The P.U.-litzer Prizes For 2004

[nostamj]

By Norman Solomon, AlterNet. Posted December 10, 2004.

The P.U.-litzer Prizes were established a dozen years ago to provide special recognition for truly smelly media performances. As usual, I've conferred with Jeff Cohen, founder of the media watch group FAIR, to sift through the large volume of entries.

And now, the 13th Annual P.U.-litzer Prizes, for the foulest media performances of 2004:

MANDATE MANIA: Too many winners to name

It became a media mantra. Two days after the election, the Los Angeles Times reported that "Bush can claim a solid mandate of 51 percent of the vote." Cox columnist Tom Teepen referred to Bush's vote margin as an "unquestionable mandate." Right-wing pundit Bill Kristol argued that Bush's "mandate" went beyond the 49-states-to-one landslides of Nixon in 1972 and Reagan in 1984. Reality check: This was the narrowest win for an incumbent president since 1916. As Greg Mitchell wrote in Editor & Publisher: "Where I come from, 51 percent is considered a bare majority, not a comfortable margin. If only 51 percent of my family or my editorial staff think I am doing a good job, I might look to moderate my behavior, not repeat or enlarge it."

MEDIA BIGOT OF THE YEAR: MSNBC and radio host Don Imus

On his Nov. 12 show, the day after Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat died, Imus said of Palestinians: "They're eating dirt and that fat pig wife of his is living in Paris." After an Imus colleague referred to Palestinians as "stinking animals" and said "they ought to drop the bomb right there, kill 'em all right now," Imus responded: "Well, the problem is we have (NBC reporter) Andrea (Mitchell) there; we don't want anything to happen to her." In February, when a civilian Iranian airliner crashed, killing 43 people, Imus reacted: "When I hear stories like that, I think 'Who cares?'" So much for showing the Islamic world we don't see all Muslims as enemies.

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/20714/