Posted on 01/09/2004 9:45:33 AM PST by fight_truth_decay
NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw can't escape the MRC -- and that annoys him. In an interview in the latest edition of the Columbia Journalism Review magazine, Brokaw denied he's guilty of any liberal bias and seemed to be referring to the MRC's CyberAlert as he called the constant drumbeat of criticism from the MRC "a little wearying" since the MRC's "fine legal points" are "everywhere every day."
In the interview, Jane Hall, a regular panelist on FNC's Fox Newswatch, an assistant professor at American University's School of Communication and a former Los Angeles Times reporter, raised the MRC: "The Media Research Center, the conservative media watchdog group, has been getting a lot of attention for its reports alleging liberal bias in the media."
Brokaw called the complaints of a liberal bias "a little wearying" and charged that "most of the cases are pretty flimsily made." Brokaw kvetched: "What I get tired of is Brent Bozell [president of the Media Research Center] trying to make these fine legal points everywhere every day. A lot of it just doesn't hold up. So much of it is that bias -- like beauty -- is in the eye of the beholder."
Brokaw, who described FNC as "a lively, right-of-center opinionated all-news channel," saw no bias on his network or elsewhere, but he touted an attitude which is behind liberal bias as he insisted that the media's duty is to "represent the views of those who are underrepresented in the social context or the political context and to make sure that they're not overlooked and that their wrongs get the bright light of journalistic sunshine." Brokaw recognized how that can be seen as a bias, "and therefore, because of the nature of what we cover, people may think that we're biased. But the fact is, that's part of the obligation of journalism."
Some excerpts from the interview by Jane Hall of Tom Brokaw in the January/February issue of the Columbia Journalism Review, joined about a fourth of the way into it:
Hall: "The Media Research Center, the conservative media watchdog group, has been getting a lot of attention for its reports alleging liberal bias in the media. They've been severely critical of Peter Jennings's and ABC World News Tonight's reporting before the war in Iraq -- and their reports get a lot of pickup on the Internet, through e-mails and on cable talk shows."
Brokaw: "Look, I've been dealing with this myself since the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, when reporters were accused of having a liberal bias. "The fact of the matter is, if I don't establish a bond with the NBC News audience that is based on my credibility and my integrity, then I go out of business. We've been doing this for a long time. NBC Nightly News still has the largest single audience of any media outlet, print and electronic, in the news business. The simple test is that if people thought I had a bias, they wouldn't watch me."
Hall: "What is the impact, do you think, of a steady drumbeat of such criticism? Does it not have an impact on the network?"
Brokaw: "It is a little wearying, but you've got to rise above it and take it case by case. Most of the cases are pretty flimsily made. I'm glad that Peter, Dan, and I have been doing this long enough that we're confident in our own abilities to withstand that. I understand the Rush Limbaughs of the world. I have less trouble with that. That's who he is and what he does -- and he's very skillful at it. Rush has a strong point of view -- and that's fine. What I get tired of is Brent Bozell [president of the Media Research Center] trying to make these fine legal points everywhere every day. A lot of it just doesn't hold up. So much of it is that bias -- like beauty -- is in the eye of the beholder."
Hall: "So it hasn't impacted the way you cover stories?"
Brokaw: "No, it hasn't. We work very hard at trying to determine what the facts are on a weekly basis -- and that's a full-time job. I don't have time to engage in some kind of a conspiracy."
Hall: "You and Tim Russert had Rush Limbaugh on as an analyst in the midterm elections in 2002. Was that in any way an attempt to speak to the criticism from conservatives?"
Brokaw: "Rush Limbaugh is a powerful force in this country -- and a smart guy. I watched him -- he was invited to address the freshman class in Congress in 1994 when Newt Gingrich took hold of Congress. You know, Rush has gone to a different level."
Hall: "Your conservative critics would probably say that you decided you needed some more conservatives on the air."
Brokaw: "Well, they may say that. But I thought that we asked Limbaugh some difficult questions about the deficit and other policies, and it's worth hearing what he has to say about the election returns. If I were out there with a team of supersleuths, I could find, I suppose, a reason from day to day to find liberal bias one day and a conservative bias the next day on some given story."
Hall: "So you don't see a liberal bias in the mainstream media?"
Brokaw: "No. Speaking generally, people who are drawn to journalism are interested in what happens from the ground up less than they are from the top down. And they see that part of their role -- which I think is appropriate -- is to represent the views of those who are underrepresented in the social context or the political context and to make sure that they're not overlooked and that their wrongs get the bright light of journalistic sunshine. And therefore, because of the nature of what we cover, people may think that we're biased. But the fact is, that's part of the obligation of journalism."
Later, Hall raised FNC: "Let me ask you about Fox News." Brokaw: "Don't overstate Fox News -- I mean, they're enormously successful, but it's still the most successful niche, is what it is. The spectrum now has spread out so much. But the broadcast networks still have the biggest chunk of that spectrum. When you get into the cable niches, Fox has the biggest cable niche. But it's still much smaller than the least of the network niches."
Hall: "What I think is that Fox has done a very smart job of carving out their place. How would you describe that place?"
Brokaw: "Well, it's a lively, right-of-center opinionated all-news channel."
For the complete interview: http://www.cjr.org/issues/2004/1/QA-Brokaw.asp
On Thursday, MRC President Brent Bozell issued a challenge to Brokaw. A reprint of a January 8 press release:
Media Research Center President Brent Bozell is issuing a $1 million challenge to NBC and NBC Nightly News Anchor Tom Brokaw, calling Brokaw on his comments made in a recent interview with Columbia Journalism Review. In the interview, Brokaw directly took on Bozell and the Media Research Center while denying the credibility of their evidence of liberal bias in the press. Among other things, Brokaw said:
"What I get tired of is Brent Bozell trying to make these fine legal points everywhere every day. A lot of it just doesn't hold up. So much of it is that bias -- like beauty -- is in the eye of the beholder."
Bozell responded: "I know our evidence does 'hold up' and we'll prove it. I issue this challenge to NBC and its anchor: let's assemble a mutually agreeable third-party panel and have them review a compilation of the Media Research Center's 16 years of evidence of liberal media bias. If this panel agrees with Brokaw's contention, the Media Research Center will donate $1 million to the anchor's favorite charity. If the panel agrees with us, NBC and Brokaw will donate $1 million to the Media Research Center.
"Oh, and to sweeten the pot we'll do this: we'll limit our evidence only to Tom Brokaw and NBC. Frankly, that's all the evidence we need to prove the point."
END of Reprint of press release
Last September, to mark Brokaw's 20th anniversary as sole anchor of the NBC Nightly News, the MRC produced a Media Reality Check which recounted the most flagrant examples of his liberal bias over the years. For "Marking Tom Brokaw's Twenty Years of Tilt," go to: http://www.mediaresearch.org/realitycheck/2003/fax20030903.asp
As noted in the January 7 CyberAlert, appearing on Comedy Central's Daily Show on Tuesday night, Brokaw said that he believes President Bush is so much more successful at fundraising than Howard Dean because Bush is a Republican President "representing corporate interests" and, therefore, "he can go out there, push the button and get a lot of money."
Since this is Brokaw's last year as anchor of the NBC Nightly News, I guess we only have one year left to annoy him. But if he weren't so wearyingly liberal in his reporting, maybe he wouldn't find our analysis of his reporting so wearying. The ball is in his court. All he has to do is stop delivering biased reporting.
-- Brent Baker
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I always thought that the media's duty was to objectively and clearly report facts. This type of liberal bias is so deep, so engrained that Brokaw and his media cohorts don't even realize just how biased they are. Of course, we are talking here about "media" as opposed to real journalists.
REALLY!!!! "Real" journalism is about presenting ALL THE FACTS, and without ANY bias. Unfortunately, "real" journalism isn't taught these days.
One could go on and on - but I like to keep my responses easily viewed by the dial-up crowd.
Michael
If I were Brokaw, I'd call Bozell on it. I'd tell him, "Put the $1 million in escrow, and you're on. Oh, and you can't hold a fundraiser to cover it either. Nor will we wait a year for you to come up with the cash; we're doing it NOW. Our money versus your money, not your readers' money." That would be the end of Bozell's "challenge".
If this were for an amount more rational, like $5K or $10K, I'd see it as a serious offer, not a publicity ploy for the MRC.
The truly ironic thing is that in terms of overall fairness to conservatives, NBC News is light years ahead of ABC and CBS. If only they'd fire the entire staff of the overwhelmingly liberal Today show, NBC wouldn't be that much less fair than Fox. They ought to be cultivated, not smeared with such a broad brush.
Go back and look at the ratings since you became anchor, Tom. You *are* slowly going out of business.
According to this, journalism in Brokaw's assessment cannot be objective or even balanced.
Brokaw: "Look, I've been dealing with this myself since the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, when reporters were accused of having a liberal bias.
"The fact of the matter is, if I don't establish a bond with the NBC News audience that is based on my credibility and my integrity, then I go out of business. We've been doing this for a long time. NBC Nightly News still has the largest single audience of any media outlet, print and electronic, in the news business. The simple test is that if people thought I had a bias, they wouldn't watch me."
In other words, if Brokaw can successfully dupe his audience into believing him, sell soda pop and tire ads, and keep collecting his paycheck, facts are unimportant.
In the recent past, with only three major outlets (ABC,CBS, NBC), all having this attitude, audience members simply had to pick the best of the poorest. CNN offered no alternative, it was more of the same. Now with FOX NEWS and the internet, newswhores like Brokaw will begin to lose audience numbers, slowly but surely.
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An excellent insight.
Have NBC News' rating faltered since Brokaw began spewing altered factoids? This would make a great start for my weekend...
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