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2. Text of the 15 Nominated Videos Played for the Audience
3. The 16 'DisHonors Awards' Judges Who Evaluated the Quotes
4. Audience Awards the 'Quote of the Year' to Chris Matthews
5. CBS Reporter: NewsBusters Prompted Story on Bosnia 'Sniper Fire'
Early readers: MRC President Brent Bozell is scheduled to discuss the "DisHonors Awards" media quotes Friday morning at about 7:40 AM EDT (6:40 AM CDT, 5:40 AM MDT, 4:40 AM PDT) on FNC's Fox & Friends.
Following the presentation of the DisHonors Awards videos in five categories (see text of quotes in #2 below with a link to the video clips), a look at some "funny clips" and the audience picking the "Quote of the Year" by their applause, MRC President Brent Bozell honored Tony Snow with the MRC's second annual "William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence." Snow praised the late Buckley's selfless efforts to identify and encourage promising young conservatives and then Snow regretted the current political rancor as he urged the audience to appreciate America's greatness. For video and audio of the Buckley award presentation and acceptance: www.mrc.org [1]
The evening ended on a more somber note,
For video and audio of the tribute video, check presentation and remarks by Daniel Murphy: www.mrc.org [2] DisHonors Awards winners were selected by a distinguished panel of 16 leading media observers, including Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Tony Blankley, Steve Forbes, Robert Novak, Walter E. Williams and Thomas S. Winter, who served as judges. (See item #3 below for the list of judges.) Cal Thomas, a syndicated columnist and panelist on FNC's Fox News Watch, served as Master of Ceremonies. Larry Kudlow, host of CNBC's Kudlow & Company, presented the first two awards, followed by columnist/commentator Ann Coulter who presented the third award before setting up a series of "funny clips." Talk show host Mark Levin handled the fourth and fifth awards. In place of the journalist who won each award, a conservative accepted it in jest. Those standing in for the winners: Pollster Kellyanne Conway, Ron Maxwell, director of Gods and Generals, Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, Congressman Mike Pence (R-Indiana) and Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado).
The evening began with welcoming remarks from Cal Thomas, an invocation by Father John De Celles and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Army Major Art Finch.
To render and post the video, members of the MRC's News Analysis Division (NAD) and IT department stayed up overnight. From NAD: Michelle Humphrey, Kristine Lawrence and Melissa Lopez. From IT: Eric Pairel and Brad Ash.
A listing of the three finalist quotes, as selected by the panel of 16 judges, played in each of five award categories: "Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Analysis," "I'm Not a Political Genius, But I Play One on TV Award," "Damn Those Conservatives Award," "Barack Obama Gives a Thrill Up My Leg Award," and the "How We Adore Clinton-Gore Award." Video clips of all the nominated video clips, as well as of the entire evening, are online in click-and-play Flash format and as downloadable Windows Media files, as well as with MP3 audio clips, at: www.mrc.org/gala.asp [3] The MRC's new Eyeblast.tv video site also has Flash video clips on this channel dedicated to the awards and gala videos: www.eyeblast.tv [4] Below are the top runners-up in each award category as picked by the judges, followed by the winner and the name of the conservative who accepted the award in jest:
Presented by Larry Kudlow Runners-up: # "Do you worry at all that non-believers may feel excluded and diminished at a time when we're so divided about so much?" -- CBS's Katie Couric to The Nativity Story's Catherine Hardwicke and Mike Rich in a Dec. 4, 2006 Evening News story about Hollywood movies based on Biblical themes.
Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore: "Good idea. I think, it's something though that, actually they should be lucky just to get censured. Personally, I'd like to see a perp walk coming out of the West Wing of the White House." Matthews: "Do you think they're guilty of war crimes?" Moore: "Absolutely." -- MSNBC's Hardball, July 23, 2007.
Accepting for McClatchy News...Kellyanne Conway
Presented by Larry Kudlow Runners-up: # "Over the past six years we've had to add to the American picture: rendition, illegal wiretapping, voter suppression, no habeas corpus, the neglect of our great city New Orleans and the people, an attack on the Constitution and the loss of our best young men and women in a tragic war. And this is a song about things that shouldn't happen here, happening here. And so right now we plan to do something about it -- we plan to sing about it." -- Bruce Springsteen introducing his song "Living in the Future" before a concert on NBC's Today, Sept. 28, 2007.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck: "Who are the terrorists?" O'Donnell: "655 Iraqis. I'm saying you have to look from, we invaded-" Hasselbeck: "Wait, who are you calling terrorists?" O'Donnell: "I'm saying, if you were in Iraq, and another country, the United States, the richest in the world, invaded your country and killed 655,000 of your citizens, what would you call us?" -- Rosie O'Donnell on ABC's The View, May 17, 2007.
Accepting for Bill Maher...Ron Maxwell
Presented by Ann Coulter Runners-up: # "This is going to result in racial profiling. If, in her America, in Michelle's America, when you look, 'Is that Hispanic guy an illegal or is he legal?' It reminds me so much of when they used to pull down the pants of Jews to see if they were circumcised or not. It is, it is so, so pathetic. It's so un-American....I want you to know, ladies and gentlemen, that what they are doing is using the police force of the United States to break up families and sow horror and pain." -- Geraldo Rivera rejecting columnist Michelle Malkin's argument that citizens should report illegal immigrants to the authorities, FNC's The O'Reilly Factor, June 8, 2007.
Reporter Michael Okwu: "Weeks before the Imus controversy, Rush Limbaugh started airing this ditty about Senator Barack Obama:" Song parody sung by Al Sharpton impersonator: "Barack the Magic Negro lives in D.C." Okwu: "Which lead some to wonder, has Limbaugh been getting a free pass?..." Paul Waldman, Media Matters: "This is basically the radio equivalent of a black-faced, minstrel show. You're going back to Amos and Andy and all of those, kind of, racist shows in the past." Okwu: "For his part, Obama says he doesn't listen to Limbaugh but says being targeted is part of being a politician.... Song parody: "Don't vote the Magic Negro." Okwu: "Legitimate political satire or something darker?" -- NBC's Today, May 21, 2007. Limbaugh's parody was inspired by a black writer who used the term in a March 19 Los Angeles Times op-ed, "Obama the Magic Negro."
Accepting for Keith Olbermann...Jim Gilchrest
Presented by Mark Levin Runners-up: # "Today they gathered by the thousands at American University, sensing a moment of history. John F. Kennedy gave the commencement address here five months before he was shot. And today the audacity of hope had its rendezvous with destiny: The Kennedy clan anointed Barack Obama a son of Camelot." -- David Wright on ABC's World News, January 28, 2008.
Moderator Chris Matthews: "So much of what you say just grabs people like me, because it sounds like Bobby Kennedy." -- Exchange at AFSCME Democratic candidates forum shown live on MSNBC, June 19, 2007.
Accepting for Chris Matthews...Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN)
Presented by Mark Levin: Runners-up: # "There he [Bill Clinton] goes again. The man often called the most gifted politician of his generation is once again at the center of American politics, taking over the 2008 Democratic campaign. And he's clearly loving every minute of it....He lectures and jokes around and feels your pain and implores you to believe....It's so unprecedented, this personal and political partnership, so fraught with history and Baby Boomer melodrama. They have already made history, and they are out to do it again, together, through it all." -- ABC's Terry Moran after spending the day with Clinton for a report on Nightline, January 24, 2008.
Woman in video: "The Hillary that I know is a compassionate woman." Man in video: "The Hillary I know saved my life."... McFadden: "As I looked at it, it's terribly sweet in so many ways, and yet, it sort of has this Sally Field quality to it. You know, 'They like me, they really like me.' And I wonder if there's not a double standard? I don't see the guys doing it. Are you judged differently, do you think, on the personal level?" -- ABC's Cynthia McFadden interviewing Hillary Clinton on Nightline, December 19, 2007.
Accepting for Chris Matthews...Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
To select the winners of the MRC's "2008 Dishonors Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporting," a distinguished panel of 16 leading observers of the liberal media in action generously gave of their time to serve as our judges. They reviewed three to five quotes in each of five award categories. For each set of quotes the judges picked first and second place choices. First place selections earned two points, second choices were allocated one point. The MRC's Michelle Humphrey and Kristine Lawrence tabulated the ballots. - Tony Blankley, Exec. Vice President of Global Public Affairs, Edelman; columnist for The Washington Times - Neal Boortz, Atlanta-based national radio talk show host - Brent Bozell, Founder & President, Media Research Center - Steve Forbes, President and CEO of Forbes, Inc. - Laura Ingraham, nationally syndicated radio host - Sean Hannity, co-host of FNC's Hannity & Colmes - Larry Kudlow, host of CNBC's Kudlow & Co. - Mark Levin, nationally syndicated radio talk show host - Rush Limbaugh, host of The Rush Limbaugh Show - Mary Matalin, Editor-in-Chief, Threshold Editions - Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times and nationally syndicated columnist; FNC analyst - Kate O'Beirne, Washington Editor of National Review - William Rusher, Distinguished Fellow, Claremont Institute; Member of the MRC's Board of Directors - Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist; Fox News contributor - Walter E. Williams, George Mason University economics professor - Thomas S. Winter, Editor-in-Chief of Human Events The online posting with links to Web pages for the judges: www.mrc.org [5]
Quote of the Year. Following the presentation of the awards, MRC President L. Brent Bozell came on stage where he was joined by Master of Ceremonies Cal Thomas, the three presenters (Larry Kudlow, Ann Coulter and Mark Levin) and the five acceptors (Kellyanne Conway, Ron Maxwell, Jim Gilchrist, Mike Pence and Tom Tancredo). Attendees saw replays of the four winning quotes from members of the news media: McClatchy News, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Chris Matthews.
Then, as a picture of each nominee was displayed, audience members were asked by Bozell to express their opinion on which quote deserved the Quote of the Year designation as the worst bias of 2007. The loudest applause was earned by MSNBC's Chris Matthews for this adoration of Bill Clinton, which won the "How We Adore Clinton-Gore Award," from the February 28, 2007 Hardball: The Quote of the Year selection, as posted on the MRC's Eyeblast.tv: www.eyeblast.tv [6]
According to the April 8 posting by David Sarno, the Times' Internet culture and online entertainment writer: "CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson didn't realize she had a story on her hands until a colleague e-mailed her a link to 12-year-old footage of the Bosnia trip that she herself had reported on, which had been posted on newsbusters.com [actually, NewsBusters.org] several days earlier. 'I clicked on a link and was stunned to see it was the same trip,' Atkisson said in an interview." For the LA Times blog posting: latimesblogs.latimes.com [7] [This item, by the MRC's Rich Noyes, was posted Wednesday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [8] ] The March 18 NewsBusters story, written by MRC Research Director Rich Noyes, included about 30 seconds of Attkisson's story from the March 25, 1996 edition of CBS This Morning. The video showed Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea smiling, walking calmly and greeting children as they arrived in Tuzla, Bosnia -- not running to dodge sniper fire, as the Democratic presidential candidate claimed in a March 17 speech. For that NewsBuster item: newsbusters.org [9] Attkisson posted additional video of her trip, including a photo of her chatting on a military plane with the then-First Lady, on CBS's "Couric & Co." blog on March 24, six days after the video from NewsBusters began circulating around the Internet: www.cbsnews.com [10] Attkisson's subsequent story on the Evening News effectively showed how Clinton's new version of her Bosnia story could not be true. For a transcript of the Monday, March 24 Evening News story, scroll down in this March 26 CyberAlert item: www.mrc.org [11] The news about NewsBusters came in a blog from Sarno posted Tuesday about the impact of YouTube on the U.S. presidential election. Here's an excerpt: It's the hottest election in recent memory, and the first of the YouTube era, so no wonder political video is whizzing around faster than you can tape your cat mouthing "superdelegate." Bedroom producers, the campaigns themselves, and everyone in between is using online video to make a point, a profit, both, or neither. Though videos like Jack Nicholson's popular pro-Hillary spot "Jack and Hill," made with help from Rob Reiner, can score big on YouTube, you don't need to be a celeb or an "SNL" writer to get noticed. Ben Relles put himself on the map when he and two partners brought the world "Obama Girl," the candidate's sultry, singing follower who rings in millions of page views every time she bobs onto the computer screen. ("I've got a crush on Obama," was nominated Monday for a Webby Award). Relles' fledgling BarelyPolitical.com was bought by the Web TV company Next New Networks last October and now has four full-time employees. Steve Grove, YouTube's head of news and politics, said videos in that category had seen a "lurch forward" in popularity in the last year, and the last month has been no exception. A March 24 CBS News segment showing that Hillary Clinton had misremembered the details of her 1996 trip to Bosnia become YouTube's most viewed video that week, no small feat considering the site gets hundreds of thousands of new uploads every day. The week before that, those Fox News videos of Obama's fiery former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, accounted for five of the top 12 political videos on the site, and the Obama speech that that controversy engendered has been watched on YouTube over 4 million times -- the most ever for a video from a presidential campaign.... Speaking of the conversation between the Web and big media, CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson didn't realize she had a story on her hands until a colleague e-mailed her a link to 12-year-old footage of the Bosnia trip that she herself had reported on, which had been posted on newsbusters.com several days earlier. "I clicked on a link and was stunned to see it was the same trip," Attkisson said in an interview. Atkisson wasted no time. Her team dug up CBS' archived footage and had a segment questioning Clinton's account on the news that night. This back and forth continued the next day, when the Web crowd took Attkisson's segment and ran with it. Various media outlets had noted the dubiousness of Clinton's account, but the CBS segment gave the story a shot of testosterone. The viral reaction was so great that in a follow-up report the next night, CBS even mentioned the YouTube clip of their own segment, noting it had scored over 1 million views and "spread all over the Internet." END of Excerpt -- Brent Baker
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Cal Thomas, Larry Kudlow, Mark Levin and Ann Coulter highlighted the MRC's "2008 DisHonors Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters" presented on Thursday night, April 10, before an audience of more than 1,000 people packed into the Independence Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Washington, D.C. 
with a video tribute to Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, a SEAL who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for selfless valor in combat in Afghanistan in 2005. MRC Trustee Boone Pickens came on stage afterward to present Murphy's father, Daniel, and brother, John, with a $1 million check for the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation and then Daniel Murphy thanked Pickens and expressed gratitude for the 29 years he had with his son. 
The MRC's new Eyeblast.tv video site also has Flash video clips on this channel dedicated to the awards and gala videos: 
Confirming the important role that the MRC's NewsBusters blog played in exposing Hillary Clinton's bogus "sniper fire" story, CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson told the Los Angeles Times's "Web Scout" blog that it was in fact the March 18 NewsBusters item which prompted her to debunk Clinton's claims in a March 24 report for the CBS Evening News.