2008 Dis-Honors for Conservative Misinformation
In a year of spirited debate and reporting about topics related to the election, public policy, and social issues, Colorado conservative voices managed to work a fair amount of lies, personal smears, and otherwise dubious remarks into the public discussion. After documenting hundreds of hours and printed pages of media commentary and news, Colorado Media Matters presents the worst conservative misinformation of 2008:
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Most irresponsible
use of the airwaves
630 KHOW-AM "Troubleshooter" Tom Martino, who acknowledged intentionally making a false statement Colorado Media Matters had documented 10 days earlier
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Most hypocritical
statement
Newsradio 850 KOA's "Gunny" Bob Newman, for ignoring his own history of on-air falsehoods and offensive remarks when he urged conservatives to stop exaggerating, lying, and using "only fear as a catalyst"
-
Misinformer of the
year
Colorado news media, for uncritically conveying much of state Republican Party chair Dick Wadhams' misinformation about Democrats
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Right-wing
conspiracy of the year
KHOW's Peter Boyles and other right-wing local radio hosts, for sustaining myths and falsehoods about Barack Obama's birth certificate
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Campaign whopper of
the year
Rocky Mountain News, for publishing a recycled false op-ed claim by the "Personhood" amendment sponsor that it "doesn't change the constitution in any way"
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Broken record of
the year
Colorado news media, for its distortion of the actual provisions of the defeated "right-to-work" Amendment 47
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Most outrageous
political comment
Independence Institute's Jessica Peck Corry, for her remark made on public television that the Democratic ticket "should be" called "Obama bin Biden"
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Worst exploitation
of tragedy
KDVR Fox 31 and conservative media figures, for exploiting the deaths of three people to replay immigration myths and falsehoods
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Most gratuitous
comment
Boyles, who stated regarding a Hispanic accused rapist: "[I]t's, you know, jobs Americans won't do"
—C. H.
Comments (2) Show
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I must confess that these dubious characters are often entertaining AND I'm grateful that CMM is pro-active in response - however, the serious problem is their influence in the ongoing "dumming" of the electorate. My consolation is that that their fans and true believers are those least likely to figure out how to cast a ballot.
And the beat goes on.
Over the Christmas holiday season koa, knus, and khow pounded out the same exact message show upon show.
According to every red yakker, the main reason the "great depression" lasted well into the early '40's was that the "Democrat" President and the "Democrat" Congress signed after passage the legislation we call the "New Deal".
Sirota's column this past weekend addressed this latest republican effort at revisionist history, calling it what it is. But to the goobers that mistake red propaganda as hard news, CONserve ideology as gospel, and republican 3-6 word slogans as policy, the crap the substitute yakkers threw out the last 10 days is mother's milk.
President elect Obama defeated his flawed red opponent by 9 and a half million votes in November. The "I got mine, you go to hell" philosophy that ronni reagan spawned long ago was body slammed by the American electorate. This in spite of the daunting edge the reds have in the media, print and radio/tv.
On a daily basis, these liars like limbaugh and sniffer will continue forward to confuse issues, avoid solutions, and run that repub shell game in which they literally convince people to vote against their own childrens' best interest and for the interests of the corporations that pay these clowns to lie for them.
Unlike the 2004 election, in which ideology trumped common sense, allowing bush to get close enough to steal the election via a rigged Ohio result, the vast majority of Americans realized a rising tide will lift all boats. That hating teachers and unions and roads without potholes and bridges that don't collapse won't put money in anybody's pockets but those of dan caplis's ilk and their handlers.
CMM, please keep it up. Your media scrutiny played a huge role in turning the tide. And thank you.
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