Subscribe to our feed.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is your complaint with Chris Matthews and MSNBC?
Chris Matthews is a major opinion leader who has repeatedly compared Americans concerned about the war in Iraq to Osama bin Laden, a charge that borders on accusing over half the American public with treason. Matthews is perceived, wrongly, as a responsible and objective mainstream journalist with a reputation for calling it as he sees it. That gives his partisan smears a veneer of credibility that makes them particularly offensive and dangerous in a nation at war. It is wrong for Chris Matthews and MSNBC to politicize the deaths of 3,000 Americans on September 11.
2. What exactly did Chris Matthews say?
Hardball, January 19, 2006
It is incredibly biased, irresponsible, and offensive for a supposedly-objective journalist to repeat as truth partisan Republican talking points accusing patriotic Americans of sharing traits with the greatest mass murderer in American history. Chris Matthews' right-wing bias has been an ongoing, growing problem and it needs to stop.
4. So you've launched a boycott of "Hardball's" advertisers?
We are asking companies to refrain from associating their products with Chris Matthews' hateful, extremist rhetoric.
5. Who exactly is behind this campaign?
A coalition of more than 20 of the top progressive and moderate political blogs, with a collective daily readership of over 1 million visitors, including DailyKos, Eschaton, AMERICAblog, MyDD, Annatopia, and more (for a full listing, see our home page).
6. What will it take for you to call off your protest?
Chris Matthews and the senior management of MSNBC need to publicly apologize for comparing patriotic American critics of the war in Iraq to terrorist Osama bin Laden, and both must commit to stop functioning as an adjunct of the right-wing noise machine and to start acting like objective journalists.
7. Are you trying to censor Chris Matthews?
No. On the contrary, it is Chris Matthews and MSNBC who are using partisan, personal attacks to stifle the free speech of the majority of Americans who have concerns about the war in Iraq. We are only asking for neutrality and objectivity from Chris Matthews, MSNBC, and the media at large. Unlike the conservative movement’s decades-long strategic campaign to force the media to report only the conservative viewpoint, we want a healthy, free and independent press, providing the public with the information they need to make appropriate choices in a democracy.
8. But I heard boycotts don't work.
Appeals to advertisers work, when done well. In 2000, over 180 advertisers fled Dr. Laura Schlessinger's new television show after it was protested by civil rights groups. In May 2005, Microsoft repudiated its embrace of far-right ideologues after a threatened progressive boycott, and in December 2005, Ford Motor Company did the same. All three of those campaigns were run by one of our spokesmen.
9. Isn't Chris Matthews a Democrat?
Chris Matthews is as much a Democrat as Ronald Reagan. Both men were Democrats years ago, but that had no bearing on their politics since that time. Chris Matthews has a long history of parroting right-wing talking points that laud Republicans and smear Democrats and Independents. Objective journalists don't label Senator Hillary Clinton a witch and a socialist while touting George Bush's placement on Mount Rushmore. Objective journalists don't say, only two months ago, that "Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs, maybe on the left" - especially when the president's approval is at 36%. And finally, objective journalists don't make "fag jokes."
10. Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson, Bill O'Reilly and Pat Buchanan have also compared Democrats to terrorists, why aren't you boycotting them?
Scarborough, Carlson, O'Reilly and Buchanan are not serious objective journalists, they are the TV equivalent of radio shock jocks. Their partisan opinions, while carrying weight with some in the far-right of the Republican party, are not accepted by the general public as truth. Chris Matthews, however, is perceived as a real journalist, so when he parrots Republican talking points attacking the patriotism of millions of Americans, the impact is much more severe. And the very fact that Chris Matthews is in the company of Scarborough, Carlson, O'Reilly and Buchanan shows just what kind of journalist he has become.
11. Didn't Chris Matthews already apologize for comparing Democrats to Osama?
No. He claimed his comments were "misunderstood," then he repeated them.
12. How can I help?
Go to our home page and follow the instructions in the "Take Action" column.
- Contact MSNBC.
- Contact "Hardball's" advertisers.
- Put our anti-Hardball blogad on your Web site.
- Send us tips and let us know what response you're getting from advertisers by emailing us here: OpenLetterTips@gmail.com
13. I'm a reporter, how can I contact you?
OpenLetterMedia@gmail.com
Chris Matthews is a major opinion leader who has repeatedly compared Americans concerned about the war in Iraq to Osama bin Laden, a charge that borders on accusing over half the American public with treason. Matthews is perceived, wrongly, as a responsible and objective mainstream journalist with a reputation for calling it as he sees it. That gives his partisan smears a veneer of credibility that makes them particularly offensive and dangerous in a nation at war. It is wrong for Chris Matthews and MSNBC to politicize the deaths of 3,000 Americans on September 11.
2. What exactly did Chris Matthews say?
Hardball, January 19, 2006
MATTHEWS: You point out that [Osama bin Laden] — you believe that he‘s also — he‘s trying to really talk to the Muslim people of the world who he has harmed so much in places like Iraq, but let me read some of these lines. I know you‘ve been over these, Senator, almost like Biblical text trying to figure these things out. But look at this line.Hardball, January 20, 2006
This is from bin Laden in the audio today. “There is no defect in the solution other than preventing the flow of hundreds of billions to the influential people and war merchants in America.” I mean, he sounds like an over-the-top Michael Moore here, if not a Michael Moore. Do you think that sells in America, that this war is being fought for the Daddy Warbucks?
Video & Transcript
MATTHEWS: Why is [Osama bin Laden] doing it? Why is he trying to track what he picks up in the Internet and from the media as the lingo of the left in America, like Moore? Why would he start to talk like Moore? People misunderstood what I said last night. I think he's getting some advice from people, he's getting some lingo, some wordage that he hears working somewhere in the United States about this being for war profiteers and he's jumping on every opportunity.Hardball, July 8, 2004
Video & Transcript
"MATTHEWS: What happens, Senator Breaux, if it looks like that Al Qaeda is playing cards here, playing a game of trying to get people to vote Democrat for president, to basically make their case worldwide? Doesn't it put your party in a terrible position of having Al Qaeda rooting for you?3. Why are Matthews' comments a problem?
Video & Transcript
It is incredibly biased, irresponsible, and offensive for a supposedly-objective journalist to repeat as truth partisan Republican talking points accusing patriotic Americans of sharing traits with the greatest mass murderer in American history. Chris Matthews' right-wing bias has been an ongoing, growing problem and it needs to stop.
4. So you've launched a boycott of "Hardball's" advertisers?
We are asking companies to refrain from associating their products with Chris Matthews' hateful, extremist rhetoric.
5. Who exactly is behind this campaign?
A coalition of more than 20 of the top progressive and moderate political blogs, with a collective daily readership of over 1 million visitors, including DailyKos, Eschaton, AMERICAblog, MyDD, Annatopia, and more (for a full listing, see our home page).
6. What will it take for you to call off your protest?
Chris Matthews and the senior management of MSNBC need to publicly apologize for comparing patriotic American critics of the war in Iraq to terrorist Osama bin Laden, and both must commit to stop functioning as an adjunct of the right-wing noise machine and to start acting like objective journalists.
7. Are you trying to censor Chris Matthews?
No. On the contrary, it is Chris Matthews and MSNBC who are using partisan, personal attacks to stifle the free speech of the majority of Americans who have concerns about the war in Iraq. We are only asking for neutrality and objectivity from Chris Matthews, MSNBC, and the media at large. Unlike the conservative movement’s decades-long strategic campaign to force the media to report only the conservative viewpoint, we want a healthy, free and independent press, providing the public with the information they need to make appropriate choices in a democracy.
8. But I heard boycotts don't work.
Appeals to advertisers work, when done well. In 2000, over 180 advertisers fled Dr. Laura Schlessinger's new television show after it was protested by civil rights groups. In May 2005, Microsoft repudiated its embrace of far-right ideologues after a threatened progressive boycott, and in December 2005, Ford Motor Company did the same. All three of those campaigns were run by one of our spokesmen.
9. Isn't Chris Matthews a Democrat?
Chris Matthews is as much a Democrat as Ronald Reagan. Both men were Democrats years ago, but that had no bearing on their politics since that time. Chris Matthews has a long history of parroting right-wing talking points that laud Republicans and smear Democrats and Independents. Objective journalists don't label Senator Hillary Clinton a witch and a socialist while touting George Bush's placement on Mount Rushmore. Objective journalists don't say, only two months ago, that "Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs, maybe on the left" - especially when the president's approval is at 36%. And finally, objective journalists don't make "fag jokes."
10. Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson, Bill O'Reilly and Pat Buchanan have also compared Democrats to terrorists, why aren't you boycotting them?
Scarborough, Carlson, O'Reilly and Buchanan are not serious objective journalists, they are the TV equivalent of radio shock jocks. Their partisan opinions, while carrying weight with some in the far-right of the Republican party, are not accepted by the general public as truth. Chris Matthews, however, is perceived as a real journalist, so when he parrots Republican talking points attacking the patriotism of millions of Americans, the impact is much more severe. And the very fact that Chris Matthews is in the company of Scarborough, Carlson, O'Reilly and Buchanan shows just what kind of journalist he has become.
11. Didn't Chris Matthews already apologize for comparing Democrats to Osama?
No. He claimed his comments were "misunderstood," then he repeated them.
12. How can I help?
Go to our home page and follow the instructions in the "Take Action" column.
- Contact MSNBC.
- Contact "Hardball's" advertisers.
- Put our anti-Hardball blogad on your Web site.
- Send us tips and let us know what response you're getting from advertisers by emailing us here: OpenLetterTips@gmail.com
13. I'm a reporter, how can I contact you?
OpenLetterMedia@gmail.com
posted by John Aravosis (DC) at 3:14 PM | Link
<< Home