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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JBTFD who wrote (126469)	3/15/2012 11:32:49 AM
From: longnshort	3 Recommendations Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 224750

While Carusone was contacting advertisers, Media Matters began running almost daily counts of how many advertisers had “dropped” Limbaugh. Media Matters did not disclose that advertisers were “dropping” Limbaugh as a result of the efforts of Media Matters’ own employee, Carusone. Carusone did not try to hide his efforts in his media interviews, but Media Matters itself did not attribute the success of the campaign to its own efforts. The weekend Twitter and Facebook campaign by Carusone paid dividends, as many of the initial advertisers cited online complaints as one of the reasons for dropping Limbaugh. Media Matters also inflated the numbers, including advertisers who never advertised on Limbaugh but merely acknowledged a pre-existing policy. Yet those inflated numbers (50? 100? 140?) then were picked up by the media, to create the appearance of momentum. Media Matters then published an account of “ dead air” during Limbaugh’s show on WABC in New York City. In the text of the article it’s revealed that the dead air was only on the online broadcast, but the lazy and biased mainstream media simply regurgitated the headline of dead air, which has become an urban legend. There is no equivalent of Media Matters on the conservative side, a well-funded organization devoted to silencing political opponents through secondary advertiser boycotts. George Soros donated $1 million in 2010 for the anti-Fox News campaign, the same year Media Matters hired Carusone for the various “Stop” campaigns. While much of the public outcry against Limbaugh was genuine, the advertiser secondary boycott was astroturfed by Media Matters, which initiated a pre-existing “Stop Limbaugh” campaign, executed it over the first weekend of the controversy, and then hyped it and spoon fed it to the mainstream media without disclosing that a Media Matters employee was behind it all. legalinsurrection.com