Taking Apart Bill O'Reilly's Shoddy Journalism

[marmar]

from the Center for American Progress, via AlterNet:


Taking Apart Bill O'Reilly's Shoddy Journalism

Center for American Progress. Posted July 19, 2007.



It's not the first time Bill O'Reilly has targeted the progressive blogosphere with with disingenuous attacks. Now, the netroots movement returns the fire.

On Monday night, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly aired a segment full of misleading, inaccurate claims attacking the upcoming YearlyKos blogger convention, its namesake DailyKos, and one of the event's sponsors, JetBlue. In his "report," O'Reilly cherry-picked an extreme minority of reader comments and diaries from the hundreds of thousands on DailyKos, claiming them to be representative of the community website and the greater netroots movement that will be gathering in Chicago on Aug. 2-5, 2007, for the progressive convention. Calling the netroots "the radical left" and DailyKos "hatemongerers" like "the Ku Klux Klan" and "the Nazi Party," O'Reilly compared YearlyKos to "a David Duke convention," calling it "one of the worst examples of hatred America has to offer"." O'Reilly's segment, which has been latched on to by his ideological allies in the conservative blogosphere, is an attempt to discredit a movement that "each day" is having "more impact" on America's political discourse while "helping to renew our democracy." O'Reilly's preemptive attack on the convention is a testament to the fact that the netroots are not a "nutroots" fringe movement as critics would like to characterize it, but rather a snapshot of energized progressive activists agitating for change in America.

Myth of the 'crude,' 'angry,' 'crass' fringe: The shoddy journalism of O'Reilly's YearlyKos hit piece is not the first time the progressive blogosphere has been the target of disingenuous attacks labeling it "the radical left." After several Democratic presidential candidates backed out of Fox News' debates due to the news channel's ideological bent, O'Reilly attacked the grassroots activists who agitated for the pullout, calling them a "radical movement" that uses "propaganda techniques perfected by Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of information." Searching through two years of Washington Post articles, media writer Eric Boehlert could find just one profile of a progressive blogger. The article -- "The Left, Online and Outraged" -- portrays My Left Wing blogger Maryscott O'Conner as "a Bush-hating lunatic," using such key phrases as "angry," "rage," "fury," "angriest," "outrage," "crude," "loud," "crass," "inflammatory," "attack." As Boehlert notes, the Post's profile of prominent conservative blogger Michelle Malkin was "a Valentine's Day week mash note, presenting Malkin as a pugnacious, on-the-rise pundit who has her liberal critics up in arms." In reality, though, the image of progressive bloggers as "unhinged," as Malkin describes them, is just a myth. The make up and politics of the netroots are actually quite mainstream. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/57270/

[Atman]

1. The right-wing blogger call the left wing "unhinged"

Same as on the message boards. You see it all the time, especially at our favorite site which cannot be mentioned and is apparently having serious trouble paying it's hosting bills. If you say anything at all that even hints of discontent you're responded to with a flaming hate-screed about about how "angry" and "unhinged" you are, always in much nastier tones than anything you originally posted.

IOW, if a lefty and a righty post the exact same screed, word for word, the right will view it's own post as simply telling the truth, being honest, "hey it's not my fault you're so angry and hate-filled." They just can't see anything similar in their own posts, but they actually are so consumed with hatred that anything other than their own hot breath is taken as an affront.

.

[pingzing58]

2. It's all about the facts and effects of our actions. We're better off being democratic every time.

[Hawaii Hiker]

3. That fat pumpkin-head O'Reilly always

gives the Ann Coulter's, Michelle Malkin's, etc. of this world a pass, but constantly goes after the left, namely NBC....The truth is, he's too afraid, or more likely, not smart enough to attack Keith Olbermann, so he just goes after NBC instead...

O'Reilly thinks by never mentioning Keith, he's hurting him...But Keith has been on Tonight Show, Letterman, is regularly on ESPN radio, etc....So, nice try Bill O, Keith is already a household name, KO doens't need publicity from Bill O....Oh, & BTW, Keith is signed for another 4 years for the Countdown show....And he'll be on NBC's Football Night in America this season, & will do occassional stories for NBC Nightly News...

So "F" you Bill O'Reilly!

Keith is here to stay, :woohoo: