A Sept. 30 CNSNews.com article by Susan Jones promotes the claim by conservative activist Richard Viguerie that the defeat of the Wall Street bailout package “shows the power of the New and Alternative Media.” But Jones doesn’t cite any specific examples of how the “New and Alternative Media” — in context, the conservatively correct term for right-wing blogs, websites and talk radio — caused the bill to fail, beyond a claim that “Even the Associated Press noted the power of the Internet in torpedoing the bill.” The AP quote that Jones serves up — “furious pressure built up against the bill in e-mail campaigns and on Internet Web sites” — also offers no specific examples.
Further, since a significant minority of House Democrats also voted against the bill, credit for defeating the bill cannot go to right-wing media alone.
Nevertheless, Jones uncritically repeated Viguerie’s assertion that the bailout bill “the support of the mainstream media, who told us ad nauseam that everyone — everyone! — supported a bailout.” No evidence is offered to support Viguerie’s claim.