Proctor: Roasting the Biased Media

by Maurine Proctor

Watching how opinion is shaped by the media in America is one of my favorite spectator sports. This is because at Family Leader, we see how the socially conservative values are distorted, misrepresented and often ignored by the press. That’s why we dig out the information, the story behind the story, and send it on to you-and hope you are sending these emails on to your friends.

We’ve mentioned that not only the funding, but the very concept and definition of abstinence education is at risk now in Congress. So it was disturbing to note that when a press conference was held recently at the National Press Club featuring a recent study by the Heritage Foundation and another by Stan Weed that clearly demonstrated the power of abstinence education to help teens avoid risky behavior, the press didn’t show up. Apparently, those who think that teens should indulge in sexual activity and that it is natural that they do so, didn’t want to publish a different perspective.

You know the old adage about a tree falling in the forest with nobody there to hear it-did it make a sound?

Though there are some enclaves of fairness, conservatives are often frustrated at the liberal bias in the mainstream media. This matters to us as citizens concerned about families and the moral strength of our nation because so often our issues and views are unfairly presented in the media and social conservatives are portrayed as narrow, oppressive and on the margins of society.

The Media Research Center pores over and analyzes the work of the mainstream media, holds their feet to the fire for bias and makes annual Dishonor Awards for some of the most over-the-top reports. They skewer the media in the easiest way-they simply quote them, letting their own words do the job.

We share a few of these here with you, not only for the fun of it, (sometimes laughter makes the bias a bit more bearable), but also so that you’ll know that you can’t always take what you hear at face value.

Quote of the Year

The press is not big on reporting any success on the war in Iraq, which engendered a remarkably ridiculous headline.

The Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Headline of the Year went to this doozy from October 16, 2007 by the McClatchy News Service. Apparently bad news pays and especially if it is bad news about the war in Iraq. As the surge began to succeed, the news service reporters just had to find something negative to say, and here’s the headline they came up with:

“As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch.”

Heroism in war is also a subject to be overlooked.

Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, a SEAL, earned the Medal of Honor for his heroics in Afghanistan. When his unit was ambushed and vastly outnumbered in a ferocious firefight, Lt. Murphy stepped into the open-and line of fire and certain death-to make a satellite phone call that would bring the help that would save his buddies. During the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan only three Medals of Honor have been awarded and the only one in Afghanistan.

Despite these heroics, according to William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, Lt. Murphy and his Medal of Honor did not receive 1/1000th the coverage of the Nobel Prize, though it is a more rare award, and was not even mentioned in the New York Times, Murphy’s home town newspaper.

Stupidest Analysis

A nominee for stupidest analysis was Katie Couric who was interviewing the creators of The Nativity Story about Hollywood movies based on Biblical themes during Christmas of 2006. Her question to them, oozing with sympathy and meant to signal how inappropriate a religious movie would surely be, was this:

“Do you worry at all that non-believers may feel excluded and diminished at a time when we’re so divided about so much?”
(Translation: telling the nativity story is a purposely divisive thing to do-even if the majority of the nation is Christian.)

Dewy-eyed Bias

Chris Matthews on his Hardball show, apparently doesn’t have any hardball for his favorite politicians. On the air he described the Obamas with this effusiveness: “They are cool people, they are really cool people. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy. They are great looking and they are young. If you are in with Obama you feel the spirit moving.”

Regarding Bill Clinton’s address at Coretta King’s funeral, Matthews said, “There are times when he sounds like Jesus in the temple. An amazing ability to transcend ethnicity, race we call it, and speak to us all in this amazingly primordial way.”

Host Bill Maher rocked Catholics to the core with his scathing remarks about the Pope during his recent visit, but less well known and just as egregious were his remarks on his HBO show Real Time, March 2, 2007 discussing how a few commenters at a left-wing blog were upset that an attempt to kill Vice President Dick Cheney in Afghanistan had failed. He said, “I’m just saying if he did die, other people would live. That’s a fact.”

How about those Polls?

Pollster Kellyanne Conway notes that we are swimming in polls. Some of them are geared to asking people questions that they know absolutely nothing about. Her all-time favorite happened in 1986 when President Reagan was diagnosed with a mild form of treatable cancer. She said, “The media couldn’t help themselves. That night, it was asked of Americans nationwide, “As you may or may not know, today President Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with cancer. How serious do you think this cancer is?” She laughed that there was no option that said, “I don’t know; I’m not an oncologist.”

Often a bias is built right into the polling question itself. Here’s a funny example. In Oct. 2004, ABC News asked people, “How much do you blame the Bush administration for the shortage of flu vaccines? The options ranged like this: 1) A great deal. 2) A good amount. 3) Only some or 4) Hardly any. There was no option that they should get no blame whatsoever.

Conway laughed about this poll as well. ABC News asked in April 2007. Which of the following do you think is the primary cause of gun violence in America. A. The availability fo guns. B. The way parents raise their children. C. The influence of popular culture, movies, television and the Internet. Conway said, “I scrolled down to page two looking for another option, “D the person pulling the trigger,” and it wasn’t there…Sometimes the best answer is conspicuous by its absence.”

The lesson in all this? Be analytical in listening to or reading the news. Don’t abandon your values if you hear stories that undercut them. Look for multiple sources on stories that really matter to you.

Center for Moral Liberalism contributing editor, Maurine Proctor, is the publisher of Meridian Magazine, and President of Family Leader.