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ABC’s Halperin Woos Conservatives

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Posted on Oct 31, 2006
Halperin
Media Matters

During interviews with Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, ABC News’ political director Mark Halperin said that the weeks before the election offer a chance for the mainstream media to prove that they understand conservatives’ grievances.


 

  • Video & Transcript
  • Media Matters:

    Appearing on the October 23 broadcast of Fox News host Sean Hannity’s nationally syndicated radio program and on the October 24 edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, ABC News political director Mark Halperin claimed that the “old liberal media”—the broadcast networks, CNN, and major newspapers—are “too focused on being more favorable to [House Democratic Leader] Nancy Pelosi [CA], say, than [former House Speaker] Newt Gingrich [R-GA].” Halperin told Fox News host Bill O’Reilly that ABC and the rest of the “old liberal media” have “a chance in these last two weeks” before the midterm elections “to prove to conservatives that we understand their grievances,” and that “[w]e should use this last two weeks as an opportunity to help rebuild our reputation with half the country.” He added: “[A] failing of the press is not doing enough to explain to people what Nancy Pelosi’s liberal views are like.” Halperin made a point of distinguishing ABC from the rest of the “old liberal media” during his appearance of The Sean Hannity Show, however, stating: “I’m proud of where I work, where we understand that we’ve got to not be liberal, we’ve got to not be perceived as liberal.”

    Halperin’s claim that the media are “too focused on being more favorable to Nancy Pelosi say than Newt Gingrich” echoed a prediction in the October 23 edition of ABC’s political newsletter The Note, co-authored by Halperin, that in the two weeks leading up to the November midterm elections, the “(liberal) Old Media” will “[g]lowingly profile” Pelosi, but “fail to describe her as ‘ultra liberal’ or ‘an extreme liberal,’ which would mirror the way Gingrich was painted twelve years ago.” As Media Matters for America noted, however, there has been no significant disparity in the coverage of the “liberal views” of Pelosi, who is expected to be elected speaker should the Democrats take control of the House, and the “conservative views” of Gingrich.

    On Hannity’s program and on The O’Reilly Factor, Halperin made several other unsubstantiated claims about the so-called “liberal bias” in the media.

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    By walt, November 1, 2006 at 8:41 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Liberal media. What a fucking joke. If you call spinning the latest remark by some democrat for days on end as if its newsworthy while downplaying the smut put out by rush limbaugh and other CNN, MSNBC and Fox teleprompter readers about how great bush, cheney and rummy are then how can you describe any of them as journalists?

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    By 3reddogs, November 1, 2006 at 4:04 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    I hate to break it to this jackass, but liberals have no more use for his pathetic attempts at journalism and news than do the conservatives.  In fact, after watching the MSM give the Bush administration a free pass for almost 6 years, it seems to me that the liberals have a much bigger grievance than do the conservatives.  Somebody should probably tell Mr. Halperin that ABC’s reputation is way too far gone to “rebuild” especially when its political director gives every indication that he’s a very conservative Republican .  And, by the way, Mr. Halperin, instead of whining to Hannity and O’Reilly and sucking up to the neocons, you should have used the air time to make a commitment to report the facts and truth in your newscasts and let the chips fall where they may ... unless or until you do that you’re not going to have even a shred of credibility.

    Report this

    By mark, October 31, 2006 at 7:40 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Mark relax, you and ABC will never be considered to be liberal. In fact you’ll never be considered to be journalists.

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    By Erik, October 31, 2006 at 5:33 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Nancy Pelosi is an “extreme liberal”? Really? My understanding of her positions would suggest she is a moderate and I understand that most of her constituents would regard her that way. The reason we have a House of Representatives whose members are elected only with votes based on the views of the people who live in those local districts is so that the House will include representation of all viewpoints which are strong enough and popular enough to win those elections. The fact that Mr. Haleprin is advocating the media begin their coverage of her by labelling her an “extreme liberal” would not only be slanting the truth but also reveals his personal political leanings. And to make an additional point: the mainstream media the last few years have been truly lax in their reporting of conservative policies and their real world consequences—essentially they have been stenographers not journalists when it comes to informing the public in the last few years. Democrats are increasingly disappearing from Sunday News Talk Shows on TV and in the print media as well. If a Conservative has to resort to claims of bias in this environment, if they can’t sell their program via today’s passive media which rarely challenges them, then I think they might want to question the viability of political policies that even without being opposed directly the public recognizes as unreasonable and unpalliative for all but the top 1% economically.

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    By Tom Coleman, October 31, 2006 at 4:16 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Sounds like Halperin is auditioning for ABC’s most prestigious showcase: “Dancing With the Stars.”

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    By Ask The NSA, October 31, 2006 at 1:00 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Grievances?! What grievances? Telling the truth about them?

    This clown is just further proof of how far the right has subverted media in this country.

    Report this

    By Grayson, October 31, 2006 at 11:55 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Poor Mark Halperin, he still thinks TV is real.

    Report this

    By anonymous, October 31, 2006 at 11:31 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    ABC has a news department?

    Report this

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