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CBS News Exec Kaplan Advances Palin Distortion

Posted by Mike Bates on Friday, May 22, 2009 10:10:14 AM
Weeks ago, Rick Kaplan, executive producer of the "CBS Evening News," claimed that "Everybody, including Republicans, would have to say that (Obama's) first 100 days have been great."  This week, Kaplan perpetuated a myth concerning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

The event was a Katie Couric Roast & Toast held Wednesday evening as part of the American News Women's Club 15th gala.  MediaBistro's blog FishbowlDC provides the pertinent details in "Ratings, Palin and Colonoscopies: Couric Roasted :"

Kaplan, Couric's executive producer at Evening News ("Beauty and the Beast," chided Donaldson) was first up. "Roasting your anchor... can be really dangerous," he opened. "We did have to edit out a couple of comments that Katie made during the interview, for instance, when Governor Palin said I can see Russia from my house, Katie actually said, well I can see Jersey from mine but that doesn't mean I know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried."

The contention that "Governor Palin said I can see Russia from my house" is incorrect.  Even Time Magazine corrected the error last October in "Palin vs. "Palin": When SNL Parody Becomes Campaign Reality."  Reporting that Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live provided "a seamless blending of reality and parody," the article went on to note:
A Google search, for instance, turns up plenty of blog references to Palin's claim that she could see Russia "from [her] house" as her way of saying that being governor of Alaska is a foreign policy credential. The only problem: Real Sarah Palin never said it. Fey did, spoofing Palin's argument that one can see Russia from Alaskan territory. But who can remember those details? If Real You gets in an argument with Public You, Public You wins every time.

A post-election Zogby poll of Obama voters disclosed that 86.9 percent of respondents believed GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was the correct answer to the question: Which candidate said they could see Russia from their house?

One would think that the executive producer of the "CBS Evening News" would know better.  Then again, with the detachment from reality demonstrated by his assertion that everyone would have to say Obama's first 100 days were great, perhaps he genuinely doesn't know any better.  And it's not likely his mainstream media comrades would point out the error.
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CBS News Exec Kaplan: 'Everybody, including Republicans, would have to say that his first 100 days have been great'

Posted by Mike Bates on Sunday, May 03, 2009 5:46:23 PM
Today's Washington Post Web site carries the Associated Press story "Who's Watching News Scorecards on Obama?"  Written by David Bauder, the piece begins by reporting:
As President Barack Obama passed his 100th day in office last week, two studies judged that the news media has given him more coverage, and more positive coverage, than his two predecessors at the same point in their terms.

Paragraphs later comes one explanation of the fawning mainstream media coverage:

The newscasts reflect reality, said Rick Kaplan, executive producer of the "CBS Evening News." He said he believed that the president has done extraordinarily well. "Everybody, including Republicans, would have to say that his first 100 days have been great," he said.

No doubt Kaplan would be astounded to learn that not everyone agrees that Obama's first 100 days have been so terrific.  Today's Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll, for example, finds that 43 percent of voters disapprove of Obama's performance.  Moreover, 32 percent of the nation's voters strongly disapprove.

Kaplan went on in the article to explain:

"You cover what's out there," Kaplan said. "Everybody gets upset. If you cover somebody too hard, his supporters think you're being unfair. If you cover somebody too soft, his opponents think you're too soft. Across his four years, or eight years, whatever it is, there will be plenty for people on all sides to not like or love. It will balance itself out inevitably."

I find it interesting that Kaplan speaks of covering "somebody too hard" or "too soft."  Factually reporting news would seem to leave little room for such subjectivity.  Of course, factually reporting news doesn't appeal to much of the mainstream media.  They have a dog in this fight and don't care if their audiences know it.

The incredibly favorable coverage of Obama has again demonstrated the blatant bias that permeates much of the press.  Yet, somehow, magically, we're expected to accept that eventually "it will balance itself out."

Sure.  I believe that.

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