media matters

Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said Wednesday his critics took remarks he made about a famed Harlem restaurant out of context and "fabricated a racial controversy where none exists."

He criticized the liberal group Media Matters for America as "smear merchants" for publicizing statements he made on his radio show last week.

O'Reilly told his radio audience that he dined with civil rights activist Al Sharpton at Sylvia's recently and "couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference" between the black-run restaurant and others in New York City.

It was just like a suburban Italian restaurant, he said. "There wasn't any kind of craziness at all," he said.

O'Reilly told The Associated Press that Media Matters had "cherry-picked" remarks out of a broader conversation about racial attitudes. He had told listeners that his grandmother ― and many other white Americans ― feared blacks because they didn't know any and were swayed by violent images in black culture.

"If you listened to the full hour, it was a criticism of racism on the part of white Americans who are ignorant of the fact that there is no difference between white and black anymore," he told the AP. "Circumstances may be different in their lives but we're all Americans. Anyone who would be offended by that conversation would have to be looking to be offended."

His radio show was a conversation with Fox News contributor Juan Williams, author of a book about the coarseness of some black culture. Williams defended O'Reilly during a Tuesday appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor."

"It's so frustrating," Williams said. "They want to shut you up. They want to shut up anybody who has an honest discussion about race."

Sharpton, appearing on O'Reilly's TV program Wednesday, acknowledged that he found accounts of what O'Reilly said "disturbing and surprising," but added that he had not heard the radio broadcast.

"You and I have gone to dinner before in Harlem, and I've never heard you say anything offensive," said Sharpton, speaking from Baton Rouge, La. "I'm going to listen to the tape and I'm going to give a judgment."

The controversy was similar to one that enveloped presidential candidate Joe Biden last winter. When Biden praised rival Barack Obama as "articulate" and "clean," many saw this as a way of conveying those were unusual characteristics for blacks.

Sylvia's manager Trenness Woods-Black told the New York Daily News that O'Reilly's remarks were "insulting" and showed he has little knowledge of the black community.

At one point on the radio show, Williams mentioned that too many people see little else in black culture beyond profane rap. "That's right," O'Reilly said. "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M.F.-er, I want more iced tea.'"

Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters, said it is typical for O'Reilly to criticize his group for merely reporting what he says.

"We didn't call him a racist," Frisch said. "We said his comments were ignorant and racially charged, and we stand by that."

O'Reilly said that the Williams conversation was carried on more than 400 radio stations and that there wasn't one complaint from a listener.

"This isn't about a racially insensitive remark," he said. "Anybody can listen to the unedited version of the conversation on Billoreilly.com. You want to think I'm insensitive to race, you go right ahead."

The real story, he said, was about the "corrupt media culture" in which outlets like CNN and MSNBC do stories about his remarks "because they're getting killed in the ratings."

"The O'Reilly Factor" is seen by more people ― 2.2 million average this year ― than its direct competitors on MSNBC and CNN combined. MSNBC's "Countdown" with Keith Olbermann averages 721,000 viewers in the time slot while CNN's 8 p.m. show averages 611,000, according to Nielsen Media Research. This is the fabricated flap over some benign remarks Bill made on his radio show. But it has been turned on its ear by George Soros' Media Matters, a Web site that was funded by Soros and is dedicated to discrediting conservatives and folks like Bill who don't toe the Soros line. They do this by the purposeful misinterpretation of one's words.

It isn't just Bill. Media Matters has done it to me, too.

NBC News has been using Media Matters as a script service for some time now, with certain anchors over there just lifting misinterpretations wholesale from the Web site and sending the Media Matters words directly to the teleprompter.

Yeah, great journalism at a place with names like Russert and Williams. And now CNN has joined in.

Why? O'Reilly is the big kahuna of cable news, and neither of those networks can break out of tenth place in a three-network race unless they bring him down.

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Unprecedented Study of U.S. Daily Newspapers Shows Conservatives with Distinct Advantage in Syndicated Op-Eds Nationally and in Illinois









Washington, D.C. -� Media Matters for America today released Illinois data for its new report "Black and White and Re(a)d All Over: The Conservative Advantage in Syndicated Op-Ed Columns," a comprehensive and unprecedented analysis of nationally syndicated columnists from nearly 1,400 newspapers, or 96 percent of English-language U.S. daily newspapers.


Because of the time, labor, and difficulty involved in gathering such a wide scope of detailed information about America's newspapers, no one has ever before determined exactly where syndicated columnists are published. The report shows that conservative syndicated columnists are carried in far more newspapers, with much greater audience reach than their progressive counterparts, giving them a distinct advantage in the marketplace of ideas.


Illinois: Key Findings

Conservative Syndicated Columnists Dominate Illinois Daily Newspapers Each Week





-- Conservative syndicated columnists appear a total of 116 times per week in Illinois newspapers. Centrist columnists appear a total of 22 times, while progressive columnists appear a total of 67 times.





Conservative Syndicated Columnists Reach Illinois Readers Over 3.1 Million More Times Each Week Than Progressives





-- Nationally syndicated conservative columnists account for 59 percent of the column impressions in Illinois each week, while nationally syndicated progressive columnists account for only 35 percent. Those conservative columnists reach Illinois readers 3,159,298 more times each week than their progressive counterparts.





Top Syndicated Columnists in Illinois Are Mostly Conservative Each Week





-- The top nationally syndicated columnists published regularly in Illinois consist of five conservatives, two centrists, and two progressives. The top conservative columnists outnumber their progressive counterparts by a 2-to-1 margin.

Nationwide: Key Findings


Conservative Syndicated Columnists Dominate Daily Newspapers





-- Sixty percent of the nation's newspapers print more conservative syndicated columnists every week than progressive syndicated columnists. Only 20 percent run more progressives than conservatives, while the remaining 20 percent are evenly balanced.

Conservative Syndicated Columnists Reach Millions More Than Progressives





-- In a given week, nationally syndicated conservative columnists are published in more than 153 million newspapers. Progressive columnists, on the other hand, are published in 125 million newspapers.

Top Syndicated Columnists Are Mostly Conservative





-- The list of the top 10 columnists, sorted by the number of papers in which they are carried or by the total circulation of the papers in which they are published, includes five conservatives, two centrists, and only three progressives.

In Region After Region, Conservative Syndicated Columnists Enjoy Advantage





-- In eight of the nine regions into which the U.S. Census divides the country, conservative syndicated columnists reach more readers than progressive syndicated columnists in any given week. Only in the Middle Atlantic region (which includes New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) do progressive columnists reach more readers each week.

"Together, these results prove that our opinion pages, nationally and even in a blue state like Illinois, are consistently skewed to the right, allowing conservatives a disproportionate advantage in shaping public opinion," said David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters. "The integrity of our nation's newspapers is at stake when the debate of today's pressing issues is dominated by one side of the argument," Brock said.


What's Being Said About This Report


"A Washington Post Writers Group executive agrees with Media Matters that conservatives do better than liberals on Op-Ed pages ..." -- Editor & Publisher, 9/17/07


"Like our count, the Media Matters study found that [George] Will is the king of the hill with his column running at least once a month in 368 newspapers." -- Houston Chronicle, 9/15/07


"The Media Matters report on the play of syndicated columnists in American daily newspapers confirmed what everybody in the business already knows -- that, statistically, newspapers publish more syndicated conservatives than liberals." -- The Washington Post Writers Group, 9/14/07


"The results of the Media Matters survey on the use of political pundits is welcome news, especially as a response to those who have long claimed that there is a liberal media bias." -- Keith Runyon in The Louisville Courier-Journal, 9/14/07


"Have you heard the one about the liberal media? It's a big fallacy, according to Media Matters for America. Or at least it is on op-ed pages. The group produced a report last week suggesting America's op-ed pages are dominated by conservative columnists. It's an interesting finding, if true." -- The Denver Post, 9/16/07


"On Wednesday, the liberal group Media Matters for America issued a study that claims the op-ed pages of the nearly 1,430 daily English-language newspapers in the United States are dominated by conservative syndicated columnists." -- Chicago Tribune, 9/14/07


"If you're a George Will fan, and it seems that most of us are, then this won't be a surprise. Media Matters, the progressive media watchdog, finds that he's the king of newspaper columnists." -- U.S. News & World Report, 9/12/07


"Media Matters for America, the progressive journalistic watchdog group, is patting itself on the back today for discovering that most of the syndicated columns in the nation's newspapers skew conservative. So much for the myth of the liberal media." -- Chicago Tribune, 9/12/07


"[Media Matters] found that 60 percent of the daily newspapers print more conservative syndicated columnists each week than liberals. Twenty percent of the papers are dominated by liberals and 20 percent are balanced." -- Associated Press, 9/11/07


About the Report & Media Matters for America


Media Matters amassed information on 201 nationally syndicated columnists published by nearly every daily newspaper in the country. Contacting each paper individually to ask which syndicated columnists are published, we obtained information from 1,377 newspapers, or 96 percent of all English-language daily newspapers in the United States.


This study is unparalleled in its scope and level of detail. Despite the enormous influence of America's op-ed pages, no one has ever before determined where syndicated columnists are specifically published. Previous examinations of syndicated columnists relied on data provided by the syndicates themselves, while Media Matters contacted each and every English-language daily newspapers to ensure the highest level of accuracy.


Media Matters is a not-for-profit, progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.






Media Matters for America is a not-for-profit, progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Media Matters for America is the first organization to systematically monitor the media for conservative misinformation every day, in real time. For more information, visit www.mediamatters.org.

On O'Reilly Factor, Bruce called Media Matters the "media Gestapo" and MoveOn.org "the political Gestapo"
Summary: Bill O'Reilly hosted Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce to talk about what O'Reilly called "[t]he far-left Internet sites" such as Media Matters for America who "are in the business to smear any and all commentators who do not toe the liberal line." In response, Bruce said, "I think most of us who are in the public eye have got to call attention to the real story, which is the fact that a Gestapo has emerged in America. If you'll notice, the attacks on you mirror the attacks on General [David] Petraeus. And you have a media Gestapo in Media Matters, and then you have the political Gestapo in MoveOn.org."
During the September 26 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly hosted Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce -- a self-described "openly gay, pro-choice, gun owning, pro-death penalty, voted-for-President Bush authentic feminist" -- to talk about what O'Reilly called "[t]he far-left Internet sites" such as Media Matters for America who "are in the business to smear any and all commentators who do not toe the liberal line." In response, Bruce said, "I think most of us who are in the public eye have got to call attention to the real story, which is the fact that a Gestapo has emerged in America. If you'll notice, the attacks on you mirror the attacks on General [David] Petraeus. And you have a media Gestapo in Media Matters, and then you have the political Gestapo in MoveOn.org."

Bruce continued: "And the intention is the same. The intention is to smear an individual without any basis in reality, without any fairness, in an attempt to make that person demonized so that they will not be listened to." She added: "It is a very serious dynamic. Now, the issues involved are almost irrelevant because the truth of the matter is, no matter what is said, no matter what is done, the Gestapo will find a way to move in some kind of element of demonization."

O'Reilly devoted a substantial portion of his September 26 program to attacking Media Matters, which documented O'Reilly's controversial September 19 comment about his visit to Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem.

Concluding his discussion with Bruce, O'Reilly mused: "Isn't it depressing in a republic as strong as America that we have now the most corrupt media in the history of our country. That's a little depressing to me, Tammy." Bruce replied: "Well, it is, but it also then shines the light on the media that we can trust like Fox, frankly."

From the September 26 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: "Impact" segment, tonight. The far-left Internet sites are in the business to smear any and all commentators who do not toe the liberal line. In the past year, Media Matters has personally attacked me 109 times. Glenn Beck has been smeared 92 times. Rush Limbaugh, 87 times. And Sean Hannity, 75 times. Not one liberal radio commentator has been smeared by Media Matters.

Joining us now from Los Angeles, radio talk-show star Tammy Bruce, who's also been attacked by that smear factory.

OK. Commentators are attacked by this. We know this. We ignore it most of the time until CNN or another, what they call, mainstream media outlet picks it up. But some people are saying, "Look, O'Reilly, you should just ignore this. You shouldn't do anything about it." I'm attacking it, obviously. How do you see it?

BRUCE: Well, it is actually very serious. And the real story is -- and I think those of us who are in the public eye have got to call attention to the real story, which is the fact that a Gestapo has emerged in America. If you'll notice, the attacks on you mirror the attacks on General Petraeus. And you have a media Gestapo in Media Matters, and then you have the political Gestapo in MoveOn.org. And the intention is the same. The intention is to smear an individual without any basis in reality, without any fairness, in an attempt to make that person demonized so that they will not be listened to.

It is a very serious dynamic. Now, the issues involved are almost irrelevant because the truth of the matter is, no matter what is said, no matter what is done, the Gestapo will find a way to move in some kind of element of demonization, especially as we move into this election year. And it is -- when it comes to the military, when it comes to government, or especially with you, in this case, an individual who is independent from either party line and who is likely to be listened to more seriously than other people.

O'REILLY: OK. Now, how do you handle it then when a CBS morning news -- totally irresponsible, the correspondent didn't listen to the tape. The anchor who did the interview links it up to an Imus. You know, this Media Matters is --

BRUCE: Sure.

O'REILLY: -- the same people that got Imus. Now, they know that's dishonest. CNN from the jump knew it was dishonest because I told them.

BRUCE: Sure.

O'REILLY: And they didn't care. CNN, we know because they're getting hammered in the ratings 6 to 1 by us. So we know why they do it. But how do you handle a CBS morning news?

BRUCE: Well, you -- this is actually a gift. And I know it probably doesn't feel that way --

O'REILLY: No, it does. I agree with you.

BRUCE: -- to those of use who have been targets.

O'REILLY: It is a gift, absolutely.

BRUCE: It's a gift because what it does is it swings the curtain back. I -- when I was in the left, it's known as the network. Literally, a network of outlets that then follow the lead of who it is that's leading the charge, whether it be The New York Times or, in this instance, Media Matters or MoveOn.org. And what Americans need to realize, and I think what commentators have a duty to do, is remind people what the real story is, which is this is an opportunity to see how that network operates, how it exists, especially as Americans have to listen to establishment media for news about an election and for decisions they make. So it's a real opportunity to show who is part of the network, who is playing that role, who is a water carrier and who isn't. And I think that you, as a lightning rod, is a perfect example for most people about the agenda is of the Gestapo and how it can be stopped.

O'REILLY: Sure, and the reason it's a gift is because we have the tape. And anybody --

BRUCE: Yes.

O'REILLY: -- can go to BillOReilly.com and hear the whole thing. And there's no two sides to the story. There's no debate.

BRUCE: Well, it's context.

O'REILLY: Right.

BRUCE: No, it's context, and the other issue is always --

O'REILLY: But isn't it depressing --

BRUCE: Uh-huh.

O'REILLY: -- isn't it depressing in a republic as strong as America that we have now the most corrupt media in the history of our country. That's a little depressing to me, Tammy.

BRUCE: Well, it is, but it also then shines the light on the media that we can trust like Fox, frankly.



Did you know that in addition to funding groups to try to kneecap Bill O'Reilly and me, Soros' stooges have also cut a $720,000 check to the so-called NASA whistleblower who claimed the U.S. government was covering up global warming?

The Investor's Business Daily has outlined all of this in a series of recent editorials after checking the records. Soros money has also funded lawyers to defeat President Bush on his efforts to track terrorists' cell phone calls and matching airline passenger lists with names of known terrorists.

As the IBD asked its readers: Do you feel safer now that you live in Soros' world? I would think not.

I also think you would want to think about the way George Soros has funneled his millions into the bank accounts of groups dedicated to sliming and destroying people. Soros' money is behind MoveOn.org, too, and you've seen what they do.

Soros doesn't like Bill and Soros doesn't like me. I can't speak for Bill, but as for myself I am proud to be on the Soros hit list.

As for NBC and CNN, they should be embarrassed. It's the real journalists inside those two places that need to stand up and revolt.