Matea Gold

Week After Hyping 'Criminal Scheme,' WashPost, NYTimes Admit Gov. Walker Wasn't Target of Probe; Both Papers Bury Story
By Ken Shepherd | June 27, 2014 | 3:08 PM EDT

So it turns out that Gov. Scott Walker was not a target of a criminal investigation nor is there any evidence that the Wisconsin Republican "engaged in a criminal scheme." Indeed, there "is not such a finding" in recently unsealed documents, Randall Crocker, an attorney representing special prosecutor Francis Schmitz noted on Thursday, according to reporting by the Washington Post's Matea Gold in a June 27 article, "Wisconsin governor wasn't a target of probe, prosecutor's attorney says." The story was buried at the bottom of page A8 on Friday's paper. A similar article by Monica Davey in the New York Times was buried in Friday's paper on page A15. 

But as my colleague Tim Graham noted last Friday, on June 20 both the Times and the Post hyped the notion that Walker, a likely 2016 Republican presidential aspirant, had engaged in a "criminal scheme" by coordinating with outside groups to oppose an effort to oust him from office. Indeed, the headline for Gold's June 20 story, co-written with colleague Tom Hamburger, was freighted with an allegation of wrongdoing: "Prosecutors: Wis. governor involved in illicit scheme."

NY Times, WashPost Concoct Scott Walker 'Criminal Scheme' Front-Pagers As They Bury IRS Scoops
By Tim Graham | June 20, 2014 | 1:17 PM EDT

The Washington Post and The New York Times can’t seem to locate the story (never mind the outrage) of destroyed hard drives at the IRS. The latest IRS scandal scoops have been buried deep in the paper. But both biased rags put Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on the front page Friday in an alleged campaign-finance scandal pushed by Democratic district attorneys.

Neither paper revealed the prosecutors were Democrats, but the Post won the sliming sweepstakes with the headline “Prosecutors: Wis. governor involved in illicit scheme.” The second paragraph explains “Walker has not been charged, and his legal jeopardy is unclear.” So why is this on the front page? No reason, except liberal journalists unleashing their 2016 campaign phobias.

WashPost Reveals Wealthy Dem Donors’ New Plan; Buries Donors’ Hypocrisy
By Paul Bremmer | May 5, 2014 | 3:46 PM EDT

Considering how much time they spend talking about Republican Party strategy, it’s refreshing to see the mainstream media pull back the curtain on the Left every once in a while. That’s what The Washington Post did, if just a tiny bit, in a Monday, May 5 front-pager entitled “Liberal Donors Eye New Strategy.”

Reporter Matea Gold revealed that the Democracy Alliance, a group of wealthy liberal donors, is working on a new strategy that will focus more on helping state-level Democratic candidates and increasing voter turnout among party loyalists. The idea is to give Democrats more power over the process of gerrymandering state legislature and U.S. House districts by winning back state legislatures.

WashPost Takes McCutcheon Ruling Hard, Whines Heavily on Front Page About 'Elite' Donors
By Ken Shepherd | April 3, 2014 | 1:35 PM EDT

Matea Gold and Robert Barnes utterly failed this morning as ostensibly objective journalists. In their front-page stories covering yesterday's Supreme Court ruling in McCutcheon v. FEC, the Washington Post staffers front-loaded their stories with melodramatic political language suitable for a left-wing "campaign finance reform" group's press release rather than objective news copy.

"An elite class of wealthy donors who have gained mounting influence in campaigns now has the ability to exert even greater sway," Gold groused in her lead graf. In the column to her right, Barnes, the Post's Supreme Court correspondent began by offering that:

Support for Hillary Clinton 'Overflows' With 'Huge Energy,' Writes the Washington Pom-Pom Post
By Tim Graham | November 10, 2013 | 2:25 PM EST

The Washington Pom-Pom Post is at it again on Sunday with the article “Support for Clinton overflowing in Calif.” The only thing missing was an exclamation point and hearts to dot the I’s. It was “another stage, another overflowing ballroom.”

Post reporter Matea Gold – a recent transplant from the Los Angeles Times – features Hillary mugging in photos with rock star Lenny Kravitz and panel discussions with Rob “Meathead” Reiner. Everywhere she goes, liberals pile on to create a “Hillary Effect” for the next campaign:  

Tribune's Matea Gold: Jon Stewart Rally 'Could Draw Tens of Thousands'
By Ken Shepherd | September 23, 2010 | 4:18 PM EDT

Just two days before Glenn Beck's August 28 "Restoring Honor" rally, the Washington Post published an article about how the rally would "be a measure of the tea party's strength."

"When Fox News and talk radio host Glenn Beck comes to Washington this weekend to headline a rally intended to 'restore honor' to America, he will test the strength - and potentially expose the weaknesses - of a conservative grass-roots movement that remains an unpredictable force in the country's politics," staffer Amy Gardner argued in the opening paragraph of her August 26 story.

Gardner's article is but one example of the media's skeptical attitude prior to the Beck rally.

Yet just days after two Comedy Central hosts announced mock rallies for October 30 on the Mall, the liberal media are expecting that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert can easily draw a large crowd. 

I noted the breathless anticipation of Newsweek's Daniel Stone last Friday. Now it seems that Matea Gold of the Washington bureau of the Tribune Company is also decidedly optimistic. In her 13-paragraph article, accessible at LATimes.com, Gold quoted a few folks who plan on attending and took the Facebook RSVPs on face value as a signal about potential attendance:

Annoy a Labor Union, Submit Jokes to NewsBusted
By Ken Shepherd | May 4, 2009 | 11:57 AM EDT

Today's Los Angeles Times has a story about freelance comedy writers who get paid for their jokes submitted to late night comics that actually make the cut and air in a monologue. Times staffers Matea Gold and Richard Verrier report that "For some late-night hosts, the laughs come cheap."

But alas, it's actually a violation of labor contracts for late night shows to pay freelancers. What's more, with Conan O'Brien acceeding to Leno's throne in June, the practice is expected to stop altogether for NBC's "Tonight Show."

O'Brien is one of the few late-night hosts to refuse freelance jokes, and East Coast guild officials used his move to privately remind their California counterparts of the prohibition.

"Conan is one of the key players in this industry, and we knew he was pure on this issue," said Lowell Peterson, executive director of the WGA, East. "This was just an opportunity to let the West know that this was a culture that was moving west. We just want to encourage that culture."