MSNBC's Contessa Brewer Worried About Influence of Conservative Media

July 23rd, 2010 6:42 PM
 For two days in a row on her noontime news hour, MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer worried aloud about the White House bowing to the wishes of the conservative media on the Shirley Sherrod case, describing it as "towing to right-wingers.""In some ways, it makes it look like the White House is kowtowing to right-wingers here, Mike," Brewer told MSNBC correspondent Mike Viqueira Wednesday as she was…

CNN Host Calls for Crackdown on 'Bloggers' in Wake of Sherrod Incident

July 23rd, 2010 5:48 PM
Should there be a "gatekeeper" regulating internet bloggers? In the aftermath of the Shirley Sherrod incident, that's what CNN promoted on July 23. Anchors Kyra Phillips and John Roberts discussed the "mixed blessing of the internet," and agreed that there should be a crackdown on anonymous bloggers who disparage others on the internet. "There are so many great things that the internet does…

CNN's Rick Sanchez: 'I'm Not Ideological;' Spars With Abrams on Sherro

July 23rd, 2010 4:54 PM
Rick "I play it down the middle" Sanchez didn't disappoint during the first prime-time edition of CNN's Rick's List on Thursday, as he brought his liberal bias against Fox News to the program. When guest Dan Abrams of Mediate accused the anchor of "doing an opinion-based program" on Fox News's coverage of the Shirley Sherrod story, Sanchez denied this and added that he wasn't being ideological […

On NBC, Leftist Rails: Are We Gonna Be 'Bullied' by 'Right Wing Media

July 23rd, 2010 2:40 PM
NBC's Matt Lauer brought on two liberals, former Democratic Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and Katrina Vanden Heuvel, publisher and editor of the leftist The Nation magazine, on Friday's Today show, to dissect the Shirley Sherrod "saga" as viewers were treated to an attack on the "right wing media which peddles fears and slanders." In a segment titled "Race In America, Lessons Learned From The…

NYT Implies Fox to Blame for Sherrod, But White House Acted Before Sto

July 23rd, 2010 7:33 AM
The New York Times on Thursday picked through the sordid saga of Shirley Sherrod, fired from her post at the U.S. Department of Agriculture after a clip of a speech to a gathering of a rural chapter of the Georgia NAACP appeared to show her hostility toward a white farmer seeking assistance. A full version of the speech shows that was a set-up to Sherrod's tale of racial reconciliation, though…

Behar: Bush Admin ‘Did Not Give a Damn About Poor People and Everybo

July 23rd, 2010 3:50 AM
On Thursday’s The View on ABC, as the group hosted former USDA official Shirley Sherrod to talk about her experience of being fired by the Obama administration, after co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck got her to address comments she had made before the NAACP in which she accused Republicans of challenging President Obama on health care reform because he is black, co-host Joy Behar went on a tirade…

CNN Anchors Fawn Over Shirley Sherrod, Ask If She Wants Breitbart's Si

July 22nd, 2010 7:14 PM
It wasn't exactly a media-friendly question. CNN co-anchor Kiran Chetry asked Shirley Sherrod on Thursday's "American Morning" if she wanted another news outlet to be shut down entirely – Andrew Breitbart's website, to be exact. "Would you like [Breitbart's] site to be shut down?" Chetry asked Sherrod. Sherrod answered yes, "that would be a great thing."In lieu of Sherrod's recent travails, CNN…

Newsweek's Alter: Fox News Led to Sherrod's Forced Resignation; Van Jo

July 22nd, 2010 4:13 PM
My colleagues Brad Wilmouth and Lachlan Markay have catalogued how Fox News hosts played no role in the forced resignation of former USDA bureaucrat Shirley Sherrod over perceived racist remarks.But why let the truth get in the way of a good screed? Just ask Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, who published a postmortem yesterday to the magazine's The Gaggle blog on "[h]ow the administration mishandled a…

George Stephanopoulos Lobbies for Reconciliation Between Obama and She

July 22nd, 2010 4:02 PM
Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Thursday lobbied Shirley Sherrod to agree that Barack Obama is trying to improve race relations. The fired USDA employee first asserted she needed more assurance from the President. Stephanopoulos prodded, "But, don't you think that President Obama's committed to that?" The former Democratic operative turned journalist followed up with another…

Bashing Breitbart: CNN's Anderson Cooper Admonishes Conservative 'Weas

July 22nd, 2010 3:16 PM
An indignant Anderson Cooper railed against Andrew Breitbart with an uncharacteristic angry commentary at the top of his eponymous CNN program yesterday, calling the conservative activist a "bully," likening him to a "weasel," and accusing him of posting a video which was "clearly edited to deceive and slander [Shirley] Sherrod."Admitting he has never met Breitbart, Cooper preached, "Watching him…

Ed Schultz Piously Boasts 'I Don't Make Stuff Up' - Before Making Up B

July 22nd, 2010 2:37 PM
Radio listeners and cable viewers, rest assured -- Ed Schultz is on the side of the angels when it comes to integrity, he strenuously reminds us. The liberal radio host and MSNBC action hero spent much of his radio show yesterday venting about the Shirley Sherrod uproar and denouncing Andrew Breitbart and Fox News for their alleged role in Sherrod's abrupt firing.  Here's a holier-than-…

CBS Brings on Michael Eric Dyson to Bash 'Right Wing' Over Sherrod Con

July 22nd, 2010 2:28 PM
On Thursday's CBS Early Show, fill-in co-host Erica Hill discussed the firing of Shirley Sherrod with left-wing Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson, who used the opportunity to slam conservatives: "...there's unfair pressure on the Obama administration, Mr. Obama himself, from, I think, the far right wing, which perceives black gain at the expense of white security." Dyson used the…

Reality Check: Fox News Hosts Had Nothing to Do With Shirley Sherrod R

July 22nd, 2010 12:24 PM
UPDATE (3:20 PM): A couple of quotes below the fold demonstrate just how ideologically diverse critics are who note that Fox played no direct role in Sherrod's resignation. Pundits from the Washington Post and National Review weigh in. Shirley Sherrod placed the blame for her ouster at Fox News's feet. Hardly surprising. She's a liberal (former) member of a liberal administration. More surprising…

Our Surprising Journalistic Power

July 22nd, 2010 11:53 AM
Even though I as a pro-life blogger know I battle on the right side of history, on a day-to-day basis I sometimes don't feel like a victor. The fight seems so uphill, with money, political power, and MSM all against us. So the following July 21 Politico story about what bloggers on the Left think of us was enlightening. Every time I get a peek into the other side's view of us I realize once…