the NY Times ceased being a serious journalistic endeavor some time ago, we'll let its horrific coverage of Election 2008 pass without comment.

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LA Times and the Khalidi Video

The Lost Angeles Times' refusal to release the video of the Obamas, Rashid Khalidi and Bill Ayers is well-documented. The LA Times previously had ordered its reporters not to write on their blogs about John Edwards getting caught leaving his mistress Rielle Hunter's room at the Beverly Hilton--even after it had been confirmed by Fox News.

* Obama, Khalidi Hidden Video: The Evolution of the LA Times Excuses
* LA Times Obama-Rashid Khalidi Video: $175,000 Reward Offered for Tape
* Obama-Khalidi Tape: Blogger Obtains Quotes from Hidden Video UPDATED
* John Edwards-Rielle Hunter Love Child: LA Times Censors Reporters on Story

As the LA Times mulls over further lay-offs, it might examine its refusal to provide its remaining customers with a product they seek: news.

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NewsWeek Keeps its Obama Thoughts to Itself--until AFTER the Election

Mikes America, at Flopping Aces, tipped off a post election admission from Jon Meacham and Evan Thomas of Newsweek on Charlie Rose: Newsweek Editors: Obama a “Creepy,” “Deeply Manipulative,” “Creature”

Why didn’t they say this in their magazine BEFORE the election?

Yesterday I shared with you the audio of Tom Brokaw being interviewed by Charlie Rose where both men admit they don’t know who Obama really is or what he intends to do in office. Now, a post election admission from Jon Meacham and Evan Thomas of Newsweek; also interviewed by Charlie Rose. Audio is provided with commentary by Rush Limbaugh (transcript):

FA provides the Brokaw video, as well as a transcript, ending with the following observation by MA:

At what point will Meacham and Thomas, along with Brokaw and so many others face the fact that they committed journalistic malpractice by hiding the character concerns they are only now sharing about Obama? Were they just tooooo busy digging dirt on Sarah Palin’s children and Joe the Plumber to tell the American people what a “creepy,” “manipulative,” “creature” Obama is?

Yes, they kept all of this out of their publication before the election.

Again, we'll give Meachum and Thomas credit for admitting their bias.

As with the others, they get absolutely no credit for being journalists--their professed profession.

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by Mondo Frazier
images: dbkp file

Palin, WashPo: More Americans Believe in UFOs than Trust the Media

The Lackey Press

Remember the WashPo's "Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home" ?
Three times as many American believe in UFOs than trust the MSM




Remember yesterday's Washington Post story with the headline, "Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home"? Even those familiar with the ways of the Mainstream Media paused.

The WashPo staff writers, James Grimaldi and Karl Vick, must have labored hours to compile their story. It sounds ominous enough: was Palin the reformer was bilking the state through expense reports?

Here’s the lead paragraph:
ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

Barbara Sowell, Digital Journal, "How To Manufacture a Daily Palin Controversy", observes:

If anyone bothers to read the entire article, it becomes obvious that not only is the title and lead paragraph very misleading, but apparently Palin was well within her rights as governor of Alaska to claim the per diem for her daily expenses while living at home in Wasilla because her office was at the state capitol of Juneau. Additionally, she requested per diem for her daily expenses, but not for lodging.

She then cites The Volokh Conspiracy for doing "a very good job of ferreting out the facts from the Washington Post article":

You have to read the article carefully to figure this out, but what the story ultimately reveals is that Palin: (a) billed the state for most expenses allowed by law, including per diem when she stayed in her own home (her "duty station" was the state capitol of Juneau) in Wasilla; (b) didn't bill the state for other expenses, when she could have done so lawfully, such as per diems for her children; and (c) spent a lot less money on expenses than did her predecessor, especially on travel and by ridding herself of the state's personal chef. [FWIW, she apparently maintained two residences, the governor's mansion in Juneau, which by state law is her official work "base" and where assumedly she didn't get a per diem (but where her predecessor had a personal chef whom she let go), and Wasilla, from where she commuted to Anchorage for work when the legislature wasn't in session. Saintly to take the per diem she was legally entitled to when in the second residence? No. Worthy of the lead headline on Washingtonpost.com? Please! Not illegal, not unethical, and not a scandal.]

This election, more than any other before it exposes the corruption of the Mainstream Media. There are now Washington Post readers--especially those only scanning the headlines--that have it in their minds that Sarah Palin abused her office by billing the "State for Nights Spent at Home".

In fact, the only abuse practiced here is the Washington Post for running the story as the lead on its website. It's abuse we've seen before and that we'll continue to see for the next 7 weeks.

However, in 2008, shady tactics practiced by WashPo will hurt the perp and not the target. There are other voices that, while at the moment, aren't singly as loud as WashPo, collectively now exceed it.

Within hours of the WashPo story being posted, others--such as Volokh and Sowell--were already publicizing the deception. That would not have happened in previous years for days.

Too late to be of any comfort to Robert Bork, but just in time for Sarah Palin.

Is it any wonder that big newspaper stocks and circulation continues to decline?

Meanwhile the Washington Post Company (WPO) is down about 28 percent over the same period, the New York Times (NYT) down about 10 percent. News Corp. (NWS), which bought the other big newspaper giant -- Dow Jones -- for some $5 billion last year, has seen its stock fall over 25 percent in the past twelve months.

Rusmussen reported last week that Americans, by a 10-1 margin believe the Mainstream Media is 'trying to hurt Sarah Palin'.

Big Media can protest all it wants about how "equitable" it is. With alternate news sources readily available these days, Americans are able to judge their objectivity for themselves--and they have, both in axing subscriptions and selling off their MSM stocks.

MSM apologists often liken those pointing out the widespread bias to "conspiracy theorists". One such writer at the Kansas City Star, during the John Edwards scandal, tried pinning that label on DBKP.

The fact remains, almost three times as many Americans believe in flying saucers (56%), than believe that the Mainstream Press delivers the news in an objective manner (19%). [INFO Wars: Sarah Palin, John Edwards Get Very Different MSM Coverage]

Talk about conspiracy theories.

by Mondoreb
image: RidesAPaleHorse

* Three times as many Americans believe in UFOs (56%) than trust the mainstream press (19%).

Washington Post, Labor Dept. Rule Changes: When the MSM Attack

Example of Why the MSM is the NME
by Babba Zee
Outraged Spleen of Zion



Allman Brothers ~ Whipping Post


The Washington Post did a total hit piece on this woman.

She's working on a new rule to change the way the government regulates workers' exposure to toxins.

The Post, in the service of the unions and Dems, slammed her on page A1.





U.S. Rushes to Change Workplace Toxin Rules

Political appointees at the Department of Labor are moving with unusual speed to push through in the final months of the Bush administration a rule making it tougher to regulate workers' on-the-job exposure to chemicals and toxins.

The agency did not disclose the proposal, as required, in public notices of regulatory plans that it filed in December and May. Instead, Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao's intention to push for the rule first surfaced on July 7, when the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted on its Web site that it was reviewing the proposal, identified only by its nine-word title.

You'll note the way the writer paints Misir as doing something out of the ordinary, as though she's trying to sneak through a new rule. Note also that they didn't call her for comment before publication.

The Left is about hit-and-run character assassination, and if you claim to be protecting workers, while also exposing the evils of the Bush administration, of course you're not bound by any rules.

My thinking is that it's not worth spending too much effort writing on the Post's comment board itself, because no one's going to sift through hundreds of posts to read them all.

It's better to get things like up on bigger blogs like Michelle Malkin or Free Republic.

Here are some key points to consider:.

1. Contrary to what the Post wrote, the new rule is not secret. It's a draft being reviewed by OMB, then everyone can comment on it once it's released.

2. No one knows what's in it, so the Post printed assumptions based on Deborah's previous comments about the existing process. The new rule will protect workers, but will make the process transparent, and most significantly, risk-based using science and actual facts, rather than faulty assumptions and emotion.

3. An abstract of the new rule can be found here: Requirements for DOL Agencies’ Assessment of Occupational Health Risks

4. They also smeared Deborah for previously being a White House ethics officer, insinuating that she must be a bad person because no one at the Bush White House is ethical. Every government agency has an ethics adviser to ensure compliance with ethics rules, such as accepting gifts, using government resources, speaking in front of certain groups, separating political activities from government service, etc. She was the screener who ensured compliance with ethics rules, and has never been faulted once for an incorrect ruling or advice; rather, she is ridiculed for her careful and ethical work.

The Left-wing bloggers have ripped her apart on this for the last year, even making fun of her last name (Misir is Hindu), usually writing that she was a White House "ethics adviser."

If you ever wonder why good people shy away from public service out of fear of being personally destroyed, here's another example. With her experience (she was previously an appellate lawyer for the Justice Department, arguing cases in front of Federal appellate courts), she could be in a private firm earning $300,000+/year; instead, she's in the trenches fighting for rational policies in industry, and being personally destroyed by the socialist network.

Want more Babba Zee? Check out these recent posts: * Spleenster "pat" asks: WHO TF is John Templeton, & why should you care? * EgyptAir forces Islamic prayers on flight out of JFK

by Babba Zee
Source: Example of Why the MSM is the NME
images: Outraged Spleen of Zion