Special Reports

An in-depth study, analysis or review exploring the media

9th Aug, 2006 3:33pm
See Executive Summary By any measure, the 2006 Academy Award nominees were a celebration of liberal 'values.' They undermined traditional beliefs, celebrated homosexual or transsexual lifestyles and attacked whole sectors of the American business community. It was a banner year for the Hollywood elite. But it was far from a financial success. Total box office receipts dropped more than $1 billion in 2005. That was a 6.2-percent decline and the first drop since 1991, according to www.…
9th Aug, 2006 3:30pm
See Full Report The top Oscar-nominated films of 2005 were newsworthy because of their overwhelmingly liberal agenda. The movies the Hollywood elite chose to honor undermined traditional values, celebrated homosexual or transsexual lifestyles and attacked whole sectors of American business. Three movies had the sole purpose of being hit pieces on entire industries - mining, oil and pharmaceuticals. Businessmen fared even worse. Directors cast businessmen as villains, criminals, bigots and…
21st Jun, 2006 3:23pm
See Executive Summary One enduring American cultural image is the man in the gray flannel suit. A businessman, with briefcase in tow and tie crisply knotted, who left the family for an honest day’s work and eventually returned home worn and weary. But TV long ago abandoned that icon and replaced it with the stereotype of corporate evil.      The classic family man like insurance salesman Jim Anderson (played by Robert Young) on “Father Knows Best” has turned into the ruthless CEO. Entertainment…
21st Jun, 2006 3:21pm
See Full Report  The entertainment industry boasts it provides but a depiction of reality. In the real world, is the average businessman a murderer, kidnapper and/or philandering backstabber? If not, why is this the way the businessman is portrayed on television? In the world of entertainment TV, businessmen pose a greater threat than the mob.     Almost 10 years ago, the Media Research Center’s Business & Media Institute published “Businessmen Behaving Badly,” which found that businessmen…
17th May, 2006 2:56pm
See Executive Summary It was five years before the turn of the century and major media were warning of disastrous climate change. Page six of The New York Times was headlined with the serious concerns of 'geologists.' Only the president at the time wasn't Bill Clinton; it was Grover Cleveland. And the Times wasn't warning about global warming - it was telling readers the looming dangers of a new ice age. The year was 1895, and it was just one of four different time periods in the…
17th May, 2006 2:53pm
See Full Report Thanks to the release of Al Gore's latest effort on global warming - this time in book and movie form - climate change is the hot topic in press rooms around the globe. It isn't the first time. The media have warned about impending climate doom four different times in the last 100 years. Only they can't decide if mankind will die from warming or cooling. As the noise from the controversy has increased, it has drowned out any debate. Journalists have taken advocacy…
22nd Aug, 2005 8:44pm
See Executive Summary  CNN promotes “Lou Dobbs Tonight” as “news, debate and opinion.” But it doesn’t explain that Dobbs defines those words his own unique way. “News” is often economic distortions presented as fact. “Debate” doesn’t always mean that both sides get to comment. And, for Dobbs, opinion is something injected into every aspect of a news report.      Dobbs heads an hour-long news and “business” show that assaults business, rails against free trade and relies on union members to…
22nd Aug, 2005 8:36pm
See Full Study  Critics have complained that CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” is a seamless rant against big business and free trade. The network in turn has promoted a premier news and business program as “news, debate and opinion.” But it doesn’t explain that Dobbs mixes the three into something that isn’t news and economists and critics say isn’t even always accurate.      As a result, viewers of “the Dan Rather of financial journalism,” as one conservative critic called Dobbs, are missing the real…
13th Jul, 2005 8:32pm
See Full Study The Live 8 concerts were tuned to a rare collaboration of politics and music. Organizer and rock star Bob Geldof used the July 2, 2005, event to pressure wealthy nations into increasing foreign aid to Africa. The international performance left the TV media seeing stars and unable to report on Live 8 as anything other than a “good cause.” News people awed by celebrities delivered one-sided accounts about African poverty that were light on facts and heavy on promotion. Even after…
13th Jul, 2005 8:29pm
See Executive Summary Meet the Press … Release     The June 1, 2005, Live 8 press release was headlined “Bob Geldof Launches Live 8 – ‘The Long Walk To Justice.’” On the July 5, 2005, broadcast of CNN’s “American Morning,” reporter Paula Hancocks didn’t just repeat the sentiment, but the headline: “I’m here in Murrayfield Stadium, where the protests will actually end. This is the end of the long walk to justice.”     The Live 8 press release continued: “Here’s The News... This is not a charity…