A word about Paul Waldman of Media Matters for America making a big deal about the Cyber Alert item "exploiting death" by noting in passing our archive of Peter Jennings material. Not linking to it, mind you, but mentioning it. Anyone who reads the item will note it's pretty soft in tone, but apparently MMFA thinks it's unbelievably rude to "exploit" a death for political gain? But usually after someone prominent dies, their political legacy comes up for debate. They apparently missed the pile of anti-Reagan myths the media began spreading last year. Oh, and in case you're wondering, after Reagan died, it was Media Matters that began worrying that right after Reagan's death, "misinformation" surfaced that Reagan and George W. Bush had similarities. Is that exploiting death for political gain?
BTW, Waldman was last seen on the Romenesko Letters page making the absurd claim that Media Matters has "no commentary" on its Web site and is "free of advocacy." He somehow expects people won't notice their "Hands Off Public Broadcasting" campaign page. How on Earth is that free of advocacy? Is it not commentary to have articles that charge "The Bush administration wants to force public broadcasting to toe the Republican line"? These people are not serious.
