Helen Thomas Points to Government "Lies"

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000566489

NEW YORK At the age of 83, journalistic legend Helen Thomas obviously doesn't believe in mincing words. "This government lies," she told a group of editors, reporters and interns from The Indianapolis Star on Wednesday. She also called Bush administration claims on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction "baloney."

At a downtown luncheon, the Hearst columnist added, "I think we have a government that absolutely is ignoring the truth and a press that is ignoring the truth," according to the Star's Sara Scavongelli. The press, she said, is doing a poorer job of covering the White House than ever.

"I really think that reporters for two, three months after 9/11 -- everyone was afraid to ask their question," Thomas said. "They would not ask any question that would appear to be unpatriotic."

[thebigidea]

1. one of the first thing Kerry has to do...

... is put Helen back in the front row.

[TrustingDog]

8. YES! put her back in front.

Her back rowdom was one of the first biggest right-in-your-face indicators of a dead press.

[soothsayer]

9. AND he needs to give her the first question, too

As was traditional.

[TeeYiYi]

13. One of my favorite pictures of Helen . . .

She is truly a classic.

TYY

[calico1]

19. Helen Thomas is a REAL news reporter!

[TrustingDog]

2. Helen, I love ya. n/t

[Mithras61]

3. I really liked this part...

Reached by the Star, Rich Noyes, research director of the Virginia-based Media Research Center, called Thomas' remarks "a totally fictional account of what happened since 9/11. By early 2002, it was really back to normal, with reporters asking many, many tough questions both about domestic policy and foreign policy....


And from Media Research Center's own web site...

Rush Limbaugh
"I don’t think there’s anybody, other than Brent Bozell, who spends more time giving examples of press bias than I do…"

"Brent Bozell and the MRC provide a most precious commodity - a quest for the truth. I can't possibly expose every example of bias and error that emanates from the national mainstream media, but Bozell and his group come as close as anyone can. MRC is a vital national interest."
http://www.mediaresearch.org/membership/kudos.asp

Of course, everybody knows how fair and unbiased Rush is, right?</sarcasm>

Just to be "fair and balanced," and to present "the rest of the story" has been considered a "liberal bias" by the neocons for over 25 years, so for a leading group of people trying to "balance" the liberal bias of the news to deny that the news is biased is very entertaining to me.

So once again the media goes to the distorters and reports their denials of distortion as if they were pure, unvarnished truth.

[funnymanpants]

11. Why did Editor and Publisher quote right-wing hack?

This is the problem with fair and balanced reporting. See the LA Times editorial on Moore's film (sorry, no link). Balanced is not the same as fair. If include a hollocuast denier on a show to counter a hollocaust historian, you are not giving the reader an accurate view.

[Mithras61]

12. Exactly my point

Telling both sides of the story is fine, but you also have to include the "fair" part as well as the "balanced" part. To use your thoughts, having a Holocaust denier on a show about the Holocaust without providing historical context would be considered intentionally misleading, but providing a quote from a "media source" that has spent it's entire existence in trying to get the public to believe the "liberal media bias" without providing more than a simple "Richard Noyes from the Media Center" citation is not.

Most people that see this will have some idea of who Helen Thomas is, since she was the source of quite a ruckus back in September - November 2001. I like to think I'm pretty well informed, but I had not heard of the Media Center until I saw this quote and looked up who they are. That's at least two steps further than the "average" reader of an article like this will go. They'll just accept the denial as being legit and carry on as if this is just another case of "liberal bias" in the media, when in fact it is an example of how the media distorts things to make them seem to be what they aren't.

And, FWIW, Helen Thomas is right in that there were no hard questions allowed after 9/11, and that this Administration lies almost constantly, is frequently debunked, but almost never called on it in the mainstream press.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

4. We can always count on Helen to cut to the chase...

...and ask the questions nobody else will touch.

[llmart]

5. You just gotta love Helen Thomas!

n/t

[liveoaktx]

6. Look who is countering her- a conservative right-wing media research cente

http://www.mediaresearch.org/

Call themselves watchdogs but really they're out to bite the liberals.

[dennis4868]

7. what about this part of the article?

Reached by the Star, Rich Noyes, research director of the Virginia-based Media Research Center, called Thomas' remarks "a totally fictional account of what happened since 9/11. By early 2002, it was really back to normal, with reporters asking many, many tough questions both about domestic policy and foreign policy....

Yes, tough questions indeed Mr. Noyes...that is why Helen was put in the back of the room.....Sheeesh!

[livetohike]

10. Helen Thomas should find some young reporters

to mentor before it is too late. She's a classic.

[Generator]

14. Go Helen!

She was one of the first on record to say * is the worst president ever. How shocking! How unprecedented! How true!

[Pastiche423]

15. Helen Thomas - January 2003

"This is the worst president ever. He is the worst president in all of American history."

I :loveya: Helen!

[yardwork]

18. I love Helen Thomas too!

And I thank her for telling the truth!

[gardenista]

16. She should be the first called on in Kerry's first press conference. nt

[Th1onein]

17. The way that the Bush administration has treated this wise old woman

is indicative of their nastiness, in general. What a bunch of creeps!