Jonathan Martin

PBS's Ifill Compares Romney to Gordon Gekko, Uninterested in Discussing Obama's Failed Subsidies
By Matt Vespa | July 17, 2012 | 5:21 PM EDT

Gwen Ifill of the PBS Newshour hosted Jonathan Martin of Politico and Molly Ball of The Atlantic magazine in a left wing cuddlefest that bashed Romney over Bain, his taxes, and Solyndra on July 16.  Ms. Ifill was not the least concerned that this story is mere fodder for the Obama campaign to pivot away from its abysmal economic record, but nevertheless, started off the shooting gallery by asking Jonathan Martin to "help us explain this Bain back-and-forth."

"At the end of this weekend, was there any more clarity about when he left and if he left Bain?" Ifill asked:

Howard Kurtz Gives Jonathan Martin 17 Minutes on CNN Without Asking About 'Cracker Counties'
By Noel Sheppard | February 5, 2012 | 4:01 PM EST

As NewsBusters reported Tuesday, Politico's Jonathan Martin, while chatting with MSNBC's Chuck Todd, referred to some of Florida as "cracker counties."

Despite the firestorm this created, Howard Kurtz on CNN's Reliable Sources spent seventeen minutes Sunday - almost half of the show when commercials are taken out - with Martin as one of his guests and never said a word about this controversy.

NewsBusters Discusses 'Cracker Counties' With Politico's Jonathan Martin
By Noel Sheppard | February 3, 2012 | 10:19 AM EST

As NewsBusters reported Tuesday, Politico's Jonathan Martin, while chatting with MSNBC's Chuck Todd, referred to some of Florida as "cracker counties."

This caused a bit of a firestorm for Martin who called the Media Research Center's publicist to address the matter.

In response, I spoke with Martin Thursday, and my first question was somewhat obviously, "What's a cracker?"

Media Mash: Politico, MSNBC Stomp On Conservative Florida 'Crackers'
By NB Staff | February 2, 2012 | 8:41 AM EST

Politico correspondent Jonathan Martin's Tuesday morning comment about the "cracker counties" of Florida has gone unaddressed and unrebuked by the liberal media, so Sean Hannity and NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell led off last night's "Media Mash" segment with it.

MSNBC's "Chuck Todd agrees with Jonathan Martin," but he works at the same network which is constantly trying to find hidden racist messages in Republican speeches, particularly those of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the Media Research Center president observed. [see the full segment video below embedded below the page break]

Politico's Jonathan Martin Mocks Conservative Florida Voters as the 'Cracker Counties'
By Scott Whitlock | January 31, 2012 | 11:41 AM EST

Politico reporter Jonathan Martin on Tuesday mocked the  "cracker counties" of Florida's conservative Panhandle. Talking to Daily Rundown host Chuck Todd, he derided, "Chuck, a lot of the counties in the Panhandle, in north Florida, the cracker counties, if you will...more resemble Georgia and Alabama than they do Florida." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

MSNBC anchor Chuck Todd appeared indifferent to this attack, agreeing, "right." That area of Florida, of course, is where fellow MSNBC host Joe Scarborough represented when he was a member of Congress. No word  yet on how Scarborough has reacted. [See update below.]

NBC's Chuck Todd Asks: 'Is This the Single Best Week in the Obama Re-Election Effort?'
By Kyle Drennen | December 9, 2011 | 3:03 PM EST

On Friday's The Daily Rundown on MSNBC, host Chuck Todd posed this question to guests Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post and Jonathan Martin of Politico: "Is this the single best week in the Obama re-election effort?"

Todd elaborated on his hyperbolic question by announcing: "The argument I've already heard from team Obama is yesterday that they were giddy that the first line of attack from team Romney [against Newt Gingrich] was Paul Ryan." Todd explained: "So they're sitting there going this is great because Romney is moving to the right to try to stop Newt. And so, even if he becomes the nominee, he's got like a longer path back."

Kurtz Spends 22 Minutes on Cain Allegations With No Mention of Media's Coverage of Clinton Sex Scandals
By Noel Sheppard | November 6, 2011 | 7:33 PM EST

CNN's Howard Kurtz considers himself to be a media analyst, yet on Sunday's Reliable Sources, he spent 22 minutes discussing Politico's hit piece on Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain without once mentioning how the press handled Bill Clinton's actual  sex scandals.

The program began:

Chris Matthews and WaPo Reporter Congratulate Politico's Martin for Herman Cain Hit Piece
By Noel Sheppard | October 31, 2011 | 6:57 PM EDT

Common decency dictates you shouldn't congratulate someone for possibly ruining the career and marriage of a fellow human being.

Such morality eluded MSNBC's Chris Matthews and the Washington Post's Nia-Malika Henderson Monday when they actually congratulated - on national television, no less! - Politico's Jonathan Martin for Sunday's hit piece on Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Politico's Martin Dodges Question On Cain Details
By Mark Finkelstein | October 31, 2011 | 8:19 AM EDT

Herman Cain has been taking heat for his response to questions about Politico's story on alleged sexual harassment.  But today on Morning Joe, it was Politico's own Jonathan Martin, lead author of the story, who was being evasive about the details of the allegations against Cain.

Incredibly, when Willie Geist asked him to describe specifically what Politico is accusing Cain of having done, Martin hemmed, hawed then ultimately said "we're just not going to get into the details of exactly what happened with these women," beyond the sketchy generalities in the Politico story.  Video after the jump.

Politico Asks: 'Is Rick Perry Dumb', Goes On to Answer, Basically, No
By Ken Shepherd | August 29, 2011 | 10:50 AM EDT

You have to hand it to Politico, they know how to gin up publicity.

"Is Rick Perry dumb?" asks the top headline on the website today. Yet on balance, the corresponding article by Jonathan Martin isn't all that bad, noting that Perry has often been underestimated politically, much to the peril of numerous Republican and Democratic opponents who are now footnotes at best in Texas political history.

That being said, there's little doubt that the media, including Martin, are hard at work cementing certain prejudices and lowering expectations about the three-term Texas governor:

MSNBC's Alter and Bashir Agree: 'We'd Be in a Depression Now if There Had Been a Balanced Budget Amendment in 2009'
By Alex Fitzsimmons | August 1, 2011 | 5:29 PM EDT

On Monday's "Martin Bashir," MSNBC analyst Jonathan Alter proclaimed that America would "be in a depression now if there had been a balanced budget amendment in 2009." Bashir, concurring with the former Newsweek editor, added, "Indeed."

Reacting to Rep. John Boehner's (R-Ohio) press conference about the debt-ceiling deal, Alter and Bashir mocked the speaker's suggestion that a balanced budget amendment is needed to "handcuff" Congress.

[WMV video here. MP3 audio here.]

Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin Mock Politico Hit Piece and 'Punk' Author
By Noel Sheppard | October 24, 2010 | 10:17 AM EDT

As NewsBusters reported Thursday, Politico's Jonathan Martin wrote a hit piece on former governor Sarah Palin leading Sean Hannity and Mark Levin to demand retractions of false sections in the article that involved them.

On Friday, Glenn Beck brought Palin on his radio program to assist him and his team in mocking Martin's claim that she frequently cancels interviews at the last minute and is "high maintenance" (video follows with transcript and commentary, h/t The Blaze):