The logrolling between right-wing radio host Mark Levin and the Media Research Center has reached a new level: The MRC has given Levin its highest award.
At last week’s MRC’s “DisHonors Awards” dress-up ball, Levin received the MRC’s William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence. MRC chief Brent Bozell delivered a fawning introduction, followed by Levin himself delivering what the MRC described as “remarks about the path to success shown by Buckley and Ronald Reagan.”
While Bozell and Levin touted their friendship with each other, not once in their combined 18 minutes of remarks (which included Levin getting interrupted by applause from the right-wing audience for a childish reference to “The Washington Compost”) did they mention one crucial fact: the MRC is paying Levin to promote the MRC on his radio show.
This raises the question of whether the MRC’s award to Levin is part of their business arrangement.
Meanwhile, the MRC keeps up its longtime conflict of interest regarding Levin:
- A Sept. 24 NewsBusters post by Jack Coleman slobbers over Levin as “a widely respected constitutional scholar, author and lawyer” whose reputation was being besmirched by Lois Lerner.
- A Sept. 25 CNSNews.com post by Michael Morris notes how “Levin says he sincerely believes that ‘World War III has begun.'”
- An Oct. 2 CNS post by Katherine Rodriguez proclaimed how “Levin ripped into the dangers of President Obama’s weak stance on immigration when news of the first CDC-confirmed case of Ebola virus in the U.S. broke on his show.”
None of these posts mention the MRC’s business arrangement with Levin.