Mitt Romney

Top Magazine Award Given for Journalistically Questionable ‘47 Percent’ Video
By Matthew Sheffield | May 3, 2013 | 5:12 PM EDT

Integrity in journalism is not only optional, being dishonest is actually commendable. That was the message sent last night by the American Society of Magazine Editors as it gave one of its highly coveted National Magazine Awards to Mother Jones, the far-left publication which published a surreptitiously recorded video of former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaking to a Florida fund-raiser in 2012.

The Romney speech, in which he made his infamous reference to “47 percent” of Americans being willing to support President Obama because of their dependence on the welfare state, was secretly recorded by a hotel bartender and then released subsequently by Mother Jones.

MSNBC's O'Donnell: Romney 'Dishonorable,' But Anti-War Protesters 'Honorable'
By Brad Wilmouth | May 2, 2013 | 5:22 PM EDT

On Wednesday's The Last Word on MSNBC, host Lawrence O'Donnell used a recent commencement speech delivered by Mitt Romney to slam the former GOP presidential candidate as taking the "most dishonorable posture that was possible for an able-bodied man of Mitt Romney's age" for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War while supporting the existence of the draft.

But the MSNBC host also called it "honorable service" for young people to protest against the Vietnam War while refusing to serve. O'Donnell:

NB Publisher Bozell Discusses Gosnell Media Censorship with Dennis Miller
By Ken Shepherd | April 30, 2013 | 4:21 PM EDT

While polling data show that public trust of the news media is in the single digits, the real salient issue in media bias these days is bias by omission, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell told Dennis Miller in an April 30 interview for the comedian's podcast program.  It's what the media refuse to report on, censoring stories from public view, that helps to shield liberals from scrutiny on salient public policy issues.

"For example, the Gosnell story. The average person out there has no idea what I'm talking about when I say Gosnell," Bozell noted of the Philadelphia abortionist who allegedly killed babies who survived attempted abortions. "You don't have to be pro-life to be disgusted and feel like throwing up when you hear some of these details and yet, no coverage from the national media." [To download and listen to the full interview, click here; For information on how to subscribe to Miller's podcast, click here ]

Networks Ignore Obama's False Claim About 'Fully-Automatic Weapon' Used at Newtown
By Matthew Balan | April 6, 2013 | 1:40 PM EDT

The Big Three networks' Friday morning newscasts all highlighted the "backlash" over President Obama's "best-looking attorney general in the country" compliment of California's Kamala Harris. But in addition to ignoring First Lady Michelle Obama's recent "single mother" gaffe, as of Saturday morning, ABC, CBS, and NBC have yet to report on the President's erroneous claim about the use of an automatic firearm at the Sandy Hook massacre.

The Democrat made the false statement at a Wednesday fundraiser in California. Mr. Obama asserted, "It is possible for us to create common-sense gun safety measures that respect the traditions of gun ownership in this country...but also make sure that we don't have another 20 children...gunned down by a semiautomatic weapon – by a fully automatic weapon in that case, sadly."

Matthews Trashes Republicans With New Conspiracy Theory Poll, Ignores Democrat Responses
By Noel Sheppard | April 4, 2013 | 4:53 PM EDT

When I saw the recently released PPP poll concerning America's belief in "conspiracy theories," I knew someone in the media would cherry-pick it to trash conservatives.

Living down to my lowest expectations was MSNBC's Chris Matthews who on Wednesday's Hardball chose to use the poll to attack Republicans as well as "the peanut gallery for Glenn Beck and company" without ever mentioning any Democrat responses (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Pew 'State of the Media' Study Bemoans Weakening 'Filter,' 'Shrinking Reporting Power,' While Press Arbitrarily Wastes Resources
By Tom Blumer | March 18, 2013 | 8:45 AM EDT

The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism has released its 2013 pity party -- er, annual report -- on the State of the News Media (home page; full overview).

Two things struck me in my initial scan-through: First, the whining about newsroom cutbacks, which are largely related to pervasive bias and misplaced priorities; second, the characterization of newsmakers' improved ability to take their cases directly to the public "without any filter by the traditional media" as some kind of automatically negative trend.

NBC Touts Left-Winger Behind Romney 47% Video As 'Registered Independent' With 'Open Mind'
By Kyle Drennen | March 14, 2013 | 12:37 PM EDT

On Thursday's NBC Today, White House correspondent Peter Alexander promoted the first public comments from Scott Prouty, the bartender who secretly recorded Mitt Romney's 47% comments during the 2012 presidential race: "Even today some political observers insist without that 47% tape, we might actually be talking about President Mitt Romney these days. Instead, the infamous comments marked what was really a campaign game-changer. And now months later, the man behind that tape has finally come forward." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

In the report that followed, Alexander highlighted portions of a Prouty's interview with MSNBC host Ed Schultz on Wednesday's The Ed Show and whitewashed the bartender's obvious left-wing ideology made apparent in the exchange: "Speaking publicly for the first time Wednesday, Prouty, who says he's a registered independent...[said] he arrived at the dinner that night with an open mind."

Media Attack Ann Romney for Suggesting They Helped Obama Win
By Randy Hall | March 5, 2013 | 3:15 PM EST

It didn't take long for liberal members of the press to spew venom at Ann Romney after she stated during an interview on last weekend's edition of “Fox News Sunday” that she's “happy to blame the media” as one of the reasons her husband, GOP former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney, lost the 2012 presidential election.

The fast and furious insults have ranged from a declaration by Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post that she “is suffering a serious case of sour grapes” and “needs to move on” to a sarcastic Tweet about her from David Bernstein of the Boston Phoenix as “still blaming media” even though he “lost count of stories she and Mitt refused to participate in.”

Ann Romney: 'I'm Happy To Blame The Media'
By Noel Sheppard | March 3, 2013 | 11:58 AM EST

Fox News Sunday today aired the first interview with the Romneys since Election Day.

In it, Ann Romney claimed it wasn't just her husband's campaign that failed to properly characterize him to the public. "I'm happy to blame the media," she said (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Harvard Paper Warns Conservatives Not to Enroll There If They Intend To Criticize School Later
By Noel Sheppard | March 1, 2013 | 12:36 PM EST

Oh those open-minded liberals.

On Thursday, the Harvard Crimson cautioned conservatives about attending their fine school in an article titled "Warning: Do Not Enroll. If you might want to insult Harvard down the line, go elsewhere":

Jeopardy! Mocks Romney With 'Binder Full of Women' Category
By Noel Sheppard | February 26, 2013 | 6:35 PM EST

Alex Trebek for some reason on Monday decided to take a cheap shot at former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

On his game show Jeopardy!, one of the categories was "A Binder Full of Women" (video follows with commentary):

Earth to WashPost: Romney, GOP Did Not Get a 'Shellacking' from Obama In 2012
By Tim Graham | February 9, 2013 | 9:59 PM EST

Reporters at the Washington Post need a refresher already on the November elections. Obama beat Romney 51-47; Senate Democrats gained two seats, up to 53; House Democrats gained eight seats, but still trail 234-201. Somehow, the Post says this is a “shellacking.” That’s a word Obama used more accurately after the wave election of 2010, when the Republicans added a historic 63 seats.

In Friday’s Post, reporters David Nakamura and Rosalind Helderman discussed whether Republicans would move toward the center on immigration: “Months after GOP leaders began signaling that the party would shift positions on immigration in response to their shellacking in the November election, Republicans are still working out their stance.” The Post website carried a similar line from an AP article: