Fox News Watch panelists on Saturday named some villains concerning last week's tragedy in Tucson.
Aside from the shooter himself, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, and Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos were mentioned for their terrible coverage of this awful event (video follows with transcript and commentary):
On Saturday’s Fox News Watch, liberal FNC analyst Alan Colmes asserted that the Tea Party was a "bunch of angry white guys who went around and put up racist signs." As a debate ensued pitting Colmes against the other three panel members, he later defiantly asked, "How many blacks did they elect?" leading Jim Pinkerton of the New America Foundation to fire back: "The Tea Partiers elected two - Allen West and Tim Scott, Florida and South Carolina."
Host Jon Scott began the segment by assuming that the liberal Colmes would not have any complaints about the mainstream media’s coverage of the elections. After Colmes voiced his approval of the media, Scott sarcastically posed: "For instance, the Tea Party. Tea Party always got favorable coverage, right? Or fair coverage?"
Colmes then unleashed on the Tea Party: "Oh, they got, look, the Tea Party was a bunch of angry white guys who went around and put up racist signs at these at, these events on lawn chairs who had nothing better to do on weekends than sit on lawn chairs with signs suggesting Obama was a Muslim who wasn’t born in this country."
FNC’s Fox Newswatch on Saturday highlighted a winner in the MRC’s online balloting, in which many NewsBusters readers took part (Friday NB post announcing who you picked for Quote of the Year), for the annual awards for the year’s worst reporting. Host Jon Scott announced:
The results are in. The Media Research Center conducted an online poll asking the public to vote on the worst biased reporting. First up, the winner of the Poison Teapot Award for Smearing the Anti-Obama Rabble, goes to PBS's Tavis Smiley for this:
Greg Gutfeld on Saturday took on Dylan Ratigan and Ted Rall for advocating a violent revolution on the former's television program last Monday.
Giving the closing comment on "Fox News Watch," the "Red Eye" host also pointed out the delicious irony in a cartoonist "calling for a government overthrow with guns and violence on a network, MSNBC, that accused Tea Partiers of the same" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
As NewsBusters reported last Sunday, the Washington Post earlier this month pulled a cartoon from its paper due to a reference to the prophet Mohammed.
With this in mind, "Red Eye" host Greg Gutfeld appeared on "Fox News Watch" Saturday to ask, "Why is it that the media keeps reminding us that we shouldn’t exaggerate the threat of a small group of radicals, but then completely changes tact when it comes to their own personal safety?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
The ratings are in for Barack Obama's televised town hall meeting on CNBC Monday, and they're pretty dismal.
In fact, far more people watched the Fox News Channel's "Happening Now" with Jon Scott and Jenna Lee airing at the same time than tuned in to see what the President had to say.
Potentially even more embarrassing, when you add in those that watched Obama in MSNBC's replay of the event later in the day, the total is still less than those that viewed Jon and Jenna at noon.
Chris Ariens of TVNewser reported the numbers Tuesday:
On Saturday’s Fox News Watch, host Jon Scott picked up on a recent "Media Reality Check" report by the Media Research Center – parent organization to NewsBusters – titled "Smearing America as Islamophobic," which documented that the mainstream media have portrayed America as Islamophobic because of public opposition to the Ground Zero mosque. Scott: "The Media Research Center, Jim, released a study this week titled 'Smearing America as Islamophobic.' The overall thrust is that networks like NBC, CBS, ABC are calling these protests at Ground Zero, protests over the mosque, Islamophobia. Do they have a point?’"
After panel member Jim Pinkerton of the New America Foundation voiced his agreement with the MRC’s findings, Scott seemed to pick up on another MRC/NewsBusters item as he quoted ABC’s Christiane Amanpour from last week’s This Week show when she portrayed America as Islamophobic. Scott: "Let me read you a quote from Christiane Amanpour... At the top of her show on Sunday, she noted the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that had just passed, and she said, ‘She said nine years later, the growing hostility toward Muslim-Americans. Not since 9/11 has the country seen such anti-Muslim fervor,’ and said, ‘Muslim-Americans are feeling vulnerable.’ Where’s her proof?"
On Saturday’s Fox News Watch, after host Jon Scott displayed a political cartoon that depicted the aggressive overreaction of many Muslims to Pastor Terry Jones’s threat to burn a Koran on September 11, liberal FNC analyst Alan Colmes suggested that a "very similar reaction" from Christians would result if a Muslim announced the intent to burn a Bible. Despite the reported riots and death in places like Kabul, Afghanistan, Colmes initically doubted that there had been calls for "Death to America" as a result of the Koran-burning controversy.
Scott showed a cartoon from tobytoons.com which ended with a Muslim man shouting "Death to America," and turned to Colmes, asking, "Do they have a point?" The exchange continued:
Judith Miller on Saturday marvelously smacked down Time magazine and Ellis Henican over the contention that America is Islamophobic.
As the discussion on "Fox News Watch" turned to Time's cover story about the nation's view of Muslims, Henican said that he attended the protests in New York last week and "there were some views expressed that I think everyone at this table would find a little troubling."
This led Miller to ask, "But, is that America?"
She continued, "That's some people who turned out to protest."
Miller then asked a question that should be posed to every liberal media member accusing Americans of Islamophobica, "Where is there any indication that America as a country is beating up on Muslims or denying them their rights?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Jim Pinkerton on Saturday cited a Culture and Media Institute article about the hypocritical reporting of the proposed Ground Zero mosque.
On Thursday, CMI's Alana Goodman noted in a piece cross-posted at sister site NewsBusters:
When the discussion on Saturday's "Fox News Watch" moved to the Ground Zero mosque, Pinkerton brought this up (video follows with transcript):Ground Zero mosque organizer Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has been described by the media as a "moderate" and a "bridge-builder." But not too long ago, the same news outlets gave identical labels to a radical Virginia mosque that has been linked to some of the most infamous Islamic terrorist attacks in recent years.
Juan Williams on Saturday said when it comes to news stories about race, America's media always make black people the victims and white people the perpetrators.
As the discussion on "Fox News Watch" turned to last week's murders at a Hartford, Connecticut, beer distributor, host Jon Scott read clippings from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press all claiming the killer had been responding to years of racist treatment.
When done, he said incredulously, "Juan, the guy was caught on camera stealing beer and the media turned it into a racial story."
Williams responded in a fashion that likely shocked many viewers (video follows with transcript and commentary):