Back in the dark days of 2000, before blogs and before there was any significant organized liberal presence on the internet (much less Democratic partisans), the traditional media acted as if they had nothing to answer for and little accountability for truth or fairness. And as bad as things often seem now, it was much worse then. As the Florida recount proceeded and talking heads blathered on about how Gore should concede for the good of the nation, Media Whores Online was launched.
I thought it would be fun to do a brief retrospective and tribute to the site that I woke up to every morning for a couple of years at the beginning of this decade...the site that "set out to bring the media to it's knees and found out they were already there."
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...
BREAKING!!!
In the beginning, there was already the Daily Howler. And if Media Whores Online is the grandfather of modern Democratic blogs (as I think it is) then the Howler was certainly the great-grandfather. But MWO took it to the next level. Imitating the boisterous, in-your-face, flashing-sirens, tabloid style of the Drudge Report (with tongue often slightly planted in cheek), MWO breathlessly railed against the so-called-liberal-media, labeled its journalists for what they are -- media whores, and set the standard for the progressive blogs and media watchdogs that followed in its wake.
Here's an early posting:
CNN Turns Whore
Remember when CNN was respectable? Before they panicked at Faux "News" picking up ratings during the Clinton Cockhunt?
Just think of the opportunity CNN had during that period, to distinguish itself as a - the only - serious news network. A short term sacrifice for a long term benefit. Instead they have since slid further into the abyss of whoredom.
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One of CNN's first steps toward this end was to put Candy Crowley on the campaign trail with Bush, where she went before the cameras daily and orgasmed over W's latest canned phrases - or as she liked to call them - "courageous initiatives".
For interesting historical details and trivia, check out the MWO Wikipedia entry.
MWO eventually adopted the "Media Horse" moniker, the result of a CNN transcription error after Paul Begala cited MWO on an episode of Crossfire.
Here's a classic "Whore of the Week" post:
Congratulations MWO Whore of the Week: David "The Dean" Broder!
Why Few Senators Become Presidents
David Broder
Why is it that David "The Dean" Broder consistently sounds so much like the self-important, bromide-filled pundit for a small-town Republican newspaper?
It's a question that's been bugging D.C. political observers for years -- all the way back to the Nixon era, when Broder decided that Watergate just wasn't a political story, and then came to Nixon's defense when Watergate turned out to be a deeply political story.
But blandness and myopia are not why "The Dean"'s been named MWO's Whore of the Week.
In his current Wash Post column -- its facts lifted entirely from one of those academic articles that these days pass for "political science" -- Broder gathers wool on why so few senators become presidents.
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More important, where does Broder come off saying that Gore lost in 2000?
That Gore is not in the White House today has nothing to do with the will of the majority of the voters, or the relative weakness of ex-Senators as presidential candidates, or any of the other things Broder goes on about.
It is because a one-vote majority on the Supreme Court of the United States selected George W. Bush instead.
And so, for framing the 2000 election so misleadingly, David "The Dean" Broder is named Whore of the Week.
And also for misusing the past in order to spin the coming 2004 election.
In his article, Broder names six of the top potential Democratic presidential candidates who might run against George W. Bush. All of them are -- yes, you guessed it -- Senators. And, according to Broder's not-so-subtle analysis, this makes them all capital-L losers.
Pretty damned whorish for such a defender of uprightness.
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* Email Broder and Washington Post Ombudsman Michael Getler. Urge him to correct David Broder's lie. Ask him to encourage Post reporters to gather the facts before reaching a conclusion.
Although the Horse was criticized for its over-the-top style, MWO heralded a new take-no-prisoners approach to combating the rightward drift of the traditional media. If the conservatives were going to skew political discourse in this country by "working the refs," MWO signaled that Democratic activist were going to fight back, using many of the same tactics the right wing employed. Media Whores never stooped to the extremes of the Drudge Report -- they didn't make shit up -- but they recognized that sensationalism and anger could be a potent mix for getting the attention of journalists and engaging readers.
Timmeh Russert was a regular target:
It seems Timmy feigned the most Bill Bennettesque, hypocritical, self righteous (but we repeat ourselves) outrage he could muster on Meet the Press Sunday, over the stupid question Al Gore was asked regarding a preference for "leather or lace". Poor Timmy couldn't believe such a question was asked in the serious and sober context of a presidential election...
But Timmy himself is the worst offender when it comes to inane questions. He asked the First Lady in her first Senate debate with Dick Lazio if she owed America an apology for trusting her husband. And Timmy, when given the opportunity in a one-on-one interview to ask the Vice Leader of the Free World anything in the whole wide world - actually asked him whether a pregnant woman on death row should have a right to abortion - a question burning in the minds of all Americans.
Yes, Timmy has more than earned the Whore of the Week distinction. And if there were an award for "fastest decline in credibility", Timmy would have a good chance of running away with that one, too. Way to go, Timmy!
It was significant that MWO focused its ridicule on "respectable" and "moderate" media figures like Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, and Bob Woodward. While the FOX propagandists weren't ignored, the writers at MWO seemed to understand that it is the pervasive influence of Republican framing and institutional groupthink among the mainstream media that is most problematic for Democrats and progressives, and the greatest threat posed to American journalism.
More fun memories:
Howard Fineman: MWO Whore of the Week
Some Media Whores are out-and-out Whores. But others are just plain stupid: Self-important gas bags who can't keep the simplest story straight.
Like Howard Fineman.
Fineman has discovered what the laziest stringers in D.C. have also discovered--that plenty of Taliban Republicans are blaming the terrorist atrocities of September 11 on the Clinton Administration.
And for Howie -- well, gee, the charges seem credible.
"[F]ormer aides to Clinton are fighting a rear-guard action," Howie writes ominously, "against accusations that they did too little too late to stop Osama bin Laden as he ramped up his global jihad against America."
Except that maybe it doesn't make sense -- for as Howie also writes, Bill Clinton "was far more actively engaged in trying to find and kill Bin Laden than we knew."
Was Clinton asleep at the switch or doing all he could? It seems that both are possible in the doofus world of Howard Fineman.
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If there is a dumber Media Whore on the planet than Howard Fineman, would the National Security Agency please wiretap every phone conversation on earth and find him?
MWO slams Nader and corresponds with his campaign manager.
And there's this report on a Jon Stewart-Howie Kurtz smackdown:
Jon Stewart on 'Reliable Sources'
Jon Stewart appeared with Washington Post Funeral Critic Howard "Mister" Kurtz on CNN's Reliable Sources on Saturday.
If Howie thought the interview would be nothing more than an unserious, quick and snarky, Kool Kids look at the news media (the usual Reliable Sources fare), he was wrong. There was plenty of humor, but Jon Stewart offered more in the way of substantive and hard-hitting media criticism in one segment than all guests (and hosts) over the last year combined.
KURTZ: So you don't, you're not confusing yourself with a quote, "real journalist"?
STEWART: No. You guys are...You guys are confusing yourselves with real journalists.
Kurtz squirms, tries to blame viewers for cable news network media whoredom. Jon Stewart isn't buying:
KURTZ: There's a new thing out called remote control. We'll have to get you one.
STEWART: But you're the news. That works for entertainment. People need you. Help us. Help us.
Transcript
The Daily Show on Comedy Central is by far the most reliable news program on cable television. (The most comical is a toss-up between the Hardball and The Beltway Boys).
* Email Jon Stewart propers for bringing some relevance for once to CNN's Reliable Sources by putting the heat on its lame host.
More flashbacks available at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. (Warning: the dates seem to be inaccurate.)
The Horse is gone...long live its legacy.
Out to pasture...
cross-posted at ProgressiveHistorians