Posted on 09/20/2002 3:03:14 PM PDT by Draakan
The liberal bias of Matt Lauer and Katie Couric: It’s your fault. Or it’s just the “prism” through which you the viewer perceive them, the NBC Today show duo contended Wednesday night on MSNBC’s Donahue.
Lauer argued that charges of bias represent “much less, I think, our point of view than it is the point of view of the person watching the interview.” Couric agreed: “That’s true. I think really that it is sort of” a “Rorschach test” as “people really see what...they want to see from their particular frame of mind or the prism from which they’re watching.”
It’s a classic cop-out excuse. Since both liberals and conservatives complain, instead of trying to determine who is correct, just say we must be doing our jobs perfectly.
MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens caught the exchange during the September 18 Donahue on which Couric and Lauer were the guests for the entire hour. Throughout the hour of the little-watched MSNBC program, MSNBC touted in an on-screen graphic: “#1 Morning Team” -- as if they were hoping some of the Today show’s popularity might rub off on them.
Couric responded to the suggestion that there are conservative and liberal networks: “You know I think that, that certainly that accusation has been made a lot and all I can say is for, for us as journalists, you know, that we really do, I think strive to ask, as I said, a variety of people really challenging questions. You know I used to make President Clinton and Vice President Gore, sort of angry and more, you know, Bill Clinton would shake his finger at me quite a few times and you know I think our jobs are really to ask really tough questions of everyone and to play devil’s advocate. And to be fair and be objective and sometimes take the opposing point of view. So that may mean a more conservative point of view if we are talking to a liberal guest and a more liberal point of view if we're talking to a conservative guest.”
Phil Donahue: “My own view is that, that if they think you’re liberal or if they think you’re conservative nothing you say is going to disabuse them of that notion, or if the media is liberal. I get lucky because I get to, I don’t have to hide it.”
Lauer: “Right.” Donahue: “And in a way I think that’s more honest they can watch me better.”
Lauer suggested it’s the viewers who are biased: “But you know what’s interesting is you do an interview with a politician and you, you look at e-mails. E-mails are interesting these days. You look at your e-mails you will get a lot of e-mails that’ll say, 'You were too light on that conservative. You’ll go and file down your e-mails, you’ll find people who say, 'You were too hard on that conservative.’ It’s all in your point of view. It’s much less, I think our point of view than it is the point of view of the person watching the interview.”
Couric agreed: “That’s true. I think really that it is sort of a, is it the Rorschach test? I always pronounce that incorrectly. You know I think that people really see what they want to do from what they want to see from their particular frame of mind or the prism from which they’re watching the program or the interview. And I think actually, that’s an excellent point Matt.”
Quite an insight.
How many in the media who see FNC as right wing would buy this line of reasoning from someone at FNC?
Space does not permit a rundown of even highlights of the liberal bias on the Today show as documented in recent CyberAlerts, but you can check past issues for plenty of examples of where the bias really exists and is not just a perception through our “prism.”
Last year, on the occasion of Couric’s 10th anniversary of co-hosting Today, the MRC compiled the best examples of her bias from her first ten years. Judge for yourself whether it is her or the viewer who is biased.
Miss Marple, I know you didn't watch, but thought you might like to read the pearls of wisdom that fell from Matt and Katie's mouths.
Liberals in the media are surrounded by liberals. So to them, "everybody" is normally liberal. Their response to anyone pointing out that they are biased is like pointing out to a fish that it is swimming in water...the fish replies, "What water?".
If you're not biased, why don't you do this interview on the O'Reilly Factor?
If they are too stupid to see the difference between left and right perspective then they are too stupid for their jobs--another point we can debate.
Dude you are hurting my brain.
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