The WatchdogTHE MRC’ S MONTHLY MEMBERS’ REPORT CREATING A MEDIA CULTURE WHERE TRUTH AND LIBERTY FLOURISH IN AMERICA Volume 14 • Issue 7 • July 2007 New MRC Special Report Shows That Americans Believe Liberal Media Are Undermining America’s Moral Values Dear Friend, MRC Headquarters • Alexandria, Va The MRC’s Culture and Media Institute thankfully, due to the generous sup- has released a new Special Report porters of the MRC. documenting how the vast majority of Summing up the report, CMI Director INSIDE Americans blame the liberal media for Robert Knight told The Washington the decline in America’s moral values. Times, “In a nutshell, people who watch PAGE 3 The report, The Media Assault on more TV tend to want less personal Networks, Top Newspapers American Values, is the responsibility and more government Ignore Al-Qaeda Torture second in a four-part series action, particularly with Photos; Liberal Media Slam Jerry Falwell on personal responsibility regard to retirement from the Culture and Media and health care. They PAGES 4 – 5 Institute, an MRC division also tend to be less Bits & Pieces: launched only eight months charitable or honest.” NBC’s Gore-ageous Bias, ago — not bad for a staff of The report’s fi nd- Cuba Likes CNN, four, which put out their ings were based on NBC Smears Rush, fi rst Special Report on the National Cultural ‘Scary’ Tom Tancredo March 7. Values Survey, which PAGE 6 The Culture and Media CMI conducted with the CNSNews.com: Institute (CMI) released highly respected polling The Guts to Report the the report at a seminar fi rm Fabrizio, McLaughlin News Others Won’t on June 6 at the Grand & Associates. The results Hyatt in Washington, are alarming and confi rm PAGE 7 D.C. The keynote speak- much of what the MRC MRC in the News has been documenting in er was best-selling author, movie critic, other ways for years: The major news columnist, and nationally syndicated PAGE 8 media and the entertainment industry How You Can Help talk-radio host Michael Medved. CMI’s in Hollywood are liberal/left and their the MRC Fight study proves “that those who describe political and moral biases run against Liberal Media Bias themselves as ‘heavy’ TV viewers (4 the moral values of most Americans — hours or more a day) embrace distinctly and, over time, this corrosive liberalism liberal attitudes on a range of crucial can negatively infl uence individuals and issues, placing them well to the left of the nation. those who report ‘light’ TV viewing (1 hour a day),” said Medved. Some of the report’s fi ndings include the following: The well-attended event generated extensive media coverage, reaching • 74 percent of Americans believe the millions of Americans through stories nation’s moral values have declined in U.S. News & World Report, the over the past 20 years, and large Associated Press, CBS News.com, other majorities hold the media responsible www.MRC.org news outlets, and complete coverage on for contributing to that decline. C-SPAN 3. This was all made possible, Continued on page 2 JJuly07uly07 1 66/26/07/26/07 99:19:30:19:30 AMAM The 2 Watchdog JULY 2007 Continued from page 1 • 73 percent of Americans say Hollywood has a negative impact on moral values and 54 percent say the news media have a negative impact on moral values. • Only 7 percent of Americans think Hollywood has a positive impact, and only 11 percent think the news media have a positive effect. • The more a person watches TV, the less likely he will be to accept responsibility for his own life and for his obligations to people around him. • 64 percent of “heavy” TV watchers think the government should provide retirement benefi ts to Americans while only 43 percent Author, fi lm critic, and talk-radio host of “light” viewers think that way. Michael Medved gave the keynote address • 63 percent of “heavy” TV viewers prefer government health at the June 6 seminar for the release of the care to private health care — only 48 percent of “light” viewers MRC’s Culture and Media Institute Special think the same. Report, The Media’s Assault on American • 51 percent of “light” TV viewers say they are pro-life while Values. Medved concluded that increased only 37 percent of “heavy” TV watchers describe themselves as TV viewing correlates with less acceptance pro-life. of personal responsibility. • The media appear to be undermining commitment to religion. The more a person watches TV, the less likely he is to value religious principles. • 47 percent of “light” TV viewers attend church at least once a week, compared with only 28 percent of “heavy” TV watchers. The most telling fi nding from the study is that increased TV viewing correlates with less acceptance of personal responsibility. The more time people spend watching TV, the less likely they are to accept personal responsibility for their own lives. That correlation is key to liberalism and the agenda of the liberal media. As Michael Medved explained in his June 13 column, based on the report: “The isolation associated with hours and hours in front of the tube leads to liberal values and viewpoints. In every election, single people prove vastly more likely to vote for Democrats than do married people. … People who see themselves as alone in the world, with no spouses or fellow congregants, frequently turn to government as a source of support and comfort — just as they’d turn to television as a source of phony companionship. It makes sense that loneliness and helplessness and disconnection would breed both liberalism and heavy TV viewing; just as a vibrant family life, and communal participation, would produce less television viewing and more conservative self-reliance.” The liberal news media and Hollywood are hell-bent on reshaping America in their liberal image. This report shows that many Americans are wise to this game but also that much damage CMI’s new report is vital to has been done and continues to affect our children, and will affect understanding the liberal media’s future generations. It is a constant battle. CMI’s report and the assault on America’s values. daily work here at the MRC is a bulwark against the liberal media. You can read the entire report Let’s keep on the attack! on our Web site at Sincerely, www.cultureandmediainstitute.org. Or, call the CMI offi ce at L. Brent Bozell III (703) 683-9733 to request a copy. Founder and President JJuly07uly07 2 66/26/07/26/07 99:19:36:19:36 AMAM The JULY 2007 Watchdog 3 Networks and Top Newspapers Ignore Al-Qaeda Torture Photos Yet Top Media Ran More than 6,000 Stories on Abu Ghraib Abuses The networks — ABC, CBS, NBC — and top news- electric drills, metal fi les, vises — drawings of papers such as The New York Times and The Wash- torture methods, and photos of actual victims found ington Post completely ignored recently declassifi ed in another house in Karmah, Iraq, who had been photos that reveal the shocking nature of Al-Qaeda’s burned, mutilated, and tortured in myriad ways. torture methods and several of its To their credit, CNN and Fox Iraqi victims. These are the same News Channel ran stories on the powerful liberal media who ran declassifi ed material — CNN on May countless stories about the abuse of 23, Fox on May 25. Yet days after some prisoners at Abu Ghraib by a those stories broke, and now weeks handful of American guards. later, the networks and the top This blackout by the most power- papers haven’t touched the story. ful media in the United States shows When photos of the prisoners at Abu how liberally biased they are and how Ghraib surfaced, showing partially hypocritical they are when it comes Declassifi ed drawings and victim-photos clothed captives stacked in pyramids to human rights. It also reveals their uncovered in Iraq, and ignored by the and other humiliating poses, the willful denial of the nature of warfare networks and top newspapers, reveal U.S. and international media went the horrifying nature of Al-Qaeda’s in Iraq — what the enemy is really torture tactics. ballistic, running stories around the like and what the Iraqi people face in clock for days and months — more greater measure should the American than 6,000 news stories. military withdraw too soon. “Where are the liberal media The U.S. Defense Department now?” asked MRC President Brent released the Al-Qaeda torture photos Bozell in a May 31 press release. on May 23. The photos, obtained “Will they not show the American from an Al-Qaeda “safe house” in Iraq people what Al-Qaeda is actually showed various torture tools—blow doing in Iraq right now? Whose side torches, meat cleavers, hammers, are they on?” How the Liberal Media Said Goodbye to Jerry Falwell (1933-2007) “And now, new rule, death isn’t always sad.” – Bill Maher, HBO’s Real Time, May 18 “I think it’s a pity there isn’t a hell for him to go to. … The empty life of this ugly little charlatan …. Such a little toad …. This horrible little person …. I’m glad to see he skipped the rapture, just found on the fl oor of his offi ce.” – Vanity Fair Contributing Editor Christopher Hitchens on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, May 15 “At a time like this, people deserve sympathy and good wishes … except for Falwell, who is an evil sonofabitch.” – Wonkette.com blog, May 15 “The gates of Hell swing open and Satan welcomes his beloved son.” – Amanda Marcotte, former offi cial blogger for John Edwards’ presidential campaign, Pandagon blog, May 15 “The reaction from the reporters? Grins and chuckles mostly.