Here are News items from Media Matters for America, click on the title or ‘read more’ to read the entirety of each story.
UPDATED REPORT: Fox News’ $55 Million Presidential Donation
http://mediamatters.org/research/201101240010
Last year, five potential Republican presidential candidates (Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, John Bolton, and Rick Santorum) who also serve as Fox News contributors or hosts appeared on the network for more than 85 hours. Media Matters for America estimates this time to be worth approximately $54.7 million in free advertising.
Fox Gave Potential Candidates $54.7 Million In Free Advertising
Fox News Candidates Appeared On The Network For More Than 85 Hours In 2010. Media Matters calculated the amount of on-screen time each of the five potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates appeared on Fox News as contributors or hosts in 2010. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee appeared for a total of almost 48 hours. Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, appeared for close to 14 hours. Fox gave former House Speaker Newt Gingrich almost 12 hours. John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under George W. Bush, and Rick Santorum, former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, each received around six hours.
Potential Candidates’ 2010 Fox News Appearances Were Worth Approximately $54.7 Million. Media Matters also estimated the cost advertisers would pay for the amount of time Fox gave to each of the potential GOP presidential candidates in 2010. Advertisers would have spent about $31 million for Huckabee’s time for the entire year. Gingrich’s and Palin’s time each would have cost advertisers about $7.5 million each for the entire year. Santorum’s estimated ad-value equivalency for the year comes to almost $5 million, while Bolton’s is approximately $3.7 million.
Palin, Gingrich, Huckabee, Santorum, And Bolton Have All Hinted At 2012 Presidential Runs
Sarah Palin. A November 21 New York Times Magazine article reported that Palin is “weighing a run for president,” and quoted her saying: “I’m engaged in the internal deliberations candidly.” [New York Times Magazine, 11/21/10]
Newt Gingrich. The Des Moines Register reported on November 17 that Gingrich “said Tuesday he is making personal arrangements that would allow him to launch a campaign for president early next year, which his closest political adviser expects him to do.” [The Des Moines Register, 11/17/10]
Mike Huckabee. Huckabee appeared on Fox News Radio’s The Alan Colmes Show on November 15 and talked about how his media presence would impact a potential 2012 run: “The one nice thing, whether I should decide to run or not, is that more people at least would know me by what I actually believe and say, as opposed to what some opponent has defined me to be, and that’s kind of encouraging.” [Fox News Radio, The Alan Colmes Show, 11/15/10]
Rick Santorum. National Review Online reported on October 13 that Santorum spoke at a Republican event in Iowa and said in an interview: “The folks in Iowa are great. As the first-in-the-nation caucus state, politics are a part of their lives.” Santorum added: “If I were to get into this, I would certainly not be one of the favorites, so doing well out of the box would be much more important to me than to some of the more well-known candidates.” [National Review Online, 10/13/10]
John Bolton. On September 9, Bolton said on Fox Business Network that he is considering running for president: “I am thinking about it because I think legitimate issues of national security should be more at the center of the national debate than they have been for the last two years.” [Fox Business Network, Varney & Co., 9/9/10]
Methodology: Media Matters updated the results of our previous study counting appearances by each of the five candidates on Fox News shows available in the Nexis database. Media Matters also included Huckabee’s weekly program, which does not appear in Nexis.
Media Matters counted pre-taped interviews as appearances but did not count brief statements by the potential candidates that aired as part of news packages.
Media Matters reviewed video for all appearances recorded in the Nexis search (as well as Huckabee’s show) and tallied the total time for each. Using advertising data from the Campaign Media Analysis Group, Media Matters calculated the total amount spent on ads during each program in which one of the five potential candidates appeared. For each broadcast, we divided this dollar amount by an estimated amount of ad time per show* in order to calculate an estimated value of one minute of air time on that show. That result was then multiplied by the total time that Fox candidates appeared during that broadcast, yielding an estimated value for each appearance by a Fox candidate.
In other words:
Monetary value of appearance = (Total ad revenue from a given broadcast / average total ad time for that show) X length of candidate’s appearance on given broadcast
In instances where the ad costs were not available for a specific broadcast, Media Matters instead used the median cost of ads on that show during the relevant month.
In instances where the video was not available for review and the length of an appearance could not be determined, Media Matters instead used the median appearance time for that specific potential candidate calculated from all appearances over the course of the study.
*Ad time per show was estimated by selecting three random airings of each relevant show and averaging the total amount of time devoted to ads.
Glenn Beck’s Rhetoric Inspires More Death Threats
The New York Times recently reported that frequent Glenn Beck target Frances Fox Piven has been receiving death threats. The threats against Piven are the latest in a growing series of threats and incidents of violence linked to Beck’s extremist rhetoric. Read More >> http://mediamatters.org/research/201101230012?lid=1153327&rid=58432824
Krauthammer Clinging To Tired Health Care Reform Falsehoods
In his Washington Post column, Charles Krauthammer pushed the long-debunked claim that the health care reform bill’s deficit reduction is “phony” and falsely claimed that the CLASS Act is a “reckless entitlement program.” In fact, the bill continues to reduce the deficit after the first 10 years, and the CLASS Act is a voluntary program, funded by its participants. Read More >> http://mediamatters.org/research/201101210013?lid=1153202&rid=58413174
Glenn Beck Knows What’s In Your Gut
Fox News‘ Glenn Beck routinely advises his viewers to listen to their gut, which, he makes clear, has the same views as Beck. Read More >> http://mediamatters.org/research/201101210022?lid=1153204&rid=58413174
After Promoting Anti-Gay Rhet oric, Breitbart is Named to Gay Group’s Board
GOProud, the conservative group for gay conservatives and their allies, just appointed Andrew Breitbart to their board. However, Breitbart and his contributors at his BigPeace, BigGovernment, BigJournalism and BigHollywood sites have repeatedly engaged in incendiary anti-gay rhetoric. Additionally, his contributors have actively opposed the repeal of Don’t ask Don’t tell, and opposed GOProud’s inclusion in the conservative conference CPAC. Read More >> http://mediamatters.org/research/201101210034?lid=1153206&rid=58413174
Here are today’s news items from Media Matters for America, click on the title or ‘read more’ to read the entirety of each story.
Wash. Times Hosts Unhinged Attacks On Obama’s Speech, Tucson Memorial Service
In the week since the memorial service for the victims of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, The Washington Times has published op-eds attacking President Obama over his speech and criticizing the service as a “political rally” and a “campaign event.” Read More >>http://mediamatters.org/research/201101190009?lid=1152852&rid=58345479
Gingrich Falsely Accuses Obama Of “Waging A War On American Energy”
Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich recently falsely accused the Obama administration of “waging a war on American energy.” In fact, the Obama administration has invested in domestic energy production and has made historic efforts to reduce American independence on foreign oil. Read More >> http://mediamatters.org/research/201101190015?lid=1152854&rid=58345479
Fox Prepares For Health Care Repeal By Misinforming About Health Care Reform … Again
In advance of the House GOP’s health care repeal vote, Fox News hosts, contributors, and guests have repeatedly misinformed about the health care reform bill with attacks ranging from falsely claiming that the bill “did not include incentives for wellness” and that the bill will cause jobs “to be lost,” to rehashing old falsehoods such as that the bill does not reduce the deficit because it creates “10 years of revenue against six years of expenses.” Read More >> http://mediamatters.org/research/201101190017?lid=1152856&rid=58345479
Fox Rushes To Discredit HHS Study On Pre-Existing Conditions
Fox News has repeatedly attempted to discredit an HHS study estimating how many people have pre-existing conditions. In doing so, Fox falsely claimed the study said 129 million people would “lose their coverage” if Republicans repealed the health care reform law, when in fact, HHS said this number represents those who, in the absense of health care reform, would face higher premiums or benefit cuts in the individual insurance market.
Read More >> http://mediamatters.org/research/201101190018?lid=1152858&rid=58345479
Fox’s MacCallum Doesn’t Know What The EPA Does
During a segment criticizing the Obama administration’s relationship with the business community, Fox “straight news” anchor Martha MacCallum claimed that “it is not customary for the EPA to tell car companies how to run their business.” In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has set mandatory vehicle emission standards since the early 1970s. Read More >> http://mediamatters.org/research/201101190020?lid=1152860&rid=58345479
Limbaugh Uses Hu’s Visit to Mock Chinese Culture
Rush Limbaugh used Chinese President Hu Jintao‘s state visit to the U.S. as an opportunity to mock Chinese culture, including the sound of Hu’s speech, and suggested that “everybody’s going to be hungry a half-hour after” the state dinner for the Chinese delegation. http://mediamatters.org/research/201101190044?lid=1152862&rid=58345479
