RK ARCHIVE - What Liberal Media?

Every once in a while you come across a clear example where you just have to shake your head and say, "If there really was a Liberal Media, this would be impossible."

Appropriately enough, the current race for Governor of Virginia just provided one.

Tim Kaine's media firm also handles some business for NARAL. Despite the fact that NARAL didn't endorse Tim Kaine, the right wing bloggers, the RPV, the National Review, etc. are using this to paint a broad stroke that Kaine is a radical liberal.

Again, fair enough. The right wing bloggers et al. have some ammo that they want to use to misrepresent Tim Kaine and make him look bad. They're out there running around like pixies on a sugar high. There you have it; not much you can do about those folks.

What astounds me, though, is that it's not just the right wingers, it's also "mainstream media" outlets that are picking up on this story. And they're doing so even while completely ignoring a nearly identical story that has to do with the Virginia GOP.

You may recall that a little over a month ago, Republican Virginia House of Delegates member Brad Marrs sent out a fundraising letter in which he attacked a wealthy gay donor of his independent opponent, Katherine Waddell. The July 6 letter claimed that the donor, later later identified as automobile dealer George M. "Mac " Pence III, was a "wealthy homosexual businessman" active in gay-rights groups.

Senator George Allen and Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, who is seeking the Governor's office in this year's election, both condemned the fundraising letter sent out by Marrs.

Now here's the catch: both Allen and Kilgore use the same media consultant as Marrs: Creative Direct, llc. On Creative Direct's website, they list Senator George Allen, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore and Delegate Brad Marrs as clients.

Here's what Mark Bergman, Communications Director for the Democratic Party of Virginia has to say about it:

So there you have it. Jerry Kilgore and Senatore George Allen are guilty of precisely the same crime that Tim Kaine is accused of committing. Yet Tim Kaine's name is being smeared all over the internet and in the media because of it, while Jerry Kilgore and George Allen are getting away squeaky clean.

What's wrong with the "mainstream media?" Are family planning and freedom of choice somehow inherently evil, while gay bashing is A-OK these days? Is nobody making the connections? Has the absence of the "fairness doctrine" since 1987 so debased the media that they just don't care about fairness at all?

Or, is the fact that many of Virginia's newspapers are owned and operated by conservative Republicans relevant in this case? For instance, the wife of a key Kilgore ally, U.S. Representative Eric I. Cantor (R-7th district), is on the board of directors of Media General, none of whose 27 newspapers endorsed John Kerry for President in 2004. In Virginia, Media General owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Charlottesville Daily Progress, and several others papers. Interesting.

Anyway, the next time somebody comes talking to you about the so-called "Liberal Media" just remember this example. You might ask them whether a "Liberal Media" would smear Tim Kaine while it let Jerry Kilgore fly away scot free.

Here's what Thomas Frank, author of the best-selling book "What's the Matter with Kansas," has to say about liberals: "[Liberals] wield about as much influence over American politics as the cashier at Home Depot does over the company's business strategy."

Unfortunately, when it comes to getting fair coverage in the "mainstream media," Mr. Frank is absolutely spot on.

Comments

Correction/clarifica (KathyinBlacksburg - 4/4/2006 11:27:46 PM)

Correction/clarification to above post. There's a pronoun reference problem in the above post, which gives wrong the impression that I'm speaking of Kilgore doing the character assassination in those campaigns (like the one against Max Cleland). I'm not. When I said "their malicious character assassination," I should have been clear. I meant the agency, not Kilgore. Presumably, Kilgore hired the firm, in part, because of it's aggressive tactics. But, I'm not saying Kilgore had any part in those prior actions.

The hypocrisy is lim (KathyinBlacksburg - 4/4/2006 11:27:46 PM)

The hypocrisy is limitless. When something like the NARAL ad hits the airwaves, not only does the right-wing punditry go wild, but also the majority of Democrats, even liberals say "The ad went too far." And then there's chest-beating and and angst as far as the eye can read. WE'll be reminded that Roberts only defended (as laywers do) radical protesters, those who'd use mob-like intimidation, threats, and obstruction. And yes, some of them advocated violence against women and clinics. But, no, Roberts would never do or condone violence. And, so Democrats try to be fair...most of the time. We are not perfect. But we try to self-correct.

But when anything happens on the other side, where is everyone? There's no call for Kilgore to fire his ad agency? (I'd ad, though, that the real problem with Kilgore's is their reputation for malicious character assasination and demogoguery.)

Where was the expansive, non-stop coverage of Kilgore for his incompetent performance in the out-of-state, pretend debate? Has anyone heard it or read the transcript? You can hear it over on Waldo Jaquith's blog. Any Democrat offering up such incompetence would be trounced by the media. Instead we heard how well Kilgore did ("better than expected"). We even heard from some quarters that Kilgore "won." Yeh, sure.

The media has tuned into the fact that Kilgore's fiscal incompetence is problematic. But, where is the hounding of Jerry Kilgore over his role, whatever it was, in eavesdropping on the governor and Democrats? It gets mentioned now and again. But imagine if the shoe were on the Democratic foot. The small spate of newspaper stories about alleged election fraud in his home town flickers once in a while. But the media have been so timid to continue pushing this story. Kilgore isn't implicated in this story. And, so far, his mother isn't. But this is a story that in this day of Florida-gate and Ohio gate deserves serious attention. And, so it goes.

The media is all abo (Mimi Schaeffer - 4/4/2006 11:27:46 PM)

The media is all about the "glory" and being an "insider" in the winning team, of course.

This brings invites to "insider parties" with intimate observations that are parlayed to ?insider stories,? follow-up interviews, and future key sources, dazzling editors and future employers.

The end game: honing your skills and peddling your way to ever-larger media markets.

Toady first, pen pusher second, journalist third, fourth....if ever at all...