Another byproduct of the right-wing media propaganda effort is the cowardice of the mainstream media when faced by the liberal bias charge. To prove that they are indeed not purveyors of a liberal bias, they tailor their stories and reports with a conservative slant, thereby foolishly playing into the likes of Ailes and co. who get to have it both ways. But if former CBS News anchor Dan Rather has his way in court they might have to think twice about foisting this nonsense on us, the public, in the future.
From the NYT:
When Dan Rather filed suit against CBS 14 months ago—claiming, among other things, that his former employer had commissioned a politically biased investigation into his work on a “60 Minutes” segment about President Bush’s National Guard service—the network predicted the quick and favorable dismissal of the case, which it derided as “old news.”
Using tools unavailable to him as a reporter—including the power of subpoena and the threat of punishment against witnesses who lie under oath—he has unearthed evidence that would seem to support his assertion that CBS intended its investigation, at least in part, to quell Republican criticism of the network.
Some of the documents unearthed by his investigation include notes taken at the time by Linda Mason, a vice president of CBS News. According to her notes, one potential panel member, Warren Rudman, a former Republican senator from New Hampshire, was deemed a less-than-ideal candidate over fears by some that he would not “mollify the right.”
Another memorandum turned over to Mr. Rather’s lawyers by CBS was a long typed list of conservative commentators apparently receiving some preliminary consideration as panel members, including Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter and Pat Buchanan. At the bottom of that list, someone had scribbled “Roger Ailes,” the founder of Fox News.
Asked about the assembly of the panel in a sworn deposition, Andrew Heyward, the former president of CBS News, acknowledged that he had wanted at least one member to sit well with conservatives: “CBS News, fairly or unfairly, had a reputation for liberal bias,” and “the harshest scrutiny was obviously going to come from the right.”
Wait—does CBS stand for Cowardly Broadcasting Service? Limbaugh?! Drudge?! Coulter??! Ailes???! This is the list of people considered for a panel that was to impartially judge the investigation?! Are you motherfucking kidding me? Ugh. This is why the wingnuts deem everyone not on their team—Democrats and the mainstream media especially—as being wishy-washy, weak and pathetic.
Watch how for the next four years—even if he were to become the best president of the last 100 years—the wingnuts will relentlessly pile on Obama (they’ve already started calling our current economic strife the “Obama Recession”, 2+ months before the man has even taken office) and the mainstream media will more than occasionally join in on the unfounded bashing just to show their lack of liberal bias.
Here’s a question, though: is that why they replayed Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s incendiary sermons ENDLESSLY but have yet to say ONE WORD about the fully documented SECESSIONIST ties and associations of the great patriots known as Todd and Sarah Palin?
Losers.
