MAJOR MEDIA BIAS ALERT: Reaction to “The Daily Show” Segment from the New York Times

Capital Research Center ^ | October 31, 2008 | Matthew Vadum

[vadum]

Today I received the following email via Facebook from Dan Mitchell, a New York Times reporter. It was a reaction to my appearance last night on the satirical news show, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” On the show I talked about community organizing, ACORN, electoral fraud and related matters.

Mr. Mitchell wrote:

I notice that you have a picture of you and Oliver there. This seems to be fairly common among people who have humiliated themselves before millions of people on shows like the Daily Show -- they pretend they were in on the whole thing and it's all just a big laugh. But it doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of people who know you will *always* know you as a giant asshole. And this will never change. This video will be online forever, haunting you, and superceding everything you have ever done or ever will do. And rightfully so. You deserve it.

The photo he is referring to is a profile photo I posted in Facebook that was taken of me with reporter/comedian John Oliver after the taping a few weeks ago.

Here is a screen grab of the email:

How do I know Dan Mitchell is a reporter for the New York Times? Because when I attempted to block Mr. Mitchell from communicating with me, this helpful information box popped up (another screen grab):

Isn’t it interesting how the New York Times has been using Facebook to attack conservatives? Just two weeks ago it was revealed that New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor went snooping around on Facebook and sent an email to the youngest daughter of Senator John McCain, Bridgette, in hopes of scoring an exclusive interview.

And isn’t it interesting that just today a new news story broke about yet another ACORN employee involved with crack cocaine. Talk about a Bill Ayers moment.

We’ve received quite a few negative comments related to my appearance on “The Daily Show,” but the last thing we expected was harassment from a reporter for the nation’s supposed newspaper of record.

The New York Times is major-league biased. Big time.

[Panzerlied]

Wow. Who could imagine the Slimes doing something as this? Sarc/off

[arrogantsob]

That ship is sinking and fast. I would not be surprised to see Rupert Murdoch buy it.

[acsuc99]

What SLIME BALLS!!

Someone should send this to drudge! Yeah no bias here from the media, huh? Harassing people on facebook. What is this country coming to.

[Andyman]

To be fair, you do not know he is a reporter. At the top it only asks you to report Mr. Mitchell. It does nothing to give me the warm fuzzies about the NY Times however.

[acsuc99]

He is a reporter. A quick google search pulle up several articles from Dan Mitchell on the NY Times.

[norwaypinesavage]

"The New York Times is major-league biased. Big time."

And this is in Breaking News?

[sarasota]

The Times has been politically biased for as long as I can remember. Welcome to reality as we’ve always known it.

[manc]

the times, in NY and LA plus MSNBC, NBC need to have their license taken away

they are not a news organization anymore but a mouth piece for the liberal far left lunatics

[Scutter]

You won't hear me arguing that the NYTimes is biased, but come on - this proves nothing. When you sign up for Facebook, it specifically asks for your WORK email address. So all this proves is that this guy works for the NY Times. For all you know, he's the night janitor, and even if he is a reporter his Facebook post doesn't prove anything about the Times itself.

There's plenty of valid examples of NY Times bias. When we post this sort of claptrap, we just detract from the many, many valid stories posted here.

[Tigercap]

He actually ADMITS he works for the NYT??!! What a moron! hahahahah. There aren’t many organizations with such little credibility.

He probably thinks he’s pretty hot - imagine all those NYT folk - if they only knew how many people LAUGH or roll their eyes whenever NYT comes up.

[Tigercap]

I sent you a Friend Request on Facebook

- Cap

[vadum]

Nice try, Scutter.

He’s a NYT reporter according to this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/technology/31online.html?ref=health

[Tigercap]

I sent you a Friend Request on Facebook

- Cap

[Cicero]

It’s true, as they told Matt Drudge after MonicaGate.

These reporters really do need copyeditors, and they still often get it wrong.

It’s not “superceding,” Mitchell, it’s “superseding.” Better head back to journalism school for a brushup on how to use a spellchecker.

[lonevoice]

I happened to see The Daily Show bit with Matthew Vadum last night. To be honest, I was embarrassed for Vadum and would be surprised if he wasn’t embarrassed himself after he saw how it was edited. Which has nothing to do with a NYT reporter stalking and harassing someone on facebook. If that’s what’s going on here, I hope it bites the Slimes reporter on the butt.

[Scutter]

Nice try? Up yours.

[mwilli20]

Matthew, with all due respect, what were you doing on the Daily Show?

[reasonisfaith]

The video of your appearance on the daily show is a portrayal which mocks anyone who criticizes acorn or community organizing.

Through satire it attempts to make community organizers look benign, and to ridicule those who correctly point out that acorn is corrupt and that Obama is a fraud.

Stewart clearly desires to participate in political discourse, and to advance the liberal agenda. But I don’t think he could ever do so through serious debate or the use of bare facts.

Comedy is funny, but it is not equivalent with truth.

[GOPJ]

The New York Times is tanking - not just "in the tank" for dems - but as Flagship of an industry that's sinking.

These people are bound to be a little prickly. Wouldn't you be if your bad decisions had destroyed not only your paper, but hundreds of others that followed your lede?