1/12/10 – After Promising the Most Transparent Process Ever, the President and Congress Moved Behind Closed Doors to Craft the Most Intrusive Government Takeover Plan in Decades
Candidate and President Obama promised several times that negotiations over health care legislation would be held in the open for the American people to see. Obama specifically stated at least eight times (see video here) that talks would be televised on C-SPAN. After months of secret meetings and back room deals for special interest groups and Senators whose votes were needed, C-SPAN’s CEO sent a letter to congressional leaders, asking to be allowed to film the negotiations. Click here for the MRC’s response.
After the President, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ignored C-SPAN’s request, the MRC Action team bombarded all three of them with 75,003 phone calls demanding the transparency they promised the American people.
1/7/10 – In Another Christmas Surprise, President Obama’s Treasury Team Lifted the Credit Ceiling and Approved Massive Executive Bonuses for Government-Run Mortgage Giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
After railing all year against private companies for taking taxpayer money and then handing out bonuses to executives, the President applied a different standard to government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After the American people contributed over $100 billion to keep both of them afloat, Obama’s Treasury Department approved multi-million dollar bonuses for fat-cat executives at Fannie and Freddie. At the same time, Treasury also lifted the cap on how much taxpayer money can be funneled into these organizations, essentially writing them a blank check.
Not surprisingly, the major “news” networks didn’t find this newsworthy, so the MRC Action team moved aggressively by bombarding ABC, CBS, and NBC executives with 352,839 emails and 75,354 phone calls, demanding they report the full story.
12/23/09 – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Forces a Christmas Eve Vote on His Secret Health Care Takeover Plan.
Desperate to pass government health care through the Senate before Christmas, Majority Leader Reid went behind closed doors to work out his own version of the bill. After announcing his intentions to force a vote on Christmas Eve, many complained there wouldn’t even be time to read the massive bill before being asked to vote on it.
MRC Action team members stepped up and flooded Senate offices with tens of thousands of phone calls on December 23-24, demanding their Senators read the bill before voting.
12/15/09 – FCC Diversity Czar Mark Lloyd Lashes Out at MRC Action Team Efforts to Protect Free Speech. Action Team Members Respond to His Lies.
In a December 14, 2009 speech for the Media Access Project, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd claimed to refute what he called a “right-wing smear campaign” filled with “exaggerations and distortions” of a wide range of his thoughts, positions and policy prescriptions. What Lloyd did was offer numerous falsehoods and denials about things that are undeniably true. The “smear campaign” he referred to was actually a number of factual blog posts on the Media Research Center’s Newsbusters.org website (complete with audio and video clips of Mr. Lloyd’s actual words) and the reaction by MRC Action team members to the threat Mr. Lloyd poses to conservative talk radio. The MRC reacted to Mr. Lloyd’s denials by issuing a press release containing the facts (click here).
The incredible hypocrisy led the MRC Action team to bombard Mr. Goodell’s office with 135,130 phone calls, demanding he make a full, public apology to Rush.
12/3/09 – ABC, CBS and NBC Ignore “ClimateGate” – the Biggest Scientific Scandal of Our Generation – for Over Two Weeks. The MRC Action Team Speaks Out Demanding the Truth.
After highly scandalous e-mails from scientists at the center of the global warming theory revealed patterns of deceit, data manipulation and coordinated efforts to silence warming skeptics, the three major networks chose to avoid the story for weeks. Afraid that the truth might impede efforts at the global conference on climate change taking place in Copenhagen, ABC, CBS, and NBC ignored the ClimateGate story, hoping it would just go away. Even after Phil Jones left his post as head of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit – where most of the controversial e-mails originated – none of the broadcast network weekday morning and evening news shows addressed ClimateGate or the incriminating Jones development for days. The MRC issued a series of press releases encouraging the networks to cover this scandal (click here).
10/29/09 – The Media Line up to Defeat Rush Limbaugh’s Bid to Become a Part-Owner of the St. Louis Rams. The MRC Action Team Responds.
Rush’s enemies on the Left couldn’t bear to see Rush enjoy the fruits of his labor, so they unleashed their attack dogs to spread fabricated quotes aimed at painting Rush as a racist. After proving they were lies, the MRC called on CNN and MSNBC to apologize to Rush. Just as culpable in attacking Rush’s reputation was the NFL—specifically NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who said Rush’s “divisive comments” had no place in the NFL. Strangely, Mr. Goodell didn’t have any concerns over pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Fergie – who are now part owners of the Miami Dolphins – despite the fact that many of their songs promote sexual abuse toward women, pornography and drug use.
The incredible hypocrisy led the MRC Action team to bombard Mr. Goodell’s office with 135,130 phone calls, demanding he make a full, public apology to Rush.
9/2/09 – ABC News Continues Its Support for ObamaCare by Refusing to Air Ad with Opposing View. MRC Action Team Responds.
After months of making a mockery of journalistic standards by unabashedly stumping for Obama’s health care takeover plan, ABC News refused to air an ad by a group opposed to ObamaCare. This was the latest in a series of actions by ABC News to push Obama’s socialized medicine scheme and silence or marginalize those opposed to it. The MRC Action team responded by sending 83,070 petitions to David Westin, President of ABC News, demanding they start telling the truth about government-run health care. Click here to read the letter from Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center, that accompanied the petitions, and to sign the petition.
7/10/09 – Republican Congressmen Pence and Walden Attempt to Get a Floor Vote for their Broadcaster Freedom Amendment
The Walden-Pence Amendment is served up as an adjunct to an appropriations bill in an effort to get lawmakers in the House to go on record supporting free speech and taking away the FCC’s ability to unilaterally reinstate the so-called “Fairness” Doctrine, or to silence conservative and Christian speech through back-door tactics like “diversity” measures. The MRC Action Team responded all weekend by calling and faxing their Congressmen and asking for a fair up-or-down vote on this amendment to protect free speech. Despite the overwhelming show of grassroots support, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat –controlled House Rules Committee denied a vote on the amendment.
6/24/09 – ABC Devotes Two Hours of Prime Time Programming to Obama’s Health Care Plans
In what amounted to an infomercial for “ObamaCare”, ABC broadcast a town hall-style event on health care “reform” from the White House. ABC refused to allow any conservative or Republican point of view to be presented as a counter to Obama’s vision of socialized health care. Even more remarkable, ABC refused conservative groups from advertising during infomercial. Brent Bozell issued a press release protesting the extreme example of liberal media bias, and thousands of MRC Action team members called ABC executives to demand balanced reporting on health care.
6/15/09 -- David Letterman Attacks Sarah Palin’s 14-Year-Old daughter, Willow
Following Brent Bozell’s appearance of FOXNews, where he commented on Letterman’s lack of apology, MRC Action team members deluged CBS News with thousands of phone calls and email demanding a full, public apology from Letterman to Palin, her daughter and the young women he offended. Letterman did make two attempts to apologize, but Brent Bozell described the apologies as “Clintonian.”
6/10/09 -- FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Confirmation Hearing
Upon learning of the confirmation hearings of Genachowski for FCC Commissioner, the MRC Action team responds quickly—delivering 438,886 petitions to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Rockefeller and ranking Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison. Team members by the thousands also called members of the Committee demanding tough censorship questions be asked and Genochowski’s position on censorship be clarified.
5/20/09 – MRC Launches Week-long “Blitz of Congress” For Broadcaster Freedom Act
Demanding the Broadcaster Freedom Act be brought to the floor for an up-or-
down vote, MRC Action team members set a goal to make 500,000 Congressional
contacts through petitions, phones, faxes and personal visits.
3/10/09 – New Threat to Free Speech Rights Emerges
MRC reinvigorates Free Speech Alliance petition - mobilizing more than 60 organizations and rallying more than 400,000 petitions targeting the FCC to prevent it from reinstating the so-called “Fairness” Doctrine.
Total petitions sent: 207,847
2/17/09 – Media Launches Full-Scale Attack to Discredit and Destroy Rush Limbaugh
Following comments about Ted Kennedy, the media attempts to destroy Rush with the long-term goal to marginalize conservative commentators – paving the way for a broader censorship of conservative speech and ideas. MRC Action team responds via email and phone calls to network heads.
1/28/09 – ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Must Recuse Himself From Any Reporting Involving The Obama Administration
Mr. Stephanopoulos is discovered to be conducting private, daily phone briefings with Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, while still presenting himself as an “objective” journalist. MRC viewed this has an outrageous conflict of interest and immediately demanded that he recuse himself from reporting on the Obama administration.
10/23/08 – Demand CNN’s Drew Griffin Apologize for His Baseless Attack on Sarah Palin
Drew Griffin makes a journalistically bankrupt attack on Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin in which he knowingly uses a quote out of context from a respected conservative news magazine in an attempt to discredit her. The Media Research Center urged all members of their Action Team to email Griffin demanding a public apology to Palin and National Review’s Byron York.
Total email sent: 53,564
10/15/08 – 140,218 Petitions Delivered to Key Media Targets Demanding End Media Bias in Election Coverage!
Deeply skewed election coverage prompted the MRC to deliver hundreds of thousands of grassroots petitions to key media targets in an effort to restore political balance to the major media.