By Paul BedardSeptember 25, 2012 | 11:50 am
More than 20 conservative leaders and media figures including Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, and Mark Levin, on Tuesday accused ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN today of rigging coverage to help reelect President Obama.
"This election year, so much of the broadcast networks, their cable counterparts, and the major establishment print media are out of control with a deliberate and unmistakable leftist agenda. To put it bluntly: you are rigging this election and taking sides in order to pre-determine the outcome," they said in a letter to the networks that was organized by the conservative media watchdog Media Research Center.
"You have breached the public trust by willfully turning a blind eye to the government's public policy failures, both domestic and foreign, while openly and shamefully smearing Gov. Mitt Romney," said the letter signed by MRC President Brent Bozell and the others.
"It is time the American people turn you who are offending off, once and for all. You have betrayed their trust," they added.
Conservatives and the Romney campaign have recently expressed concern and anger with network coverage of the presidential race, charging that polls and news coverage are being skewed to help Obama. The networks, however, deny the charges. Conservatives also believe that Romney's gaffes are being covered far more than Obama's.
While the mainstream media is unlikely to react with changes as a result of the letter, the conservatives plan to mount a boycott of the networks.
Below is the letter just sent to the networks:
Movement to Media: "You are Rigging this Election"
Over 20 Conservative Leaders including Rush Limbaugh, Ed Meese, Mark Levin and Tony Perkins Call on Public to Tune out the Liberal Media!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
This election year, so much of the broadcast networks, their cable counterparts, and the major establishment print media are out of control with a deliberate and unmistakable leftist agenda. To put it bluntly: you are rigging this election and taking sides in order to pre-determine the outcome. In the quarter century since the Media Research Center was established to document liberal media bias, there has never been a more brazen and complete attempt by the liberal so-called "news" media to decide the outcome of an election.
A free and balanced media are crucial to the health of this country. It is your duty as journalists - as outlined in the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics - to "distinguish between advocacy and news reporting," while simultaneously "seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues."
There is a reason why the media are viewed with such disdain by the American public, as evidenced by every recent poll on the issue.
You have breached the public trust by willfully turning a blind eye to the government's public policy failures, both domestic and foreign, while openly and shamefully smearing Gov. Mitt Romney. You are:
--Painting conservative ideas as extreme, while refusing to report the disastrous consequences of liberal programs enacted since 2008.
--Submerging the truly horrendous economic conditions America is facing and focusing only on minor political issues.
--Characterizing conservatives as cruel budget "slashers" instead of responsible officials trying to avoid a debt catastrophe.
--Focusing on alleged shortcomings in Romney's business record instead of Obama's record as the chief executive, whose policies contributed to a failed economy.
--Deliberately covering up embarrassing government failures and scandals, including the Solyndra debacle, Fast & Furious, and national security leaks which have put American lives in jeopardy.
--Pouncing on real and perceived missteps by conservatives, portraying them as bumbling incompetents, while suppressing embarrassing and incendiary remarks made by Vice President Joe Biden to prevent him from becoming a liability.
--Portraying conservative opposition to tax hikes as an impediment to deficit reduction while failing to highlight how liberal tax increase policies will cause massive damage to the economy and cause the deficit to explode.
--"Fact-checking" conservatives in order to discredit their arguments while regularly refusing to "fact-check" liberals who are distorting the truth.
We the undersigned - representing millions of Americans from our respective organizations - are now publicly urging our members to seek out alternative sources of political news in order to make an intelligent, well-informed decision on November 6.
It is time the American people turn you who are offending off, once and for all. You have betrayed their trust.
Sincerely,
L. Brent Bozell, III
President
Media Research Center
Co-Signed:
Gary Bauer
President
Campaign for American Values
Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell
Former, U.S. ambassador
U.N. Human Rights Commission
Morton Blackwell,
Chairman
The Weyrich Lunch
David Bozell
Executive Director
For America
Brian Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage
Al Cardenas
Chairman
American Conservative Union
Marjorie Dannenfelser
President
Susan B. Anthony List
Becky Norton Dunlop
Former Reagan Official
Colin Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring
Laura Ingraham
National Radio Host
Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks
Amy Kremer
Chairman
Tea Party Express
Curt Levey
Committee for Justice
Mark Levin
Author and National Radio Host
Rush Limbaugh
National Radio Host
Jenny Beth Martin
Co-Founder
Tea Party Patriots
Ed Meese III
Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy,
Chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies
Heritage Foundation
Mike Needham
Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action
Karl Otteson
U. S. Federation of Small Businesses Inc
William Pascoe
Executive Vice President
Citizens for the Republic
Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council
Alfred S. Regnery
Paul Revere Project
Mathew D. Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
Richard Viguerie
Chairman
Conservative HQ.com
_____________________________________________
To read more about the mainstream media bias toward Obama, click here.
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