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It's Time to Change The Tone of Our 'Politics' Coverage
Real Clear Politics ^ | June 9, 2009 | Stuart Rothenberg

Posted on 06/09/2009 4:53:26 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia

In May, I made an appearance on "Hardball with Chris Matthews," one of MSNBC's political shows. The segment's main focus was the current state of the Republican Party.

When the segment ended and I walked off the set, I knew that that would likely be my last appearance on "Hardball." I had decided that I would not accept another invitation to appear on the program, should one come.

--snip--

During the show on which I appeared, Matthews referred more than once to Republicans as "Luddites" and took every opportunity imaginable to portray them as crackpots. The show's topics inevitably pander to the most liberal Democratic viewers and present Republicans and conservatives in the least flattering of terms. For those of us who enjoy following politics and are interested in the news, there are fewer and fewer options on television. The Sunday shows and PBS programming - "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," for example - remain, and there are a handful of others worth watching elsewhere (e.g., "Morning Joe" on MSNBC is fun, informative and thoughtful, and CNN and C-SPAN have their moments). But too often, caricature and vitriol have replaced reporting and analysis.

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cablenews; matthews; moonbats; msnbc; politics; rothenberg

1 posted on 06/09/2009 4:53:27 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

Chris Matthews with his tingly Obama legs and the New York Times are just a couple of many media outlets not to be taken seriously.


2 posted on 06/09/2009 5:01:38 AM PDT by From The Deer Stand
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

“Chrissy Fit Tingle Pants”??

why bother...


3 posted on 06/09/2009 5:03:26 AM PDT by xcamel (The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it. - H. L. Mencken)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

that is a very fair and mostly accurate observation of our media by Stu Rothenberg


4 posted on 06/09/2009 5:03:29 AM PDT by se_ohio_young_conservative (Palin 2012)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

It sounds like the author is trying hard to be a “fair-minded” liberal, rather than a truly neutral observer. The vitriol spewing from the left on a regular basis from CNN, MSNBC and others is far worse than what the right-leaning media puts out.

I happen to agree with O’Reilly targeting GE for its television networks’ opinions. Maybe if the people at the top are held responsible and called into account for clearly partisan behavior that affects their network news reporting, something will start to change.


5 posted on 06/09/2009 5:03:35 AM PDT by SlowBoat407 (US out of GM... NOW!)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
But too often, caricature and vitriol have replaced reporting and analysis.

The talking heads on Fox News does a much better job than the other talking heads on the liberal end. MSNBC is unwatchable unless you are part of the Cindy Sheheen wing of the Democratic Party. It is grossly unfair to lump the kind of shenanigans that go on there with anywhere else. The network it outright disgusting.

6 posted on 06/09/2009 5:03:36 AM PDT by Always Right (Obama: more arrogant than Bill Clinton, more naive than Jimmy Carter, and more liberal than LBJ.)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
Given the high ratings of Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the cable gurus probably are right. Can anyone guess the mis-statement in this sentence?
7 posted on 06/09/2009 5:03:43 AM PDT by PghBaldy (Prince Arugula and Lady Armpit, AKA BO & MO are driving me batty!)
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To: PghBaldy

Snicker! I did laugh at that line. Although MSNBC has taken over CNN as the number 2 cable network, their ratings are pathetic. I’ve never been a fan of Rothenburg and he kind of gives CNN a pass on this topic, but he shouldn’t have. When CNN puts up Jack Cafferty, a most hate filled individual, CNN can’t be given a pass. Let’s recall Susan Roesgen also, who attacked the tea partiers and FNC on the air, yet she is still employed by that network.


8 posted on 06/09/2009 5:06:33 AM PDT by Laverne
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To: se_ohio_young_conservative
that is a very fair and mostly accurate observation of our media by Stu Rothenberg

My impression of this writing is that the writer is hopelessly naive. Further, he's clearly a slow learner if he's just having these "stunning new revelations" now. Where's he been? Hiding in Saddam's Spiderhole for the last decade?

9 posted on 06/09/2009 5:10:52 AM PDT by rhombus
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

Myself I think the GOP needs to be torn down and rebuilt, the foundation is too weak to combat current opposition.

Opposition in the form of a massive well funded years in planning attempt to overthrow America, and its succeeding.

The new GOP will have to be a precise organization of sworn beliefs with no middle ground, in a matter of comparison I would nearly visualize this to the movie Starship Troopers where you earned your right to be a citizen.


10 posted on 06/09/2009 5:11:53 AM PDT by Eye of Unk ("If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." T. Paine)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

This man is still lost in the woods. I see he knows that somehow his opinion no longer matters when appearing on MSNBC. Of course MSNBC has no desire to hear what he thinks, he was only invited to sit and rubberstamp all that is Obama.

There really can be no comparison between FOX and MSNBC. While FOX may lean a little to the right, they at least make an effort to listen to both sides. They also employ many democrats. Obviously FOX is doing something correct because more folks are listening to FOX.

I always marvel at what a waste 24 hour cable news is. They have the perfect forum to go in depth and educate people about what is going on with things that really matter. An informative guest is given no time. Often the real news floats on a ticker at the bottom of the screen while they chatter away above about Paris Hilton or the hottest bacon recipes.

Sad it is.


11 posted on 06/09/2009 5:20:15 AM PDT by dforest (Anyone dumb enough to have voted for him deserves what they get.. No Pity!)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
When I surf the channels and pause for a moment on O'Reilly or Hannity, I rarely see guests who aren't openly partisan. But MSNBC's left-leaning shows do use political reporters and columnists who would bridle at the notion that they are ideologues or favor one party over the other.

I assume that Rothenburg considers himself to be a political reporter who would bridle at the notion, etc. I wonder who else he considers to be a political reporter who does not favor one side or the other? I wonder how many of the people he would name voted for McCain?

12 posted on 06/09/2009 5:43:33 AM PDT by maica (Politics is not about facts. it is about what politicians can get people to believe. - Thomas Sowell)
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To: Always Right

I have always believed that Chris Wallace does the best hosting job of any of the Sunday morning shows and that Brit Hume is the best interviewer. They both go out of their way to be fair, while at the same time asking the pointed “hard” questions that all of the other shows avoid!


13 posted on 06/09/2009 5:45:38 AM PDT by catman67
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To: maica

Rothenburg is editor and publisher of the Rothenburg Political Report, a ‘nonpartisan analysis of American politics and elections’ for which a subscription is $197 per year.


14 posted on 06/09/2009 5:49:56 AM PDT by maica (Politics is not about facts. it is about what politicians can get people to believe. - Thomas Sowell)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
Depending on your politics, Fox's one-two prime-time punch of Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity is either just as bad as the MSNBC crowd or much worse. They can't talk about Democrats without labeling them as socialists or unpatriotic. O'Reilly's obsession with General Electric and that company's CEO is bizarre, though any program that treats Dick Morris seriously as an independent analyst obviously has major problems....
15 posted on 06/09/2009 12:52:46 PM PDT by steve-b (Intelligent design is to evolutionary biology what socialism is to free-market economics.)
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