RESTON, VA – The Media Research Center (MRC) is proud to
announce the Worst of the Worst of 2014:
The 27th Annual Awards for the Year’s Worst Reporting [1], with CNN anchor
Carol Costello taking home the “Quote of the Year” honor for telling her
viewers to enjoy listening to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter,
Bristol, get attacked and berated:
“Okay. I’m just going to come right out and say it: This is quite possibly the best minute and a half of audio we’ve ever come across — well, come across in a long time anyway. A massive brawl in Anchorage, Alaska, reportedly involving Sarah Palin’s kids and her husband. It was sparked after someone pushed one of her daughters at a party....And now police have released audio of that interview. It does include some rather colorful language from Bristol. Here now is Bristol’s recollection of how that night unfolded. So sit back and enjoy.”
This year’s winners were selected by a distinguished panel of radio talk show hosts, magazine editors, columnists, editorial writers, and expert media observers. The runner-up after Costello was longtime Newsweek correspondent Eleanor Clift, now a writer for the Daily Beast, who claimed Ambassador Chris Stevens’ death was not a result of being murdered by terrorists but, rather, smoke inhalation:
“Every media organization has investigated this [Benghazi] to death. This animates the right wing of the Republican Party. And I would like to point out that Ambassador [Chris] Stevens was not murdered. He died of smoke inhalation in the safe room in that CIA installation.”
Second runner-up is MSNBC contributor Michael Eric Dyson who, in urging President Obama to go to Ferguson, Missouri, ludicrously compared him to Jesus Christ
“You know, I’m a Christian preacher, and God finally said, ‘Look, I can’t send nobody else. I got to go myself.’ And I ain’t saying that Obama is Jesus, but for many of his followers he is.”
MRC President Brent Bozell reacts to this year’s winners:
“For the liberal media, 2014 was a banner year… of failure. They celebrated violence against conservative women, downplayed the global terror threat, overlooked and suppressed news reports about the utter devastation ObamaCare wrought on our health care system, and peddled the race card as an explanation for any opposition to President Obama’s lawlessness and failed policies. The Obama zombies in the liberal media did their best to cover for him combining hero worship with a bizarre and cultish – yet familiar – adherence to administration talking points all the while masquerading as objective news outlets.
“This year’s ‘winner,’ the repugnant and contemptible Carol Costello, exhibited conspicuous joy and giddiness over the assault of a young women that will not long be forgotten. While it’s true that many would be hard-pressed to locate her show on their television, her infamous, hate-filled segment will be immortalized here for all to see what the liberal media is all about.”
The winners were selected by a panel of 40 judges [2], including nationally syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, Wall Street Journal editorial board member James Taranto, nationally syndicated talk radio host Mark Levin, Fox News Channel news analyst and Washington Times Online Opinion Editor Monica Crowley, retired nationally syndicated talk radio host Neal Boortz, Editor of Red State Erick Erickson, Townhall.com News Editor Katie Pavlich, and Contributing Editor to National Review Quin Hillyer among many others.
**For audio and video clips of the broadcast quotes, to access full quotes, or see winners and runners up, please visit www.MRC.org [3]**
Other “winners” include:
“The Blue State Brigade Award for Biased Campaign Coverage”
“It’s not a substantive
argument. It was a scare tactic by the Republican opponents of Democratic
incumbents, who tried to focus on ISIS and Ebola in the scariest, most
non-factual ways, to take the eye off the real issues.”
— NBC’s Andrea Mitchell during MSNBC’s election night coverage, November
4.
“The Planet in Peril Award for Climate Hysteria”
“Man-made climate change
happens. Man-made climate change kills a lot of people. It’s going to kill a
lot more. We have laws on the books to punish anyone whose lies contribute to
people’s deaths. It’s time to punish the climate-change liars....Denialists
should face jail. They should face fines....I’m talking about Rush and his
multi-million-dollar ilk in the disinformation business. I’m talking about
Americans for Prosperity and the businesses and billionaires who back its
obfuscatory propaganda....Those malcontents must be punished and stopped.”
— Gawker.com staff writer Adam Weinstein in a March 28 post, “Arrest Climate-Change
Deniers.”
“The Obama’s Orderlies Award for Championing Obamacare”
“We got a report today
about ObamaCare that was both surprising and widely misunderstood. The
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said about two million Americans are
likely to pass up full-time jobs because of the President’s health insurance
program. Those aren’t necessarily jobs being lost. They’re also workers
choosing to work less.”
— Anchor Scott Pelley on
the CBS Evening News, February 4.
“The Ku Klux Con Job Award for Smearing Conservatives with Phony Racism Charges”
“Killing the black vote.
This is Hardball....Good evening, I’m Chris Matthews in Washington. This is
rotten stuff, isn’t it? The Republican effort to kill the black vote in state
after state: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, Texas. We can
all see what they’re doing. Believing they can’t convert the African American
vote, they’ve decided to slaughter it....This is murder in broad daylight.”
—
Chris Matthews opening MSNBC’s Hardball,
October 21.
To schedule an interview with MRC President Brent Bozell or another MRC spokesperson,
please contact Ryan Moy (ext. 159) or Jessie Markell (ext. 121) at (703) 683-5004.