NewsWeek and Jon Stewart Decree the War on Christmas is Over…

By Marion Algier – The War on Christmas verses the Spirit of Christmas Series at AskMarion – 12

Leftist comedian Jon Stewart recently introduced his annual skewering of the “war on Christmas” with a montage of Fox News personalities breathlessly reporting the latest outrages against the holiday’s religious origins. “Let’s face facts, the annual Fox ‘war on Christmas’ has become a little predictable”, Stewart said, kicking off his own predictable seasonal faux war on Fox and especially Bill O’Reilly.

Illustration by Sean McCabe; Source: Ryan McVay / Getty; Peter Breiehagen / Photographer's Choice-Getty; Stockbyte-Getty; Stockbyte-Getty; Jamie McCarthy / Getty)

The Daily Beast: For several years now, there have been signs the war on Christmas is running out of ammunition. Google Trends shows a peak in news articles mentioning the Christmas clashes in 2005, after which they slowed to a small annual blip. In 2007 the Springfield, Ill., State Journal-Register remarked that the paper had received hardly any letters about the war on Christmas. “If there still is a War on Christmas going on, its soldiers must have gone underground,” they wrote in a Christmas Eve editorial. Despite occasional flare-ups, like 2010’s “billboard war” between Catholics and atheist groups outside New York City, the battle over the December holidays gradually became the stuff of social-media memes, Onion parodies, and Daily Show takedowns.

Hmmm… or is it just that the mainstream media has stopped reporting on the War on Christmas?!?

How did this cultural flash point slide into oblivion, with Bill O’Reilly virtually the last person continuing to fight?, the Daily Beast asks.  Some Christmas soldiers say it’s because their side won. According to the American Family Association, 80 percent of the ­retailers the group profiled for its inaugural “naughty and nice” list in 2005 used religion-neutral terminology like “holidays” in their advertising and store signs. Now an overwhelming majority have ­reverted back to using the word “Christmas.” ­Randy Sharp, a spokesman for the AFA, says that “there has been a correction.” Retailers, he says, realized “people weren’t offended by being wished a ‘Merry Christmas,’ but those of us who celebrate the historical significance of the birth of Christ are offended when you downplay that.”

Bill Donohue, the president of the conservative Catholic League, which has skirmished with atheist groups over Christmas displays, said his organization has received far fewer reports of alleged discrimination against Christmas this year.

Though the war on Christmas may no longer be an annual ‘news’ event, its legacy remains in ongoing local battles over religious expression in schools and on government property. Anecdotally, some Americans say that anger over the perceived purging of Christmas from society was simply absorbed into the right’s more general resentment toward the forces of multicultural inclusion. “It’s become part of the background noise,” said Charlie Digiglio of Waxahachie, Texas, describing conversations he’s overheard among friends and co-workers. “For many people, it’s just an assumed reality that’s hardly worth mentioning anymore.”

Don’t tell these people the war on Christmas is over:  Atheists intimidate Santa Monica into eliminating Nativity… And So the War on Christmas and Freedom of Religion Continues – Churches Thwart Nativity Ban By Putting Up Living Displays In Santa Monica Or how about the seniors who were told no Christmas Trees? Or the school that had to change their field trip to see a live version of A Charlie Brown Christmas because it was taking place at a church?

Jon Stewart addressed one of Bill O'Reilly's more impassioned "War on Christmas" moments during a Monday Monologue about guarding America from creeping secularism.

Video:  Bill O'Reilly Confronts Atheist Leader Over The War On Christmas

O'Reilly, who is the undisputed leader of "War on Christmas" coverage, had a slightly shouty (by which we mean it was surprising chairs weren't thrown) conversation with an atheist on his show last week. Besides calling his guest a "fascist," he also claimed that Christianity is a philosophy, not a religion.  Followed by an interview with Dennis Miller.

Video: The War On Christmas Discussed - Dennis Miller Time - Bill O'Reilly - 11-28-12

But we are here to say to the Daily Beast… “Not so fast!!”  The war on Christmas is alive and well and the war on religion… on Christians and Jews has accelerated in the United States and around the world!!  Let us all remember that just because the mainstream media isn’t reporting on something does not mean it isn’t so or isn’t happening.

Related:

The Need For A Christian Worldview of Freedom And Economics

BECK GOES GLOBAL, MEETS WITH CATHOLIC CLERGY & INTERNATIONAL TEA PARTY LEADERS IN ROME

Carolling… or Caroling and Christmas Music

Nativity – The Reason for the Season

Christmas Trees

Hanukkah, Hanukah, Chanukah

European Markets or Christkindlmarkts Capture the Christmas Spirit

St. Nickolas Day

So Where Is the War on Christmas Coming From? – A Worthwhile Read!

Best Holiday Movie Classics – A Merry Christmas From Hollywood

God Rest Ye Merry Merchants – Christmas: An American Holiday and Tradition to Love and Preserve

Advent – The Season of Anticipation and Hope

The War on Christmas verses the Spirit of Christmas Series at AskMarion – with comments from Ben Stein

Red Kettles & Bell Ringers

Black Friday Holiday Shopping Kick-off Overshadows True Meaning of Christmas

What Movies in History Best Captures the Spirit of Thanksgiving?

“Holidays Are Great and Fun To Share With Our Pets, As Long As We Avoid the No-No Foods” - Animal Nativity

Christianity & Gun Owners in the Crosshairs: Chilling Tactic Exposed

How Should Christians Respond to Atheist ‘Hatred’ & the War on Christmas? This Priest Has Some Advice

A great read: Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity

Technorati Tags: War on Christmas,Christmas,spirit of Christmas,charity,holidays,Hanukah,American Traditions,American values,War on Christianity,War on Religion,The War on… The War on Christmas,Jon Stewart,Dennis Miller,Bill O'Reilly,atheists,secularism,religion,war on religon,Christians,Jews,Catholics sue

Why Fox fired Glenn Beck… Or…?

You've heard that Fox News fired Glenn Beck, right? You heard that Fox couldn't manage him anymore. You read that network president Roger Ailes canned him to stem the rush of advertisers fleeing his program. You saw on the evening news that his program has been shedding viewers so fast Beck can hardly stop crying.

Those headlines and news leads have been repeated so often it’s safe to assume they’re all true. Even Beck’s kids must think their old man got a pink slip.

Except that he didn’t.

The grossly misleading headlines are typical of competing networks and talking heads that prefer a controversial story about sinking ships to the truth. Of course they’re rooting for Fox and Beck’s collective failures; that’s the game plan in a highly competitive marketplace.

The real surprise would have been if the Los Angeles Times or other news outlets had reported the situation more accurately. Isn’t it a better story when you hear Beck was fired because he didn’t get along with network brass? Don’t your ears perk up when some talking head reports that Beck’s gig has suddenly become the biggest television flop since "The Chevy Chase Show"?

Unfortunately, the truth is much less controversial.

The fair and balanced reality is Beck’s contract was set to expire this year. He and his vastly underrated business and creative teams at Mercury Radio Arts have long considered a change when he became, in effect, a free agent. It’s not what his detractors want you to hear, but if Beck and his production company had wanted to keep the daily show, he would have signed a new deal and continued clubbing the competition.

While Beck’s ratings have slipped from the sky highs of the health care debate, he still pulls 2 million viewers for a live broadcast at 5 p.m. EDT. Consider that a moment. He’s capturing those ratings with a show that airs on the East Coast while most are commuting home and at 2 p.m. on the West Coast, when folks are still tied to their cubicles.

Although he airs during Denny’s senior discount hour, he’s still pulverizing the prime time 8, 9 and 10 p.m. shows on the other cable news networks. He has unprecedented numbers for such an early broadcast. Are we really to believe Fox killed a show breaking ratings records in a time slot no one wants?

Three business partners and I had the opportunity to meet with Beck about a potential project a few weeks before the news broke his show was ending. Sitting in his high-rise office overlooking Manhattan, I was reminded once again how he’s a wildly creative thinker. Whether or not you agree with Beck on politics and policy, it’s almost indisputable he’s more Walt Disney than Rush Limbaugh.

I’ve seen how his mind runs faster than the pens and laptops around him can keep pace. Ideas for stories, books, films and events go from his head to drawing board to marketable widget faster than should be legal.

The atmosphere he fosters is a blessing and a curse for his team. He’s a tornado of creative energy that keeps their working environment invigorating and challenging. The good news is that no two days are ever alike. The bad news is he’s likely to sit in a staff meeting tomorrow morning and suggest a new line of Glenn Beck cotton sweaters that have the entire Constitution knitted into the right sleeve. Oh, and he wants a prototype by lunch.

That flavor of corporate culture is rare in a media world where most ideas must be generated, spelled out in pitches, run by producers, budgeted, then run more producers, approved by senior executives, etc. None of that traditional bureaucracy fits the way Beck and his team does business.

Hidden between the rumors and speculation is the decidedly non-controversial fact that the grind of a daily show handcuffs Beck, his team, his schedule and their combined energies. Beck will continue to appear on Fox as a guest on other programs, he will produce and appear on programming of interest to Fox’s core audience, and he will remain a member of Fox’s extended family. What he won’t have to do is put on makeup and be locked in a studio at 5 p.m. every weekday.

Perhaps the enduring lesson of this story is that relying on the truth from those rooting for your failure is a bad idea — almost as bad as those sweaters.

Author Jason Wright was the co-author for Glenn Beck’s 2008 book “The Christmas Sweater.” He recounts some of his past interactions with Beck in a 2010 Mormon Times column. Jason Wright can be reached at www.jasonfwright.com or at feedback@jasonfwright.com.

Published: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 12:00 a.m. MDT

I encourage you to go Vote for Beck on the Time 100 Most Influential Poll:  http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2058044_2060338_2059895,00.html as well as a surprising number of Conservative names on the list of 204 including: Michele Bachmann, Marco Rubio, John Boehner, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Roger Ailes, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, Mitt Romney, Nikki Haley, Jon Huntsman Jr… and I probably forgot a few others.  Voting closes the 14th.  Wouldn’t that just be a kick in the head to the left if he was #1~

Related:

The Beck Factor 

Video:  NEWS:  Glenn Beck Reveals Reasons for Dropping His Fox Show

Breaking News; Time to End Rumors: Glenn Beck on FNC to End; ‘New Agreement’

The Mormon Way of Doing Business: How Eight Western Boys Reached the Top of Corporate America

The Beck Factor

My pal Glenn Beck is leaving his program on Fox News Channel later this year. This has caused great joy among some uber-liberals who object to free speech, as well as to anything Beck. The Media Matters outfit took just seconds to misstate why Beck is changing venues, but what else is new? George Soros partially funds Media Matters, so why would the website ever say anything truthful when far-left propaganda is so much easier to dish?

When you get past all the rubbish, Glenn Beck is really Norm, the guy on the sitcom "Cheers." He sits on a symbolic bar stool and vents. He sees bad things happening to his country and objects. Because his rap is so interesting, millions of Americans want to hear it. What on earth is wrong with that?

If you just got off the plane from Mongolia and dialed into the left-wing U.S. media, you might think Glenn Beck is the Antichrist. The hue and cry about Beck is downright hysterical. Why do they care? Beck isn't an elected official; he's not even a journalist. He's just a guy with an opinion. So what's the beef?

Well, again, it goes to free speech. Many hard-core ideologues in both camps simply do not want to hear opinions other than their own. And if someone is successfully bloviating views that differ from their orthodoxy, they go ballistic. And Glenn Beck is certainly successful.

Remember that he's the guy who exposed President Barack Obama's "green jobs czar," Van Jones, as a communist sympathizer and 9/11 truther. Jones said a quick goodbye before the White House door hit him in the butt. Beck also drove a campaign against ACORN, which was taking taxpayer dollars and using them to commit voter fraud in some places. Subsequently, Congress defunded ACORN.

Those are big accomplishments, the kinds of things that can get powerful people upset. Thus, Beck became a target, an object of derision and hatred for some in the media.

But it is Glenn Beck who will have the last laugh. His media empire is now so expansive that he doesn't need the daily grind of TV news analysis. The guy has a hot website, The Blaze, has a syndicated radio program and even has an imprint at a prestigious publishing house. Plus, his speaking fees could reduce the national debt considerably.

So three cheers for Glenn Beck aka Norm, a regular American who loves his country and is willing to suffer the slings and arrows to make his voice heard. We'll miss seeing him so often on Fox News, but his voice still will resonate throughout the media. And to those who respect Glenn Beck, that's all that really matters.

Veteran TV news anchor Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" and author of the book "Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama." To find out more about Bill O'Reilly, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. This column originates on the website www.billoreilly.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 BillOReilly.com  -  DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM

Bill O'Reilly  -  Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" and author of "Who's Looking Out for You?" and Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama.

Bill O‘Reilly and Glenn Beck don’t always see eye-to-eye — they don’t always agree on everything. But one thing that O’Reilly is agreeing with Beck on now is that there are those on the left who would love to see an economic collapse so that they can remake the system. Chief among those cheerleaders, O’Reilly says, is Beck’s “spooky guy” — George Soros.

While discussing who won the budget battle during his “Talking Points” segment last night, O’Reilly said “the far left wants the government to control the economy” and they want a “recast” of the economic system. The only way to do that? An economic collapse. O’Reilly also featured The Blaze’s video of Rep. Markey’s tirade against the pollution-loving GOP. You can see both The Blaze video and the O‘Reilly’s thoughts on Soros starting at about 1:30 below:

See Video at: O’REILLY FEATURES BLAZE VIDEO & ACCUSES ‘SPOOKY GUY’ SOROS OF WANTING ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

Congrats to Bill O’Reilly for sticking up for his friend Glenn Beck!!

As the week has gone on since Beck announced that he will be leaving Fox later this year, the support for him has increased…  Perhaps the uber-liberal thugs aren’t so smart after all??  some say never to kill your opponent because you just make them a martyr and then you have something worse.  Well, who said Washington thugs were smart?  I have heard a new battle cry from more than one source “Remember The Beck”!  

I encourage you to go Vote for Beck on the Time 100 Most Influential Poll:  http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2058044_2060338_2059895,00.html as well as a surprising number of Conservative names on the list of 204 including: Michele Bachmann, Marco Rubio, John Boehner, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Roger Ailes, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, Mitt Romney, Nikki Haley, John Huntsman Jr… and I probably forgot a few others.  Voting closes the 14th.  Wouldn’t that just be a kick in the head to the left if he was #1~

The Sunshine Boys… O’Reilly and Beck

The Bold Fresh Tour…

If you haven’t seen them, it is worth the money!

The show was informative, entertaining and both O’Reilly and Beck show themselves in different light from their everyday persona on Fox; probably O’Reilly more that Beck. Both are funny and very serious at times.

O’Reilly highlighted his experience with Lupe Fiasco… a miscalculation by the left.

Obama, Haiti and the Bold & Fresh Tour

Video – Lupe Fiasco on the O’Reilly Factor

(Even some of the not so conservative are seeing the reality and speaking out)

"Glenn Beck and I are here on the Gulf Coast to do two sold-out Bold & Fresh shows. We knew when we signed on for the tour that creepy far-left people would be stalking us, and they are. After our first show, the loopy Media Matters rejoiced in saying that I had compared the South Side of Chicago to Haiti. Here's what I said: 'If you've ever been to the South Side of Chicago, it's a disaster. It's like Haiti. I support some charities there, but Haiti just never gets better, no matter how much money you put in there ... but Obama really believes the government can do it.' Those comments deeply offend far-left kool-aid drinkers, even though every word is true. For decades Chicago's South Side has been a pocket of poverty and brutality; Barack Obama's well aware of that because he worked there. An enormous amount of federal and state money has poured into the South Side, yet it remains a major problem. The situation directly parallels what's happened in Haiti - massive aid, few results. Self-reliance is the key to success in life; a nanny state chokes that. If the President and I have one area of disagreement, it is big government. I believe it can not solve problems, he believes it can level the playing field, at least somewhat. That hasn't happened on Chicago's South Side, has it?"

O’Reilly did a great job of reducing the healthcare debate down to a simple 3 point solution that would cost nothing, that many in the GOP including Scott Brown and the American people with common sense have suggested:

1. Letting the Free Market Work; allowing the insurance companies to sell insurance, including the Lizard (part of his shtick), and allowing the people to buy insurance across state line, in all 50-states.

2. Tort Reform – real tort reform like in England where the bringer of nuisance type suits are fined.

3. Clean-up the waste in Medicare, and Medicaid to cut the need to cut services or increase prices.

Beck did his interpretation of Biden and Pelosi sitting behind Obama at the State of the Union that people rolling in the aisles. A little clip of that below, begins at 6:16 of this segment.

“Many Are Called, Few Are Chosen...” In a serious note, Beck talked about being called to be the trumpeter or bell ringer and he has carried that load for quite some time, especially the past couple of years. He says that for the first time in a long time he is feeling relieved and sleeping better because he sees the American People waking up.

On a final note…

President Obama headed down to Florida at the end of the week after delivering the State of the Union. Guess they didn’t plan ahead… They called down to the Sun Dome in Tampa to schedule an event for Friday night; thought he needed a big place. When they called there, they were told sorry, but the arena was booked and sold out by the O’Reilly-Beck Bold Fresh Tour. Wouldn’t you have wanted to have been a fly on that wall?!? ;-)

Then to add injury to insult, Obama had less than 3,000 people at his event… if you add in the 1000 protestors outside. Seated inside they had 2,000 O’Reilly and Beck at 16,000.

Maybe “O” should have just stayed home after that because now he has this to explain…

(AP Photo) Yes indeed… he is bowing again. This time to the Mayor of Tampa… Hello???

Fox News hosts give a voice to frustrated

TAMPA - When Fox News Channel hosts Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck took the stage at the University of South Florida Sun Dome on Friday, they received standing ovations, applause and cheers befitting rock stars.

Their main topics, President Barack Obama and his policies, got boos.

The audience of about 8,000 at both shows savored every chance to voice their displeasure with Obama while hanging on every word from the two pundits at the forefront of the conservative movement.

The "O'Reilly/Beck Bold & Fresh Tour" was designed to be a live extension of both hosts' television shows, sprinkled with routines of stand-up comedy.

Beck appeared first to raucous applause. He wasted no time commenting on Obama's town hall meeting at the University of Tampa on Thursday.

"Two thousand people showed up for the president," Beck said. "He had 1,000 inside, and the other 1,000 were protesters."

Shouts sprang from the Sun Dome crowd, a mostly white, but not all, audience ranging in age from elementary school children with their parents to the elderly.

"What I really like about Obama," Beck continued, only to be cut off by a man who yelled, "Nothing!"

Beck smiled and finished: "It's his deep sense of humility. He is truly a piece of ... work."

As he took his shots at Obama and big government, Beck interspersed anecdotes about his family life: how fast his daughter is growing up, how he and his children got into a Nerf gunfight over the holidays.

After about 45 minutes, it was O'Reilly's turn.

With the crowd on its feet as soon as he appeared, O'Reilly immediately mentioned Sami Al-Arian, the former USF professor who pleaded guilty in 2006 to aiding terrorists.

"I remember Sami," O'Reilly said. "I got him in trouble. I kind of felt bad. He was a nice-looking little guy."

Applause rang out when he referred to Chicago's south side, where Obama once was a community activist, and how that part of the city was like Haiti.

"We keep pumping money into it, and nothing happens," O'Reilly said.

The host of "The O'Reilly Factor" said he doesn't dislike the president.

"There's a philosophical difference between Obama and me," O'Reilly said. "And it's interesting to see how the country has turned on Obama."

The turning point, O'Reilly said, was Obama's "health care thing."

"Regulate the ones we have," O'Reilly said of existing insurance companies. "Let them compete in all 50 states. Have you tried to renew your driver's license lately? I don't want those people selling me insurance."

O'Reilly and Beck give a voice to a majority of Americans frustrated with big government but too skittish to speak up, said Evan Eastman, 19.

"What they're saying is relevant," said Eastman, a member of the USF College Republicans. "They're making people stop and think about today's policies."

There were a handful of protesters at the Sun Dome before the 4 p.m. show began.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920.

The show ends with O’Reilly and Beck asking each other questions.

O'Reilly on Beck and more show clips (02.02.10)

Is Mainstream Media Discrediting Themselves? - Video

More Beck and O'Reilly - Video

Glenn slaughters Arianna Huffington...BUT

Just like the last time Glenn said it, this slaughter wasn't a literal one. This time it was referring to the war of words and Glenn's words absolutely slaughtered Arianna's (not literally, Arianna). In perhaps one of the worst points brought up in the history of punditry, Huffington tried to accuse Glenn of inciting violence because he said the word 'slaughtered' in a monologue on the economy. Glenn tears apart (not literally, Arianna) the argument on radio this morning. ( Transcript, Insider Audio). (Video Below)

Joe Klein destroyed by Bill O'Reilly

Just so Media Matters isn't confused, Joe Klein was not actually 'destroyed' by Bill O'Reilly. The two had a conversation and Klein did his best to humiliate himself. He tried to bash Glenn but tossed out accusations so ridiculous it clearly, CLEARLY proved Klein has no brain (yes, literally Joe). ( Transcript, Insider Audio)

Glenn Beck Fires Back at Huffington

Fox News host and best-selling author Glenn Beck fired back Monday against Huffington Post blogger Arianna Huffington's allegations that he is "inciting" Americans to violence, countering that such accusations are "completely ridiculous."

On the Sunday talk program ABC's This Week, Huffington asked Fox News CEO Roger Ailes if he were concerned that Beck "talks about people being slaughtered, about who is going to be the next in the killing spree.

Ailes replied that Beck was referring to massacres by Hitler and Stalin. But Huffington insisted: "No, no, he was talking about this administration."

Alies then said, "I think he speaks English. I don't know, but I mean, I don't misinterpret any of his words."

When Huffington continued on the attack, the top Fox News executive rattled off several examples of aspersions that Huffington had published about Ailes on her blog. "Then it really went nasty," Ailes said, "and I thought, 'Gee, maybe Arianna ought to cut this out,' but...."

In discussing Huffington's allegations on his radio program, Beck revealed that Huffington tried to recruit him last year to write for her Web site.

"Arianna Huffington, I would like you to explain this," Beck told listeners.

"The last time and the only time that I've ever seen you or spoken to you, you asked me to write for the Huffington Post and tried to convince me that it would be good, because you are so open minded and everything else.

"Now, were you trying to incite people, when you asked me to write for the Huffington Post? Or are you going to deny that? It was, I can tell you when it was. It was at the Time Most Influential 100 dinner last year when I was an absolute nobody. But I was on Fox News and I was saying the same stuff."

Beck and his team of on-air contributors suggested that Huffington had an ax to grind because he ignored her offer.


By: David A. Patten - Newsmax.

Don't Be Deceived

It seems every day there is another example of media deception in America. With the Fourth of July approaching, it is well worth remembering why the Founding Fathers gave the press special privileges. They wanted journalists to report honestly, to give the folks accurate, unbiased information so they could make informed decisions about who should hold power. Many of the Founders, like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, didn't much like the press, but they understood that, for a democratic Republic to work, voters need honest information.

Unfortunately, the vision of a free and honest press is fast disappearing in America. Let me give you yet another vivid example. This week a poll by The New York Times asked: "Would you be willing to pay higher taxes so that all Americans have health insurance?

Fifty-seven percent said they were willing, 37 percent were not willing, and 6 percent had no opinion.

So, according to the Times, Americans overwhelmingly want government financed health care. That's what the poll says, right?

But if you read all the way down to the bottom of the poll, you see another question. "Who did you vote for (in the presidential election)?"

Forty-eight percent said Barack Obama, and just 25 percent answered John McCain. The rest, 19 percent, did not vote. Wow, that's almost two to one for Obama.

But the popular vote tally in the election last November was 53 percent for Obama and 46 percent for McCain. Wait a minute. That's a lot closer than two to one. Apparently The New York Times skewed the polling by offering the questions to mostly Obama voters. I'm shocked they supported higher taxes for federal health care, aren't you?

This kind of dishonesty is not uncommon in the media. The Times says its poll is "scientific." Sure it is. Scientifically stacking the deck.

I believe very few people read the entire poll before digesting the health care headline. The result is a flawed perception of what the American public really wants. The folks may indeed support Uncle Sam paying some heavy medical bills, but this poll is not a reflection of anything other than a New York Times deception.

By the way, CBS News also had its name on that poll.

As a media guy who wants accurate information, that kind of stuff tees me off. As soon as the pollsters learned that most of the respondents were Obama people, they should have thrown the results out. But the Times ardently favors national health care and a huge federal government. So the con played out.

The most frustrating part about this is that nothing can be done. The Times has an ombudsman, but he's a joke, and no outside agency has any power over the paper. It can pretty much do what it wants, and does.

It is true that the Times and some other media outlets, most committed left, are on the brink of bankruptcy. The liberal papers say the Internet is to blame, and that's partly true.

But the folks are beginning to understand that the informational fix is in. What good is "all the news that's fit to print" if the news is bogus?

The Times might want to poll that question.

by Bill O'Reilly

-------------

Press Finally draws first blood on their turf

President Barack Obama made news at a press conference last week – by planting a question with a blogger, not by offering anything new in spite of taking his sharpest questions to date.

The sharper edge of reporters’ questions had much to do with the setting, one White House press corps member said afterward: “It was our turf, in our seats … no formality of the East Room or even (the) Rose Garden. So I think when we're comfortable, we're more likely to fire back at him for follow-ups.”

Obama coming unarmed with news led to more probing, analytical-style questions which can always tie up presidents.

The planted query (the White House denies it being planted) came from Huffington Post blogger Nico Pitney; an administration official phoned him ahead of time to suggest that Obama would take a particular question from him.

“Planted questions undermine the integrity of the process,” says Mark Rozell, professor of public policy at George Mason University.

If the president wanted to offer a response to a communication from an Iranian citizen, Rozell explains, that would have been fine. “But citizens are led to believe that the questions in the press conferences are not known in advance by the president and his staff and that the process has some degree of spontaneity.”

To be sure, presidents and their staffs spend serious time anticipating likely questions and preparing answers. They have a really good record of being able to anticipate most of what a president is asked by reporters; not a lot of surprises occur.

Every so often, in response to an unanticipated question, a president will give a candid answer – and then the press conference becomes especially newsworthy.

But if “the questions are planted, then what is the point, really?” Rozell asks.

Presidential historian Joel Goldstein says the press should play an independent role and its independence is compromised if reporters simply serve up questions provided to them.

“I think there are real concerns regarding the future of the media,” he says. “Bloggers provide access to many (readers), yet much of what then passes for journalism lacks the professionalism of the good political reporters and columnists, whose experience provides a context in which to present current events.”

Part of the problem, though, is with Americans. Just look at our obsession this news cycle regarding the Gov. Mark Sanford story.

“Surely the Sanford story has many tragic dimensions, but was it really the most important story last week to justify the sort of coverage it got on CNN and MSNBC?” Goldstein wonders.

“For my money, the Senate's cloture vote on Harold Koh's nomination, Iran, health care, Korean threats, (Cap-and-Trade… ah Cap-and-Tax) etc., will have more impact on our lives than the fact that yet another ‘family values’ politician has acted in a manner which is inconsistent with what he preaches.” And as big the loss of Ed McMahan, Farrah Faucet and the the King of Pop, Michael Jackson… virtually ignoring the House’s latest snow job of slipping in another unread bill on Cap-and-Tax that will change America’s way of life forever if not stopped in the Senate is deplorable!!

Villanova University’s Lara Brown offers two reasons why this particular press conference is just the beginning of what we can expect between the press and the president: Obama’s slipping popularity numbers, and the roughing-up of his policies on Capitol Hill.

Obama and his staff, she says, may be increasingly concerned about too many substantive questions from reporters who may smell blood.

Perhaps it is not so surprising that Team Obama might create a diversion at a press conference, to get everyone talking about the diversion instead of reporting on substantive issues – health care, energy, the economy, the budget deficit, Iran, the president's lack of engagement on many of these issues – that do not reflect well on Obama.

It’s a political strategy that can be summed up as “Look at my right hand, so you don't watch what my left one is doing.”

Remember that old song, “Smooth Operator?” Obama is just that – the smoothest operator that Purdue’s Rockman says he has ever seen.

While such tricks may not jeopardize a free press, Rockman is “worried about the decline of traditional media and reporters without axes to bear.

“There is no doubt that the ‘new media’ is actually leading us back to a 19th-century party-press, where we read only what we agree with,” he says. And that “is a genuine concern.”

Since last week’s press conference, three things have emerged that will probably change how Obama approaches a microphone.

First, there definitely will be more scrutiny of blogger questions from Obama-friendly websites. Second, since first-blood has been drawn, the press will engage in a frenzied feeding.

And third, that probably was the last time Obama will step to the podium without real news to take queries about.

by Salena Zito

Source: TownHall.com

Posted: Knowledge Creates Power

Related Resources:

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• President Takes Swipe at Fox News
• Media Give Pass ot the Obama they Favor and Fear
• Obama’s War on Talk Radio
• Obama Regime Is Coming After YOU AND ME
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• Power Grab
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Obama takes on Fox News… Loses

When is Barack Obama going to learn that presidents shouldn't play press critic? It didn't work for Richard Nixon. It didn't work for Bill Clinton or George W. Bush. It didn't help John McCain win the White House, and it won't help Obama, who vented his frustration with Fox News during an interview on CNBC yesterday.

"I've got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration," Obama told John Harwood, who had asked him how he felt about coverage of his administration. "That's a pretty big megaphone. You'd be hard-pressed if you watched the entire day to find a positive story about me on that front."

Fox News (which Obama pettishly declined to name) is indeed a big megaphone -- big and getting bigger. And that's no accident. As I've written before, Fox is big because it speaks to an audience that doesn't feel its concerns represented elsewhere on TV (and, yes, because Roger Ailes is a pro at producing slick, loud, button-pressing programming in general). For Obama to turn his back on that audience because he doesn't feel like he gets a fair shake from Fox would be a mistake. He all but acknowledged that himself during the campaign, when he finally granted an interview to Bill O'Reilly after being hounded for months.

That's not to say Obama has no grounds for complaint. Anyone who watches Fox for a few minutes can tell that its default attitude towards him is skepticism. And that perception of Fox is backed up by research. The Center for Media and Public Affairs, which analyzed evening newscasts earlier this year, determined that Fox was alone in offering more negative than positive comments on Obama. The Project for Excellence in Journalism found much the same when it looked at coverage of Obama's first 100 days in office.

But just because you're right doesn't mean you're well-advised to go around saying so. Obama, who lectured Ailes in person at a secret meeting last summer, may think he can browbeat Fox into being nicer to him. He can't. Fox made its bones on the notion that it, alone among TV networks, is not part of the Liberal Media Conspiracy. For Obama to single out Fox for censure only confirms that impression. Not to mention that Obama's complaining about Fox's darts while gratefully basking in MSNBC's equal-but-opposite tilt sounds suspiciously like whining. (David Zurawik called Obama's diss of Fox News "a childish, silly bit of gamemanship by a president.")

Above all, it's futile. For whatever reason, Fox's ratings have climbed in recent months as the network's stridency towards him has escalated. As long as that trend keeps up, no amount of finger-wagging from the Oval Office is going to make a difference.

Jeff Bercovici – Daily Finance
Jun 18th 2009 at 2:00PM

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Posted: Knowledge Creates Power

MSNBC (NBC News), CNN Ratings Plunge as O'Reilly (and Fox in General) Reigns

MSNBC and CNN’s primetime news programs have suffered an incredible nosedive in ratings since Barack Obama was elected president, Newsmax has learned.

Ratings for “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” on MSNBC at 8 p.m. have plunged a dizzying 42 percent since October, shortly before the election. CNN’s 8 p.m. show, now being hosted by Roland Martin, has seen a 49 percent plunge over that time period, while “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News has dipped only 15 percent, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Bill O’Reilly’s 8 p.m. show remains the top-rated cable news program, averaging 2,650,000 million households per night in April, more than the combined totals for Olbermann’s program (938,000) and CNN’s 8 p.m. offering (613,000) — with more than a million households to spare.

In the key demographic of viewers 25 to 54 years old, Olbermann has lost 53 percent of his average nightly audience, a precipitous plunge. Rachel Maddow, who follows him at 9 p.m. on MSNBC, has lost an astounding 65 percent of her 25-to-54 audience since October, and her 819,000 households in April compare poorly to Sean Hannity’s 1,953,000 households on Fox.

O’Reilly has also trounced Olbermann among viewers aged 35 to 64 in April, with 1,724,000 viewers, down 19 percent since October. Olbermann suffered a 49 percent drop in that demographic and had 1,151,000 viewers.

The solid showing of “The O’Reilly Factor” and the plunging numbers for Keith Olbermann further belie Olbermann and MSNBC’s occasional claim that he is winning the ratings war in his time slot.

MSNBC took out a full-page ad in The New York Times last November proclaiming “A Sweeping Victory” for its ratings and declaring “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” the No. 1 cable news program.

But fine print at the bottom of the ad acknowledged that the “victory” referred only to the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. time slot for the dates Oct. 27 through Oct. 31, for viewers between 25 and 54 years of age.

Overall, however, O’Reilly’s show averaged twice as many viewers as Olbermann’s.

Earlier last year, the liberal press crowed loudly when Olbermann narrowly beat out O’Reilly in the 25 to 54 demographic one week in June. But the rating results were misleading. On Tuesday of that week, the cable stations covered that day’s primaries, and on Friday, O’Reilly was on vacation, with Laura Ingraham filling in. Ratings for “The Factor” dip when O’Reilly is not the host.

On the three days when O’Reilly and Olbermann went head to head, O’Reilly won the 25 to 54 demographic. And he trounced Olbermann in total viewers, with 2,193,000 per night to Olbermann’s 1,031,000.

The O’Reilly-Olbermann feud has been ongoing for years. O’Reilly denies that there is a feud, and says he won’t even mention Olbermann by name. But Olbermann for his part has made O’Reilly the frequent recipient of his nightly “Worst Person in the World” award.

In a recent interview with Broadcasting & Cable magazine, O’Reilly said “The O’Reilly Factor” has fared well since Obama entered the White House because CNN and MSNBC comprise the “Obama cheerleading crew,” and viewers are tuning in to Fox because it is “more skeptical of the president.”

And Newsmax reported earlier that Obama’s win on Election Day “may be a Pyrrhic victory” for Olbermann, who “had positioned himself as the anti-Bush, anti-Republican news source on MSNBC. With Democrats firmly in control of the White House and Congress, it’s questionable that his audience will grow.”

By: Jim Meyers – Newsmax

Cable News Ratings for Tuesday, March 17

Posted on 18 March 2009 by Bill Gorman – TV by the Numbers

Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for March 17, 2009

P2+ Total Day 
FNC – 1,282,000 viewers
CNN – 576,000 viewers
MSNBC –475,000 viewers
CNBC – 250,000 viewers
HLN – 337,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 2,403,000 viewers
CNN—872,000 viewers
MSNBC –1,129,000 viewers
CNBC – 202,000 viewers
HLN – 671,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC –335,000 viewers
CNN –186,000 viewers
MSNBC –168,000 viewers
CNBC –76,000 viewers
HLN- 178,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 631,000 viewers
CNN –266,000 viewers
MSNBC –377,000 viewers
CNBC – 75,000 viewers
HLN – 271,000 viewers

35-64 Total Day
FNC –607,000 viewers
CNN –257,000 viewers
MSNBC –243,000 viewers
CNBC –121,000 viewers
HLN- 194,000 viewers

35-64 Prime Time
FNC –998,000 viewers
CNN – 342,000 viewers
MSNBC –526,000 viewers
CNBC – 80,000 viewers
HLN –369,000 viewers

Morning programs (6:00AM-9:00AM) P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
FOX & Friends –953,000 viewers (306,000) (596,000)
American Morning- 456,000 viewers (153,000) (249,000)
Morning Joe-455,000 viewers (203,000) (262,000)
Squawk Box-209,000 viewers (66,000) (118,000)
Morning Express w/ Meade- 304,000 viewers (193,000) (175,000)

6PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Fox - Special report w/Bret Baier – 2,090,000 viewers (417,000) (873,000)
Situation Room—679,000 viewers (226,000) (317,000)
1600 Pennsylvania Ave —521,000 viewers (160,000) (303,000)
Mad Money—311,000 viewers (95,000) (108,000)
Prime News—329,000 viewers (139,000) (194,000)

7PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Fox Report w/Shepard Smith – 1,920,000 viewers (458,000) (861,000)
Lou Dobbs Tonight –761,000 viewers (289,000) (340,000)
Hardball —616,000 viewers (162,000) (276,000)
Kudlow Report —273,000 viewers (99,000) (137,000)
Issues– 563,000 viewers (244,000) (332,000)

8PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
The OReilly Factor —3,070,000 viewers (792,000) (1,261,000)
Campbell Brown—710,000 viewers (213,000) (256,000)
Countdown w/K. Olbermann —1,322,000 viewers (464,000) (639,000)
CNBC Reports – 223,000 viewers (84,000) (88,000)
Nancy Grace –1,014,000 viewers (381,000) (539,000)

9 PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Hannity – 2,299,000 viewers (604,000) (953,000)
Larry King Live—990,000 viewers (307,000) (405,000)
Rachel Maddow Show —1,167,000 viewers (365,000) (541,000)
Big Brother, Big Business — 226,000 viewers (77,000) (80,000)
Lou Dobbs- 420,000 viewers (185,000) (250,000)

10 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
On The Record W/Greta —1,839,000 viewers (496,000) (780,000)
Anderson Cooper—916,000 viewers (277,000) (363,000)
Countdown w/K.Olbermann —898,000 viewers (303,000) (398,000)
On the Money – 158,000 viewers, (64,000) (71,000)
Nancy Grace –612,000 viewers (257,000) (341,000)

11 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
The O’Reilly Factor —1,466,000 viewers (471,000) (756,000)
Anderson Cooper —518,000 viewers (205,000) (243,000)
Rachel Maddow Show –535,000 viewers (185,000) (269,000)
Mad Money -a scratch w/119,000 viewers (55,000) (70,000)
Showbiz Tonight– 371,000 viewers (206,000) (207,000)

Note: We don’t get the 5pm hour results, so we are unable to post them.

Since this report the numbers have increased for Fox again and appear to be increasing daily. The Glenn Beck Show is now pulling in numbers between those logged by O’Reilly and Hannity.  Glenn Beck was new to Fox at the time of this report.

Why is Fox News increasing their numbers as others are plunging?  Because they are reporting the news fairly.  They: Bill O’Reilly, Greta Van Sesteran, Shep Smith, Bret Baier, Neil Cavuto are reporting what is actually going on, not slanting or spinning the news and not cherry picking what they want to report on.  And those that are more right leaning like Sean Hannity and  Glenn Beck, give a balance to the constant left reporting media.  The difference is that Hannity and Beck let you know that what they are reporting and highlighting is from their conservative perspective… unlike the mainstream media who leans left but portrays themselves as just reporting the (unbiased) news.  And all the Fox News shows feature regular and special guests with expertise as well as differing viewpoints from people like Bret Hume, Alan Combs,  Dave Ramsey, Dick Morris, Karl Rove, Dennis Miller, Juan Williams, Charles, Krauthammer and the list goes on.    And on the weekend Fox offers a variety of different personalities including Mike Huckabee, the Beltway Boys, Geraldo Rivera, Oliver North, etc.   Fox's early morning Fox and Friends, America's Newsroom and late night Red Eye shows round out their coverage

It does make you wonder how accurate the polls really are when the most liberal left wing president the U.S. has ever had keeps showing top ratings while at the same time Fox News… featuring traditional  accurate middle of the road to right conservative reporting dominates the news viewing market and is increasing weekly if not daily in viewership~