WatchdogThe t h e m r c ’ s m o n t h l y m e m b e r s ’ r e p o r t CREATING A MEDIA CULTURE IN AMERICA WHERE TRUTH AND LIBERTY FLOURISH Vol. 18 • Issue 10 • October 2011 Liberal Media Target Conservative Rick Perry for Character Assassination To Protect Obama in 2012 Election The liberal media will do whatever presidential nomination, Perry, a South- it takes to help Barack Obama and the ern Baptist, attended a fast and prayer MRC Headquarters • Alexandria, Va Democrats in the 2012 elections. They rally in Texas. That might seem like a will not tolerate any retreat from their normal thing to do for a regular Chris- ever-expanding socialist welfare state. tian in America, even a very nice thing INSIDE So they smear Sarah Palin and the Tea to do. But ABC’s World News saw it Party as yahoos and closeted racists. They differently. They ran a story headlined PAGE 3 attack Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) “Prayer Controversy: Is Rick Perry Going CNSNews.com Launches as a wild-eyed, Christian Too Far?” New, Expanded extremist. They call Her- ABC’s David Kerley Multimedia Site man Cain an Uncle Tom reported that “some and tar Rick Santorum as mainstream Christians” PAGE 4 a gay-bashing bully. — unnamed, naturally Bits & Pieces: Ranting Jack, What Poll? Now that Texas Gov. —“are concerned about Wanted: Cheney, Civility, Rick Perry has entered the event, which is being Anyone?, Racist GOP the GOP presidential paid for by the American nomination race — and Family Association, which PAGE 6 is beating Obama in the MSNBC’s Chris Matthews has been called anti-gay, New MRC Study: By 20 to 1, a cultural warrior.” Yes, Networks Label Republicans polls — the leftists in the smeared Texas Gov. Rick ‘Conservative’ vs. Labeling media are savaging him. Perry as racist, charging that AFA has been called that his “attack on Obama isn’t Democrats ‘Liberal’ It’s Perry’s turn to be fed … by leftist gay groups. just policy. It’s about the through the liberal media Three days after Perry PAGE 7 nature of the person who’s smear grinder. We pre- president. This could be Bull entered the race, ex- MRC in the News dicted back in 2007 that Connor with a smile.” Newsweek Editor How- PAGE 8 the leftist “news” media ard Fineman went on Join More than would resort to character assassination The Chris Matthews Show and claimed 500,000 Members of to protect their agenda in that election — again, without naming names — that the MRC Action Team! cycle. Here they go again, but in 2012 it “some people, especially the Bush peo- will be worse, believe me. ple, think that Rick Perry is shallow,” At the Media Research Center — and “when proponents of George Bush through our News Analysis Division, are accusing Rick Perry of being shal- NewsBusters blog, Business & Media Insti- low, you’ve got some questions to ask, tute, and MRC TV — we are documenting, okay?” exposing, and neutralizing the slanted Then, Perry had the audacity to “news” attacks against Perry. But more claim that the Fed printing more money assaults are occurring every day and they — the national debt is over $14 trillion will grow more vicious as the campaign — was “almost treacherous or treason- races advance. Let’s take a look at some ous, in my opinion.” CBS Evening News of what’s happened so far. pounced, with anchor Scott Pelley re- www.MRC.org In early August, a couple days before porting that Perry “appears to threat- he announced he would seek the GOP Continued on page 2 The 2 Watchdog OCTOBER 2011 Continued from page 1 gas into the atmosphere than any other state in the country and on the campaign trail, yesterday, perhaps we found out why.” Avila went on to warn that — horrors! — Perry “has a close relationship with guns, carries one while jogging.” Avila didn’t mention that Perry, an avid runner, carries the gun for protection and once shot a too-nosy coyote on one of his cross-country jogs. A week later on HLN’s The Joy Behar Show, CNN’s Don Lemon sat in as guest host and prodded Jay Bakker to raise the scary Christian image about Perry and Bachmann. Bakker, as if on cue, obliged, lecturing that MRC President Brent Bozell discusses the numerous liberal the two conservative Republicans were “playing to a media attacks against GOP nominee contender Rick Perry group of people who deal a lot with fear and using fear with Sean Hannity on Fox’s Hannity program. to control folks,” adding that, “I feel like they’ve kind of hijacked Christianity.” en the Federal Reserve.” ABC’s Jake Tapper also took Then the liberal media’s favorite RINO Republican, a jab, lifting from a Democratic Party talking point: Joe Scarborough, railed on his Aug. 31 MSNBC Morning “Democrats say that until Perry came along, they never Joe show: “Of course, [Rick Perry] can’t get elected in thought they’d meet a candidate who made the other the general election. Republican candidates look responsible.” He can’t. He can get The same day that ABC tagged Perry as irresponsible, elected in the Repub- MSNBC’s Chris Matthews smeared him as racist, saying lican primary, but he that Perry’s “attack on Obama isn’t just policy. It’s can’t get elected in about the nature of the person who’s president. This the general election.” could be Bull Connor with a smile.” S c a r b o r o u g h ’s The next day, Matthews piled on, ranting that journalistic sidekick Perry would not have supported Eisenhower’s efforts On his liberal MSNBC show, Mika Brzezinski, nod- to desegregate the public schools. “Do you think Rick Morning Joe, Republican-In-Name- ded her head in agree- Only Joe Scarborough railed that Perry would be for that?” mocked Matthews. “Do you ment and added, “the presidential contender Rick Perry think he’d be cheering for Ike today if he brought the Republican field is “can’t get elected in the general troops in to desegregate the schools in Little Rock? I election. He can’t.” don’t think so!” just pathetic.” After Perry raised the point that not all scientists The left-wing news attacks against Perry are just agree with the theory that global warming is man-made the latest in a string of journalistic assaults against and that some liberal scientists actually use the issue conservatives and any Republican who dares to to get government grants, ABC hit the roof. On Good challenge the almighty Obama. The smear machine is Morning America on Aug. 18, reporter Jim Avila ran a running at full speed and will not stop, regardless of story entitled “Rick Perry Unplugged,” and lectured that what happens on Election Day 2012. Perry “does not care about the overwhelming scientific The liberal media are hell-bent on stopping not evidence that global warming is largely produced by just conservative leaders, but also conservative ideas humans burning fossil fuels.” because those ideas are the ones that built this country Ignoring Texas’s strong record of job creation, Avila and which give every American the guidance to live his whined, “Rick Perry’s Texas pours more greenhouse or her own life, in liberty and in pursuit of happiness. We defend those beliefs and specifically fight Reporting from the Iowa against the media left-wingers who spin and lie to keep Caucus, ABC’s Jake Tapper followed Democratic the truth from the American people. We are America’s Party talking points media watchdog. We are on the prowl. And we thank saying: “Democrats say you for your vital support in this mission. that until Perry came along, they never thought Sincerely, they’d meet a candidate who made the other Republican candidates L. Brent Bozell III look responsible.” Founder and President OCTOBER 2011 EXTRA! EXTRA! CNSNews.com Launches New, Expanded Multimedia Site CNSNews.com, which regularly leads the news cycle on the Web bringing you the stories the liberal media ignore, re- launched on Sept. 8 with an expansive, multimedia site that is resetting the standard for online journalism. The Media Research Center’s CNSNews.com was launched in 1998. In the last several years, it has aggressively broad- ened its coverage of the issues and Capitol Hill through sharp editorial leadership and courageous reporters armed with video cameras asking tough questions of lawmakers and policy leaders. CNSNews.com led the pack in asking members of Congress whether they had read the Obamacare bill and where in the Constitution they got the authority to mandate that people buy health insurance. That very issue has been ruled on in several federal courts and is headed to the Supreme Court. CNSNews.com helped make that happen. With its new site, www.CNSNews.com is more visually appealing and reader-interactive with numerous color photos and videos on its homepage. Visitors can watch, hear, and read the most important news in nearly real-time. Reports, videos, and updates are posted throughout the day. In addition to the prominent headline and Washington news coverage on the homepage, there are five CNSNews.TV channels on the site, filled with reports on the scene, one- on-one interviews, and humorous takes on tough issues with our Golden Hookah, The Schein and NewsBusted programs. There are also new cartoons every day. CNSNews.com also now features a blog — The Right Views, Right Now — overflowing with incisive conservative commentary and analysis from some of the leading conserva- tive thinkers in the nation: Brent Bozell, Terry Jeffrey, Pat Buchanan, Dana Loesch, Ken Blackwell, Walter Williams, Michelle Malkin, Ben Shapiro, and many other leaders.