CNN Goes After Arizona's Gun Laws as Major Factor in Shooting

On Monday's Newsroom, CNN treated Arizona's gun laws as a significant contributor to the shootings in Tucson. Correspondent Jessica Yellin prompted the local prosecutor to spout her pro-gun control views. Anchor Brooke Baldwin highlighted a local Republican's gun-toting ad and the infamous clip of an anti-Obama protester carrying a semi-automatic rifle outside a 2009 presidential event in…
Matthew Balan
January 10th, 2011 7:32 PM

Matthews Links Palin&Bachmann to Giffords Shooting, Portrays U.S. as G

Chris Matthews, on Monday's Hardball, used the attempt on Gabrielle Giffords' life, to not only portray America as some sort of gun crazed country, but also to blame the likes of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann for political violence as he blurted: "Sarah Palin using gun play language. What is she talking about crosshairs and reloading...and Bachmann out there with her kind of talk. I mean it…
Geoffrey Dickens
January 10th, 2011 7:26 PM

Schultz Suggests Fox News Foments Violence

The photo shows Ed Schultz literally pointing the finger at Fox News.   On his MSNBC show this evening, Schultz suggested that Fox incites political violence and justified his own heated rhetoric as necessary to combat Fox's supposed dishonesty. Schultz levelled his accusation in the course of rambling, show-opening, remarks on the Arizona shootings. Schultz also denied that there has been…
Mark Finkelstein
January 10th, 2011 6:57 PM

Tom Brokaw Praises Sheriff Dupnik For Remarks Against Violent Rhetoric

Appearing on Monday's "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw praised Sheriff Dupnik of Pima County, Ariz. for condemning political vitriol, and wished more officials would follow suit. Dupnik, a Democrat, blamed violent political rhetoric in part for the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), and singled out conservatives Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle for…
Matt Hadro
January 10th, 2011 6:45 PM

Networks Tout Democratic Sheriff's Warnings That 'Climate of Political

ABC, NBC and MSNBC on Monday all eagerly hyped the complaints by an Arizona sheriff that the "anger and bigotry" of everyday Americans contributed to Saturday's shooting. None of the journalists interviewing Clarence Dupnik identified as an elected Democratic official. (ABC's Jake Tapper did in a separate piece.) Former Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe and lauded…
Scott Whitlock
January 10th, 2011 5:16 PM

Hillary Clinton Calls Giffords Shooter 'An Extremist

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has weighed in on the shootings in Tucscon telling an audience in the United Arab Emirates, "We have extremists in my country" (video follows with partial transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
January 10th, 2011 5:05 PM

Barbara Walters Defends Sarah Palin: Blaming Her For Giffords Shooting

Sarah Palin found a very strange ally on Monday. With media outlet after media outlet disgracefully accusing the former Alaska governor of inciting Jared Lee Loughner to go on a shooting rampage in Tucson Saturday, Barbara Walters said on "The View," "To blame Sarah Palin as some are doing I think is very unfair to her" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
January 10th, 2011 4:23 PM

NBC's Lee Cowan Highlights Palin Map As Possible Rationale for Attack

On Monday's Today show, NBC's Lee Cowan, inspired by Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik's blaming political rhetoric for the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, highlighted Sarah Palin's Web site map featuring crosshairs on Giffords' district, as he scolded: "Not since Timothy McVeigh attacked the federal building in Oklahoma City has a crime sparked so much attention on anti-government rhetoric. That…
Geoffrey Dickens
January 10th, 2011 4:13 PM

Arizona Shooting Coverage Is a Media Campaign to Criminalize Conserva

Managing Editor's Note: Media Research Center President Brent Bozell issued the following statement after a thorough, two-day review of how the media have covered the tragic shooting in Arizona. Implicating a conservative tie to this heinous act of violence or to Jared Lee Loughner, who is no conservative, is nothing short of a naked campaign to criminalize conservative thought. Sadly,…
Brent Bozell
January 10th, 2011 3:59 PM

Ex-Newsweek Editor Howard Fineman Counsels Obama on How to Spin Shooti

Within hours of the mass shooting in Arizona, former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman on Saturday was offering Barack Obama tips on how to manipulate the outburst of violence for his political advantage. Making comparisons to Bill Clinton's response to the Oklahoma City bombing, he lobbied, "...Obama may be able to remind voters of what they like best about him: his sensible demeanor. Amid the…
Scott Whitlock
January 10th, 2011 3:46 PM

WaPo Editorial: 'Violent Metaphors' Don't Kill People, 'Guns Kill Peop

While many liberal media outlets are obsessing over conservative political rhetoric they insist leads to incidents like the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona), the Washington Post today has opted instead to exploit the tragic shooting to push for gun control.  "The early evidence raises questions about mental illness and indiscriminate access to guns," the Post…
Ken Shepherd
January 10th, 2011 3:30 PM

CNN Plays Up Reaction of The Guardian, Castro, and al Jazeera to Shoot

CNN International's Zain Verjee on Monday's Newsroom highlighted The Guardian's left-wing talking point that the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabby Giffords "points to the rise of political extremism in the United States." Verjee also bizarrely played up a post from al-Jazeera's website which speculated whether the U.S. would blame Islam for the shootings in Arizona [audio available here…
Matthew Balan
January 10th, 2011 1:36 PM

Here It Comes: In Shooting's Wake, Media Gear Up to Slime Conservative

The recent shootings in Tucson, Arizona were absolutely horrible. Because of the actions of one demented misfit, there is terrible suffering, society has been deprived of productive citizens and families will never be the same. Jared Loughner was a volatile powder keg that was bound to explode, but the sad fact of the matter is that although there were many people who viewed him as dangerous…
Charlie Daniels
January 10th, 2011 1:29 PM

George Stephanopoulos Highlights AZ Sheriff Who Blames Shooting on 'At

ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Monday offered a platform to the Arizona sheriff who has lashed out in the wake of Saturday's state's spree shooting. Additionally, unlike colleague Jake Tapper, the GMA host failed to mention the political ideology of the sheriff, Democrat Clarence Dupnik, who has attacked those who "try to inflame the public on a daily basis." After getting the latest…
Scott Whitlock
January 10th, 2011 12:54 PM