Right Wing

Neo-Nazi Hoax Exploits Iraqi War Bias

by Sheldon Rampton — April 16, 2003 - 10:00pm

An anti-Semitic web site called the "Barnes Report" is distributing fake whistleblower memos on media bias in the Iraq war that attempt to exploit public skepticism about the accuracy of U.S. news coverage. Excerpts from the alleged memos appear on a series of web pages titled "Controlling the News." The "memos" instruct reporters to avoid showing scenes of violence from the war and to stress images that depict U.S. policy in a favorable light.

Main Source: 
http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Fake_whistleblower_memos_on_media_b...

MSNBC & CNN Imitating the Far-Right 'Fox Effect'

by John Stauber — April 15, 2003 - 10:00pm

The New York Times reports on the 'Fox Effect' of MSNBC and CNN imitating Fox's vicious style of biased, nationalistic reporting. "...[I]t has been the Fox News Channel, owned by [Rupert Murdoch's] News Corporation, that has emerged as the most-watched source of cable news by far, with anchors and commentators who skewer the mainstream media, disparage the French and flay anybody else who questions President Bush's war effort. ... Fox's formula had already proved there were huge ratings in opinionated news with an America-first flair.

Main Source: 
New York Times, April 16, 2003

Who Needs Movies? We've Got the FOX War Channel.

by John Stauber — April 13, 2003 - 10:00pm

"Nearly every military-related film
to reach theaters this year has been a box-office
disappointment, leaving some in Hollywood to question how
much the 24-hour news coverage of the Iraq invasion has
dimmed the public appetite for images of combat," and "some critics suggest that
moviegoers are staying away because they have plenty of
real-time war action already on cable and network news
programs.

Main Source: 
New York Times, April 14, 2003

Luntz Memo Helps To Greenwash Republicans

by John Stauber — March 1, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Over the last six months, the
Republican Party has subtly refocused its message on the
environment, an issue that a party strategist Frank Luntz called 'the
single biggest vulnerability for the Republicans and
especially for George Bush' in a memorandum encouraging the
new approach.

Main Source: 
New York Times, March 2, 2003

Anti-Chavez All The Time

by Laura Miller — February 9, 2003 - 11:00pm

As the so-called general strike against Venezuelean President Hugo Chavez comes to an end, Venezuelan television will begin broadcasting advertising again. For the two months of the strike, "the only commercials on Venezuelan TV were the opposition's relentless barrage of powerful and often witty "_blank">anti-Chavez spots," Advertising Age reports. Fifteen Venezuelan ad agencies worked together to make over 200 commercials, "although most shops and clients were closed until Feb.

Main Source: 
Advertising Age, February 10, 2003

Republicans Seek a Few Good African Americans

by John Stauber — February 1, 2003 - 11:00pm

Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten feels "sorry for African American Republicans. They've never had it real good ... So I was heartened when I happened on a Web site last month run by a group called the African American Republican Leadership Council. ... The honorary chairman of the panel is listed as former U.S. senator Edward W. Brooke III, a Republican from Massachusetts. So I called up Brooke, who confirmed the important fact that he is black. Alas, he is not in any way associated with the group.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, February 2, 2003

'Americans for Tax Reform' Part of a Pro-War Movement

by John Stauber — January 31, 2003 - 11:00pm

The New York Times notes that "spurred by local antiwar
sentiment, dozens of cities and counties around the country
have passed resolutions imploring President Bush to slow
down his confrontation with Iraq. ... City and county councils in 20 states have passed such
measures, from small towns like Woodstock, N.Y., to cities
as large as Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit." Well-funded right wing supporters of the march to war "stand ready to try to mobilize a
countermovement.

Main Source: 
New York Times, February 1, 2003

His Own Best Student

by Sheldon Rampton — January 31, 2003 - 11:00pm

For three years, John R. Lott Jr., the controversial American Enterprise Institute scholar and author of "More Guns, Less Crime," has used the pseudonym of "Mary Rosh" to post defenses of himself on the Internet. "Rosh" described Lott as a meticulous, non-ideological researcher, and even claimed to be one of his former students. "I have to say that he was the best professor I ever had," Rosh gushed in one Internet posting.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, February 1, 2003

Google Catches Bush Astroturf Campaign

by Sheldon Rampton — January 21, 2003 - 4:11pm

"It looks like the Bush Administration is astroturfing, trying to artificially create the appearance of a grassroots movement supporting their policies," writes Jules Agee.

Main Source: 
http://www.politechbot.com/p-04332.html

Conservatives Rule the "Liberal" Media

by Sheldon Rampton — December 15, 2002 - 11:00pm

"Resentment at the 'liberal media' has been a Holy Grail of the American right for 40 years, and a gold mine for conservative direct-mail fund-raisers," writes Joel Connelly. In reality, though, "the right plays an almost dominant role in setting the agenda and stereotyping opponents. It has unmatched powers to get a story airborne. ... The party line gets out on issues from going to war with Iraq to drilling the West." Then why do conservatives still pretend that the media are liberal?

Main Source: 
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 16, 2002
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