Tucker Carlson’s Media Matters ‘Expose’ Just Shows Conservatives Are Jealous

on February 14, 2012 at 11:36 AM

Nice try, Tucker Carlson. Yesterday the bow-tied boy wonder "exposed" Media Matters as a liberal cabal that feeds biased stories directly to journalists. Oooh, you got us! There's a progressive nonprofit that's out to expose the lies of Faux News! And sometimes they do some research that passes the sniff test and makes it to the light of day. Thank you Captian Obvious!

Let's not pretend there aren't plenty of well-funded organizations on the right doing the same exact thing. Conservatives are just threatened because it looks like liberals are beating them at their own game. Hearing conservatives act shocked, shocked! that this is going on makes for hilarious tee vee. Well-organized networks of biased research?!? Why, that's OUR shtick!

And the news outlets on the j'accuse! list is even more hilarious: MSNBC, Huffington Post, Washington Post, New York Times, oh yeah, we had NO IDEA they leaned to the left. I just want to know -- who funded the research that went into making this earth-shattering discovery, Tucker? Because honestly, you should ask for your money back. These news outlets openly cite Media Matters in their stories all the time. Of course MMFA is sending journalists emails. That's called PITCHING. And every nonprofit with enough funding for a public relations department does it.

It's easy to claim there isn't any fact-checking going on. You could say that about both sides of the ideological wars. And it's easy to justify your unnamed sources. Both sides do that. So where does that get us? We're all Sneetches. What's more, this doesn't move the chess pieces on the board anywhere. Liberals are still liberal, conservatives are still conservative, and moderates are still disgusted with everyone. Another day, same old shit.

I hope it isn't really, truly news to anyone that there are nonprofit organizations whose sole purpose is to combat the views of the other side. Because that would be either laughably naive -- or just plain hypocritical.

Did you think the Media Matters expose was all just a lot of hot air?

Image via Media Matters for America

About the author Adriana Velez

is a staff writer who dabbles in food, parenting, news, entertainment, molecular biology, and anything else that that pops into her head. She lives with her husband and elementary school-aged son in Brooklyn, land of urban farms and artisan everything.

Filed Under: in the news, media

Comments (18)

Stacey.

on Feb 14, 2012 at 11:48 AM

Yes everyone should know by now news sources are biased. This is not new, not shocking, and it wont stop. I guess conservatives couldnt see this coming because a man didnt allow them to think or think for them!

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billsfan1104

on Feb 14, 2012 at 11:49 AM

The problem I have is that liberals say that the media is fair and balanced, and you admit that they lean left now, but yet trash Fox News because they lean right. I love how liberals get their panties in a twist because ONE station leans right, and how dare they!

hoticedcoffee

on Feb 14, 2012 at 12:11 PM

There's a difference between leaning a direction, which all sources tend to do, and making it your mission to take down a single target using any means necessary. That's what people do when they know they can't win otherwise. So while this revelation is certainly not news to Conservatives or Independents, we can obviously see that it's troublesome to the Left, who rely so heaving on their followers swallowing the regurge on a daily basis - otherwise we wouldn't be reading your 'hey, move on, nothing to look at here!' post.

So, you all continue to enjoy your predigested loser feed, while the rest of us sit back and watch you try to 'damage control' to people who already knew the truth long before Tucker Carlson learned to tie a bow.

i.heart.nerds

on Feb 14, 2012 at 12:20 PM

Wow, just wow. There is a difference between leaning left and jumping to the left with both feet. That is exactly what you have done OP and you have brought the stir with you.
I will laugh at you and point out your hypocritical actions the next time you so much as mention fox news.

jkm89

on Feb 14, 2012 at 12:44 PM

So media matters is left and fox news is right. Whoopty doo, what does it all mean, Basil?!

Nonmember comment from Mike M

on Feb 14, 2012 at 1:13 PM

On the subject of the media's liberal leanings. A while ago I came across a poll by the Pew Research Center which indicated that 48% of polled liberals are college graduates while only 25% of conservatives are college graduates. Now, we should expect that those who provide us with news be well educated, right? However, if knowledge causes people to become more liberal then is it bad for our media to be liberal leaning? Would it better if the views of the media were more balanced with those who have a limited education? If so, why? (Although it could simply be that people who have liberal leanings tend to value education more. If that's the case though then why don't conservative leaning people value education as much as liberal leaning people do?) That's at http://pewresearch.org/pubs/17/in-search-of-ideologues-in-america Also, if one wants to get into the spiritual aspect of political leanings, a common theme among spiritual teachings is that love (for all - not just ourselves; and love includes acceptance, forgiveness, compassion, selflessness, giving, etc.) is something that's valuable and should be shared, while fear (which includes anger, greed, selfishness, judgment, intolerance, punishing, killing, etc.) is something that holds us back spiritually. Knowing that one should ask whether certain actions (based on liberal or conservative views) lead more towards the proliferation of love, or if they promote fear. And I do believe that Jesus taught many of the same things.

Facebook comment from Chalon King

on Feb 14, 2012 at 2:07 PM

I am a conservative, pagan, college educated that watches both Alex Jones and Young Turks. I love how people get all bent out of shape when things/people do not fit into their little boxes. Heaven forbid you thing for yourself...no if you are left you must go all left....if you are right all or nothing. OMG Go Ron Paul 2012~

JennyErikson

on Feb 14, 2012 at 4:32 PM

They have special status as a 501(c)(3). That means they're supposed to be as unbiased as possible. THAT is the issue, not whether or not they report from the left.

texasmamma777

on Feb 14, 2012 at 5:51 PM

Adriana Velez: "Because that would be either laughably naive -- or just plain hypocritical."

Hmm, you certainly seem exercised by this story, Ms. Velez -- I'm getting the whiff of some denial sprinkled with a lot projection. Careful who you're calling names, Ms. V.

You made a lot of assertions in your piece; if you stood behind each of them 100% would that make you naive? Or is there a possibility that you are being hypocritical because you're another writer from the JournoList, Media Matters for America school? Just wondering.

In your next piece, will you explore any possible links between the White House & MMFA? The curious timing of Karl Frisch of MMFA's 9/29/09 memo about launching an attack on Fox News and the subsequent assault on Fox News by the White House, shortly thereafter, including a verbal attack by obama?

on Feb 14, 2012 at 5:53 PM

Ms. Velez, could you look into this, see if there's any "there" there?

“Simply put,” Frisch wrote, “the progressive movement is in need of an enemy. George W. Bush is gone. We really don’t have John McCain to kick around any more. Filling the lack of leadership on the right, Fox News has emerged as the central enemy and antagonist of the Obama administration, our Congressional majorities and the progressive movement as a whole.”

“We must take Fox News head-on in a well funded, presidential-style campaign to discredit and embarrass the network, making it illegitimate in the eyes of news consumers.”

What Frisch proceeded to suggest, however, went well beyond what legitimate presidential campaigns attempt. “We should hire private investigators to look into the personal lives of Fox News anchors, hosts, reporters, prominent contributors, senior network and corporate staff,” he wrote."