The Media Research Center proved it’s a loyal soldier for Fox News by working to protect the channel from a phone-hacking scandal taking place in other News Corp. operations. Now, it’s attacking a new biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes as insufficiently fawning.
In a Jan. 8 NewsBusters post, the MRC’s Tim Graham goes on the warpath against Gabriel Sherman’s new Ailes bio, calling it an “anti-Roger Ailes book” and railing against its use of anonymous sources — as if the MRC has never touted anonymous claims before. Graham then contradicts himself and attacks onr on-the-record claim, involving an alleged instance of sexual harassment by Ailes, because he doesn’t like it.
And Graham is really, really upset that the New York Times did an article on Sherman’s book, and for the Times pointing out that Zev Chafets’ fawning Ailes bio — done with the full cooperation of Ailes — served as “a plastic funnel for Mr. Ailes’s observations” and avoided “tough questions about Fox News’s incestuous relationship with the Republican Party, its role in accelerating partisanship in our increasingly polarized society or the consequences of its often tabloidy blurring of the lines between news and entertainment”:
Obviously, Gabe Sherman can expect a much more favorable Times reception. It’s already begun. But all this demonstrates the liberal media elite’s ongoing lack of self-awareness. They’ve never worked to elect a president.They’ve never had an “incestuous” relationship with a Democratic administration. They’ve never been responsible for “accelerating partisanship” or a “polarized society.” They’ve never acted as a “plastic funnel” for the observations of their leaders. It’s warm and comfortable inside their bubble.
Graham doesn’t mention the conflicts of interest that would explain why he would be so harsh on a perceived Ailes critic like Sherman:
- His boss, Brent Bozell, has a weekly segment on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show.
- A few days earlier, Graham himself appeared on Fox News’ sister business channel to engage in a little Times-bashing.
- NewsBusters conducted a softball interview with Chafets last year to promote his book.
So, yeah, Graham is totally in the tank for Ailes. Don’t want to jeopardize that Fox News access, after all.