Very important point refuting the negative coverage of Tony Snow....

There have been some media outlets who turned immediately to their friends in left wing organizations who happily provided out of context quotes from Tony Snow to them. Of course, had these media outlets done even a tiny bit of homework, the following would have become immediately obvious to them.......read this (as always) insightful bits from today's Media Research Center CyberAlert:


ABC and NBC on Wednesday night delighted in showcasing how incoming White House Press Secretary Tony Snow last year wrote that President Bush had become "an embarrassment." But in portraying the quote as a declarative accusation, neither ABC's Elizabeth Vargas or NBC's David Gregory put the remark into the context of how Snow was observing that Virginia Republicans not wishing to appear with Bush during the 2005 campaign suggested "Bush has become something of an embarrassment."

And neither bothered to let their viewers in on how they were just funneling quotes from a short list collected by the left-wing Center for American Progress. Vargas teased at the top of World News Tonight, "President Bush chooses a new spokesman: A conservative commentator who once called the President 'an embarrassment.'"

NBC's David Gregory at least hinted at some context, though he still implied it was an accusation, as he related how Snow "has criticized his new boss, writing last year that, quote, 'George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.'"

Vargas managed to apply an ideological tag to Snow three times in under two minutes. She also ludicrously asserted that "Tony Snow is the first journalist to get this job." Tell that to Pierre Salinger, Bill Moyers, Ron Nessen or Joe Lockhart -- who was a producer for Vargas' own ABC News.

Gregory twice labeled Snow "conservative" before pointing out what eluded Vargas: "He is the first TV personality to be in the job since Gerald Ford hired away Ron Nessen from NBC News back in the 70s."

[This item was posted Wednesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org. To post your comments, go to: newsbusters.org ]
See today's second CyberAlert item below by the MRC's Rich Noyes for how Wednesday's Good Morning America highlighted the "an embarrassment" charge and how Jessica Yellin failed to acknowledge her liberal source.
The headline over the page on the Website of the Center for American Progress: "Tony Snow On President Bush: 'An Embarrassment,' 'Impotent,' 'Doesn't Seem To Mean What He Says.'" The fourth quote: "'George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.' [11/11/05]"

For the collection of quotes: thinkprogress.org

James Taranto pointed out in his Wednesday "Best of the Web" e-mail/posting for OpinionJournal.com (I've put in UPPER CASE the clause picked out by the left-wing group and so readily passed along by ABC and NBC):
"The quote comes from a column on the Virginia governor's election, in which Democrat Tim Kaine beat Republican Jerry Kilgore.
Here it is in context:
"'And don't forget about the Swagger Factor: A party that projects confidence and good cheer will thrash a Chicken Little party any day. Kilgore looked scared. Kaine acted like the cool kid on prom night.
"'The Swagger Factor has national repercussions because George W. Bush has lost his. His wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back against the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson. The newly Passive GEORGE BUSH HAS BECOME SOMETHING OF AN EMBARRASSMENT. At the nadir of his campaign, Jerry Kilgore actively dodged having to share a stage with the commander in chief.'"

For Taranto's April 26 Best of the Web: www.opinionjournal.com

For Snow's column as posted on TownHall.com: www.townhall.com