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RELATED LINKSInternal LinksGrants to: Profiles: Cursor.orgMediaTransparency.org sponsor More stories by Bill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs' Media Transparency writersAndrew J. Weaver FundometerEvaluate any page on the World Wide Web against our databases of people, recipients, and funders of the conservative movement. |
ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz Media Research Center takes on 'The West Wing'Conservative Philanthropy supported group claims show had liberal biasThe 2,195th CyberAlert, issued on Friday May 12, 2006 is a gift to both current and former fans of "The West Wing," from the resolute media watchers at the Media Research Center (MRC - website). When the series premiered on NBC in September 1999 -- toward the end of the Clinton years -- it started off by immediately pressing a political hot button: President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, told a group of conservative religious leaders to "get your fat asses out of my White House." "The West Wing"--which ended its seven-year run on Sunday, May 14 -- was smart television; it won scads of Emmys. Critics raved about its fast-paced and intelligent dialogue, its willingness to take on tough political issues, and its magnificent ensemble cast. The show captured the imagination of television viewers across the country, and it soon became a top rated program. The Media Research Center's crack team of media critics recently characterized the first episode of the series this way: "Viewers saw how the Hollywood Left views conservatives as the show concocted a preposterous plot and series of scenes which portrayed leaders of the Religious Right as anti-Semitic buffoons. The show culminated with an angry Democratic 'President Josiah Bartlet'...indignantly telling some conservative ministers: 'You can all get your fat asses out of my White House.'" Over the years, as the national political landscape changed and Aaron Sorkin, the show's primary creator, left the program, viewers started drifting away. The plots got thinner, the so-called liberalism got a little washed out, the characters seemed to lose their bearings, and as shows are wont to do in serial television, "The West Wing" grew stale. More recently, some critics praised the show for picking it up a bit in its last year, with an infusion of new blood -- Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda. "It's a very short list of dramas that have been at the top of their game creatively, fallen into a fallow period marked by fans watching more from habit and gilded memory than actual merit, then returned to glory," San Francisco Chronicle television critic Tim Goodman wrote in a column that bid farewell to six longtime television series. The West Wing "...at its finest represented intelligent and passionate network television. It raised the standard on smarts. And it did that after defying the odds -- no programmer wanted to touch a political drama. Sorkin brought together viewers who may have had diverse political opinions. He gave the battered office of the presidency an aura of respect and gravitas; he made politics seem important and noble until, well, he couldn't any longer as the national political mood fractured," Goodman wrote. With the final episode of the series having aired on Sunday, May 14, now, thanks to L. Brent Bozell III's Media Research Center, you can relive the "Top Ten Left Wing Scenes on NBC's The West Wing": "From oldest to newest, this Web compilation provides text and video/audio for a 'Top Ten' presentation of some of the program's most notorious liberal moments and crusades," Team MRC maintained. MRC has included nine scenes "pushing liberal ideas followed by one unusual scene which mocked liberal opposition to tax cuts." The "Ten Top Left Wing Scenes..." which begins with President's Bartlet's tossing of religious right leaders, also includes Bartlet's "liberal" State of the Union address aired on January 12, 2000, two weeks before President Clinton's State of the Union address; a "rant against guns" on the October 4, 2000 season premiere; a lamely disguised scene during the October 18, 2000 episode where the president quizzes a Dr. Laura-like figure about "misleading listeners about her expertise by calling herself 'Doctor' when she has no medical degree and castigat[ing] her reference to homosexuality as 'an abomination.'" And there's lots more. Bozell's Media Research Center bills itself as "America's Media Watchdog." It is undoubtedly one of the most prolific and well-funded groups-- though not necessarily the most respected --in the media watchdog business. There's its near-daily "Cyber Alerts," which "document" liberal media bias; the "Media Reality Check" which on a weekly basis reports on the "major news stories distorted or ignored" by the mainstream media; "Notable Quatables," "a bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes in the liberal media"; "Special Reports" -- also documenting media bias; and a series of "Media Bias Videos"; and a blog launched last summer called "NewsBusters," dedicated to?...you guessed it ... "Exposing and Combating Liberal Media Bias." Want more? There's "MRC Action" -- "Citizens Demanding Truth in Media"; the campaign to "Support Our Troops," which is headed by Major General John Singlaub (U.S.A. Ret.) Singlaub was the Reagan administration's chief liaison to the 'private' Contra supply effort during the Iran-Contra scandal, and he headed up the notorious World Anti-Communist League, which supported terrorist organizations and paramilitary groups around the world. "Support Our Troops" informs readers that "The mainstream liberal media want you to believe that U.S. troops in Iraq are guilty of widespread torture ... oppressing civilians ... murdering U.S. journalists ... opposing the war effort ... And losing the war....Our troops in Iraq are winning the war." The MRC also issues special "Profiles in Bias." Recent reports have focused on the so-called liberal bias of Katie Couric -- published after she was tapped to be CBS' Evening News anchor -- and Meredith Viera's anti-Bush comments, also published after she was named Couric's Today show replacement. The MRC also hosts an annual "gala" called the "DisHonors Awards" dinner, a celebration in Washington, D.C. that "roast[s] the most outrageously biased liberal reporters as selected by a distinguished panel of leading [conservative] media observers." This year's "media observers" included Rush Limbaugh, Steve Forbes, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Robert Novak and Mary Matalin. Bozell also writes a series of columns, often eviscerating Hollywood or giving his special viewpoint on the news. Bozell also heads up the Parents Television Council (PTC), which not only tracks "indecency" on television, but does something about it. Founded in 1995, the PTC aims "to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media." It claims "nearly one million members." The PTC, which had a field day with Janet Jackson's nipple -- revealed at the Super Bowl half-time show a few years back -- has been largely responsible for the Federal Communications Commission's recent crackdown on indecency on television. In December 2004, Mediaweek let readers in on the PTC's methodology. It revealed that the organization had been responsible for practically all of the indecency complaints filed in 2003. Bozell maintained that the FCC was guilty of "faulty accounting practices" and called for a Congressional investigation. "While we're pleased that the FCC has calculated that PTC members have filed an overwhelming majority of indecency complaints in the last two years, the FCC's count is utterly deceptive," Bozell said. "The FCC is playing games with their accounting and is being deliberately dishonest with the American people over the number of complaints filed in the last few years. The PTC has documentation to show the FCC's dishonesty." The organization is also known for its annual survey of television programming called the "Top 10 Best and Worst Network TV Shows for Family Viewing." Although "The West Wing" will no longer be producing new episodes, viewers can catch the show regularly on the Bravo cable television network. Evidently, according to James Forsyth, a Brit who is an assistant editor of Foreign Policy magazine, the program will be missed and "mourned ... in Whitehall, the home of the British government." In fact, Forsyth pointed out in a Washington Post story, former chief of staff Leo McGarry -- played by the recently deceased John Spencer -- "was invited to 10 Downing Street in June 2002 for some face time with Jonathan Powell, Prime Minister Tony Blair's real-life chief of staff." sign in, or register to email stories or comment on them.
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MORE ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs'Right Wing foundation-funded anti-environmental think tank grabbing a wider audience for 'free market environmentalism' On the 15th anniversary of Terry Anderson and Donald Leal's book "Free Market Environmentalism" -- the seminal book on the subject -- Anderson, the Executive Director of the Bozeman, Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC - formerly known as the Political Economy Research Center) spoke in late-January at an event sponsored by Squaw Valley Institute at the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. While it may have been just another opportunity to speak on "free market environmentalism" and not the kickoff of a "victory tour," nevertheless it comes at a time when PERC's ideas are taking root.
Bill Berkowitz Neil Bush of Saudi ArabiaDuring recent visit, President’s brother describes the country as a 'kind of tribal democracy' In late February, only a few days after Saudi Arabia beheaded four Sri Lankan robbers and then left their headless bodies on public display in the capital of Riyadh, Neil Bush, for the fourth time in the past six years, showed up for the country's Jeddah Economic Forum. The Guardian reported that Human Rights Watch "said the four men had no lawyers during their trial and sentencing, and were denied other basic legal rights." In an interview with Arab News, the Saudi English language paper, Bush described the country as "a kind of tribal democracy."
Bill Berkowitz Newt Gingrich's back door to the White HouseAmerican Enterprise Institute "Scholar" and former House Speaker blames media for poll showing 64 percent of the American people wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances Whatever it is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has come to represent in American politics, the guy is nothing less than fascinating. One day he's espousing populist rhetoric about the need to cut the costs of college tuition and the next day he's talking World War III. One day he's claiming that the "war on terror" may force the abridgement of fundamental first amendment rights and the next he's advancing a twenty-first century version of his Contract with America. At the same time he's publicly proclaiming how "stupid" it is that the race for the presidency has already started you know that he's trying to figure out how to out finesse Rudy, McCain and Romney for the nomination. And last week, when Fox News' Chris Wallace cited a poll showing that 64 percent of the public would never vote for him, he was quick to blame those results on how unfairly he was treated by the mainstream media back in the day.
Bill Berkowitz American Enterprise Institute takes lead in agitating against IranDespite wrongheaded predictions about the war on Iraq, neocons are on the frontlines advocating military conflict with Iran After doing such a bang up job with their advice and predictions about the outcome of the war on Iraq, would it surprise you to learn that America's neoconservatives are still in business? While at this time we are not yet seeing the same intense neocon invasion of our living rooms -- via cable television's news networks -- that we saw during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, nevertheless, a host of policy analysts at conservative think tanks -- most notably the American Enterprise Institute -- are being heeded on Iran by those who count - folks inside the Bush Administration.
Bill Berkowitz After six years, opposition gaining on George W. Bush's Faith Based InitiativeUnmentioned in the president's State of the Union speech, the program nevertheless continues to recruit religious participants and hand out taxpayer money to religious groups With several domestic policy proposals unceremoniously folded into President Bush's recent State of the Union address, two pretty significant items failed to make the cut. Despite the president's egregiously tardy response to the event itself, it was nevertheless surprising that he didn't even mention Hurricane Katrina: He didn't offer up a progress report, words of hope to the victims, or come up with a proposal for moving the sluggish rebuilding effort forward. There were no "armies of compassion" ready to be unleashed, although it should be said that many in the religious community responded to the disaster much quicker than the Bush Administration. In the State of the Union address, however, there was no "compassionate conservatism" for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Bill Berkowitz Frank Luntz calls Republican leadership in Washington 'One giant whining windbag'On the outs with the GOP, legendary degrader of discourse is moving to California He doesn't make great art; nothing he does elevates the human spirit; he doesn't illuminate, he bamboozles. He has become expert in subterfuge, hidden meanings, word play and manipulation. Frank Luntz has been so good at what he does that those paying close attention gave it its own name: "Luntzspeak."
Bill Berkowitz Spooked by MoveOn.org, conservative movement seeks to emulate liberal powerhouseFueled with Silicon Valley money, TheVanguard.org will have Richard Poe, former editor of David Horowitz's FrontPage magazine as its editorial and creative director As Paul Weyrich, a founding father of the modern conservative movement and still a prominent actor in it, likes to say, he learned a great deal about movement building by closely observing what liberals were up to in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Bill Berkowitz Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action jihadFounder and Chair of the American Civil Rights Institute scouting five to nine states for new anti-affirmative action initiatives Fresh from his most recent victory -- in Michigan this past November -- Ward Connerly, the Black California-based maven of anti-affirmative action initiatives, appears to be preparing to take his jihad on the road. According to a mid-December report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Connerly said that he was "exploring moves into nine other states."
Bill Berkowitz Tom Tancredo's missionThe Republican congressman from Colorado will try to woo GOP voters with anti-immigration rhetoric and a boatload of Christian right politics These days, probably the most recognizable name in anti-immigration politics is Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo. Over the past year, Tancredo has gone from a little known congressman to a highly visible anti-immigration spokesperson. "Tancredo has thoroughly enmeshed himself in the anti-immigration movement and with the help of CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs, he has been given a national megaphone," Devin Burghart, the program director of the Building Democracy Initiative at the Center for New Community, a Chicago-based civil rights group, told Media Transparency.
Bill Berkowitz Institute on Religion and Democracy slams 'Leftist' National Council of ChurchesNew report from conservative foundation-funded IRD charges the NCC with being a political surrogate for MoveOn.org, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations If you prefer your religious battles sprinkled with demagoguery, sanctimoniousness, and simplistic attacks, the Institute on Religion and Democracy's (IRD) latest broadside against the National Council of Churches (NCC) certainly fits the bill.
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