Media Matters at Brave New Films

Headzup: Michael Savage Says Autism Is A Fraud

2008-07-26T04:43:03Z

Radio host Michael Savage claims Autism is a fraud and a racket.

Read more about it here--
http://mediamatters.org/items/200807170005?f=h_top

Download daily Catch and Release Comedy™ political cartoons to your mobile phone or iPod at www.headzup.tv

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Bill O'Reilly's Rampant Homophobia

2008-07-15T13:09:23Z

Go to www.mediamatters.org/billophobia to learn more and take action today!

"I think everybody's got to relax on all this gay stuff."
-- Bill O'Reilly, The O'Reilly Factor, August 15, 2007

From his suggestion that the "secular progressive movement" would like to have "poly-amorphous" marriage ("you can marry 18 people, you can marry a duck") to his statement that it would be "insane" and "inappropriate" to "cluster" gays near children, Bill O' Reilly has never been one to "relax on all this gay stuff."

When O'Reilly isn't dishing the homophobia himself, he's giving others a platform on his show to bash the LGBT community -- featuring guests like Marc Rudov, who recently advanced the bogus notion that "promoting a homosexual lifestyle" of gays and lesbians would cause "long-term consequences for children," that like a brain tumor, may take years to diagnose:

RUDOV: If there's going to be a brain tumor, it might not be discovered for 10 years -- and I kind of look at this in the same way, because children do form their sexual identities from their same-sex parents. And what's going on here is basically teaching children that there's no difference between a heterosexual marriage and a homosexual marriage.

Fox News and O'Reilly use the topic of same-sex couples and their families to promote his show and incite fear of the LGBT community. Never was this practice more clear than when Fox used footage from Rosie O'Donnell's cruise for gay and lesbian couples and their families to promote an upcoming edition of the Factor. The promo raised the question: "Is the media celebrating gay culture?" You can probably guess what the answer was.

Of course, we all know this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to O'Reilly and his attacks on the LGBT community.

Media Matters Has the Facts on McCain's Lobbyists

2008-06-11T15:32:50Z

Media Matters just posted a very thorough piece on McCain's lobbyist ties, complete with gems like these:

Lobbyist fundraisers. Two of the co-chairmen of McCain's national finance committee were registered to lobby Congress as of year-end 2007 (the latest disclosure data available), and a third previously lobbied Congress. Another co-chairmen is one of Florida's "most powerful lobbyists" (St. Petersburg Times, 10/1/06).

Lobbyist advisers and staffers. At least 24 McCain staffers or advisers were either registered to lobby Congress (as of year-end 2007) or were previously lobbyists, according to a Media Matters review.

The report goes on to dissect the media's love with "the straight-talking maverick." The mainstream press has tried to paint McCain as the anti-lobbyist candidate, but as HuffPo political editor Thomas Edsall reported, the McCain's campaign has "11 current or former lobbyists working for or advising McCain, at least double the number in any other [presidential] campaign." And this just scratches the surface...

McCain has surrounded himself with lobbyists at every level of his campaign.

Watch the video

To Bill O'Reilly: I Know Your Interns Are Reading This…

2008-07-09T18:35:33Z

Our petition delivery to your offices and the resulting press it got (including #3 on Countdown that night) obviously got under your skin. Otherwise you wouldn't have had the story about it lead your show last Friday night. So we're back near the top of your enemies list, hopefully nestled in among George Soros, Media Matters, Twista, and falafel jokes.

So I'm assuming your interns will read this and summarize it for you, since I know you're not so fond of the internets. I know how much it scares you. I know how you don't like how it's been used to expose you as the fraud you are, so you try to convince your elderly audience that the internet is simply a den of liberal lies, pedophiles and porn. I know how much you must hate your audience to lie to them the way you do.

That's the thing. I know a lot about you.

Like when I heard how your stalkerazzi "producer" Jesse Watters was badgering the vets at the petition delivery, asking them if they'd seen the clips of you saying that homeless veterans don't exist or if they were equally mad at Mark Cuban. When I heard that, I knew exactly what you would do. I even bet my friend dinner on it.

It's the same thing you did when Chris Dodd was on your show. He brought up the fact that you said that San Francisco deserves to be bombed by terrorists. Instead of acknowledging that you had indeed said that, you challenged him to tell you when and where he said it. When Dodd got the when right but not the where (your radio show, not your TV show), you lunged, saying that Dodd was wrong and didn't know what he was talking about. The important thing is YOU SAID SAN FRANCISCO SHOULD BE BOMBED BY TERRORISTS. The rest was a misdirect to convince the viewers you lie to so frequently.

The Woes Of Fox

2008-07-09T19:10:24Z

Great piece by author and Media Matters Fellow Eric Boehlert on the difficulties facing our friends at Fox in the upcoming year. I know, me too--tears:

Bottom line is that Fox News is in for a very rough 2008. And the umbrella reason for that is quite simple: Eight years ago the all-news cable channel went all-in on the presidency of George Bush and became a broadcast partner with the White House. Proof of that was on display Sunday night, January 27, during Fox News' prime-time, "Fighting to the Finish," an "historic documentary" on the final year of Bush's presidency. Filmed in HD and featuring "unprecedented access," according to the Fox News press release, the show was pure propaganda. (I must have missed Fox News' "Fighting to the Finish" special back in 2000, chronicling the conclusion of President Bill Clinton's second term and his "extraordinarily consequential tenure.")
The point is that Fox News years ago made an obvious decision to appeal almost exclusively to Republican viewers. The good news then for Fox News was that it succeeded. The bad news now for Fox News is that it succeeded.

Get out your popcorn and go read the rest. It seems their election coverage has been sucking it up in the ratings, way behind CNN. Getting. Too. Emotional. Must. Stop. Writing.

Sniffle.

MATTHEWS ATTACKS!

2008-07-16T19:25:20Z

I didn't know much about Chris Matthews before I started working on this video for our friends at Media Matters. I don't have cable, so most of what I knew of Matthews was from clips on Crooks & Liars, which usually highlighted some ridiculous, silly, or clueless thing Matthews had said. For the most part, he seemed to me like a friendly, if sometimes goofy, newsguy with an annoying voice. Even his past and recent sexism seemed more like something you'd expect from your nice friend who sometimes makes people laugh semi-uncomfortably by being mildly offensive, especially when drunk. It's not the best thing in the world, but not that big of a deal.

But I think I might've been wrong.

I started watching clips of Matthews and I soon came to a very disturbing conclusion: Chris Matthews is the friendlier, smarter version of Bill O’Reilly.

Here me out on this. When BOR screams something outrageous, dishonest, and offensive, people get angry and want to hold him accountable and discredit FOX. But when Matthews goofily says something outrageous, dishonest, and offensive, most people just laugh and shrug it off because Matthews seems like a nice guy, not a lying, blowhard prick like BOR. If Matthews’ statements are allowed to stand without anyone vigorously challenging them, those statements are accepted as truth, or at least a reasonable interpretation.

FOX Loves America's Mayor

2008-07-09T20:21:23Z

Watch the video

Media Matters: O'Reilly on Dumbledore

2008-07-09T13:19:12Z

Bill O'Reilly covering Dumbledore gay thing.

Courtesy of Media Matters

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Media Matters: O'Reilly on Dumbledore

2008-03-22T21:54:51Z

Bill O'Reilly covering Dumbledore gay thing.

Courtesy of Media Matters

The Ten Most Dangerous Organizations in America

2008-07-09T19:16:13Z

According to Neocon nutcases at Family Security Matters:

10) ThinkProgress
9) Muslim Student Association
8) CodePINK
7) American Civil Liberties Union, National
6) Family Research Council
5) Center for American Progress
4) League of the South
3) MoveOn.org
2) Universities and Colleges
1) Media Matters for America

A few things to say here. First, I apologize to my friends, family and co-workers at BNF and promise to work harder next year.

Second, congrats to our friends at The Center For American Progress, who made the list twice (including their blog, Think Progress)!

And Family Security Matters is right to shudder. You should see my friend Faiz Shakir at the gym. If that's not dangerous, I don't know what is.

Finally, enjoy the intra-party squabbles on the Right. As you can see with The Family Research Council and League Of The South included here, it seems the Neocons are asserting their supremacy over the Theocons and Confederocons.

Can't they all just get along!?!

Watch the video

Conservative Front Group Names Media Matters "Most Dangerous Organization in America"

2008-07-09T18:39:00Z

Man, I wish Brave New Films and Fox Attacks were on this list.

Conservative front group Family Security Matters released its list of “The Ten Most Dangerous Organizations in America”. They are:

10) ThinkProgress
9) Muslim Student Association
8) CodePINK
7) American Civil Liberties Union, National
6) Family Research Council
5) Center for American Progress
4) League of the South
3) MoveOn.org
2) Universities and Colleges
1) Media Matters for America

So are we to assume that the mafia, gangs, the KKK, NAMBLA, drug cartels, and Al Qaeda are perfectly safe?

If only the liberal media would report all of the people who have been murdered at the hands of Media Matters and the Universities and Colleges of America. So parents, hold your children tight. Media Matters might get them.

h/t ThinkProgress

Housecleaning request.

2008-01-12T20:26:51Z

It's been a while since I've bugged you, but as you know, a good thing never lasts.

Please click on our advertisers and check out what they have to say. We really appreciate their support, and your support by visiting them.

Media Matters has been a fav of mine for years (one of the first books I read when I got back into politics was "Blinded by the Right") and always informative. The ENDA legislation is worth learning more about and I don't think I need to explain to anyone who stops by here how important SCHIP is.

I've clicked around Greenbin and bookmarked it (great idea), and as soon as I get done with this, I'm going to check out the new ad. Looks interesting- but then anything that mentions the Carlyle Group gets my attention.

Thanks again for everything you guys do for us. It makes it fun to care about politics when you know others feel the same.

Brilliant statement of the week.

2008-01-12T20:26:07Z

From the comments over at Media Matters on the breakdown/timeline of the Rush broohaha (and resulting venom).

Cults are always hard on non-believers, but they save their most intense hate for former cult members who escape the cult and get on with their lives...
Sorry David - temphandle intentionally3geometry

For those that don't know, David Brock was a conservative back in the day.

Howie Kurtz on Giuliani: "Is there any possibility that he's being kind of Swiftboated here?"

2008-03-22T21:54:34Z

(h/t Media Matters)

The Duh Award debutes at the new crib.

2008-01-12T20:19:31Z

Study Finds Conservatives Rule Op-Ed pages -- With George Will as King

NEW YORK George Will's column runs in more newspapers than any writer in the nation, according to a new study by a liberal media watchdog group that concludes conservative voices such as his dominate editorial pages.

Will's syndicated column runs at least once a month in 368 newspapers with more than 26 million in total circulation, said the Media Matters for America. The organization surveyed 96 percent of the nation's 1,430 English-language daily newspapers.

"He reaches half of the newspaper readers in America," said Paul Waldman, the study's author. "He has a huge megaphone, probably bigger than anybody else in America."

His group found that 60 percent of the daily newspapers print more conservative syndicated columnists each week than liberals. Twenty percent of the papers are dominated by liberals and 20 percent are balanced. Media Matters had no information on local columnists.

It's similar to how conservative talk radio voices dominate, although to a much more limited extent.

Top ten columnists after the jump.

Dodd to O’Reilly: “Just Be Honest”

2008-07-09T12:04:43Z

That’s a tall order, Chris.

I don’t know a lot about Chris Dodd (except that he's cool enough to guest blog on our site), but he earns my Big Props of the day for taking it to O’Reilly last night. See the video here.

Dodd made the important point that O’Reilly’s claim that he’s only going after DailyKos for its “vile” and “hateful” content and not their political stance is totally bogus, and that it’s ludicrous to ascribe the sentiments of a comparatively tiny number of comments and posts on an open forum to the entire website, its owner, and everyone who reads it.

When Dodd brought up O’Carribean Shower Fantasy’s quote from Nov. 8, 2005 when he said this about the city and people of San Francisco, CA, USA:

And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.

BOR challenged Dodd to tell him when he said that. Dodd said 2005. O’Masturbates With A Vibrator challenged Dodd to tell him where he said it. Dodd said he thought it was on the Factor, and BOR pounced like a sexual harrasser on a female producer:

BOR: Wrong! You’re wrong! I didn’t say it here! You don’t know what the hell I said!

O’Phone Sex is actually right about one thing — he didn’t say it on his TV show. He said it on his radio show. So Dodd knew what he said and when he said it, but not where. Shocking. I’m sure you’ll hear BOR use this to discredit everything Dodd said, while not mentioning that BOR did indeed say it. The vile smear website Media Matters has the story (w/audio).