(We’re Quickly Becoming) A Nation of Idiots

Michael Jackson died and the media cried. But don’t worry; they were tears of joy, not despair. After all, what better time to sacrifice journalistic integrity for the sake of high ratings and bloated ad revenues?

In the weeks following Jackson’s death, the level and scope of coverage was and continues to be mind-numbing. Sure, MJ’s death was tragic, but tragedy doesn’t warrant the widespread disengagement of American media outlets, nor does it permit the dumbing down of pertinent information. To borrow from John Ziegler, the obsessive coverage of Michael Jackson’s death is yet another glaring symptom of the malpractice that is all too common amongst today’s media elite.

It’s no surprise that CNN and others are jumping on the bandwagon. Jackson’s collapse and subsequent death fueled increased viewership and network interest. According to CNN co-founder Reese Schonfeld:

“Jackson’s death brought all sorts of new viewers to the cable news networks, and it’s obvious that most of them turned to CNN. CNN is still seen, by most people who are not news junkies, as the place to turn to for news they really care about.”

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Tags: CNN, Eric Holder, iran, Joe Biden, john ziegler
Posted Aug 3rd 2009 at 5:07 am in Media Criticism | 19472272 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bhallowell/2009/08/03/were-quickly-becoming-a-nation-of-idiots/%28We%27re+Quickly+Becoming%29+A+Nation+of+Idiots2009-08-03+12%3A07%3A50Billy+Hallowell

Inside the Letterman/Palin Flap

The fact that I’ve needed to correct the record every time I’m involved in some sort of media firestorm (about once a month since the election, it seems), probably says at least as much about the pathetic nature of our news media as anything I put in my documentary “Media Malpractice,” a film whose truth I’ve dedicated almost all of the last year of my life to. The most recent episode involving the controversy over David Letterman’s comments about Governor Sarah Palin and her family is certainly no exception.  

First, let me tell you what really happened, and then I can explain what we should all learn from this.  Here’s the timeline… 

Monday, June 8th: Letterman uses Palin’s trip to New York to unleash a torrent of  ”comic” attacks on her and her family. The entire “Top Ten” list is devoted to the Governor and includes cracks about her updating her “slutty” wardrobe and possessing illegal drugs. The monologue includes a “joke” about Palin’s “daughter” getting “knocked up” at a Yankees game by Alex Rodriquez during the 7th inning stretch while her mother and a stadium full of spectators presumably watched.   (more…)

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Tags: Bristol Palin, cbs, CBS Early Show, Contessa Brewer, firedavidletterman.com
Posted Jun 19th 2009 at 9:55 am in Featured Story, Media Criticism, Politics | 16495011 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jziegler/2009/06/19/inside-the-lettermanpalin-flap/Inside+the+Letterman%2FPalin+Flap+2009-06-19+16%3A55%3A30John+Ziegler

Trailer: ‘The Stoning of Soraya M.’

Directed and co-written by Cyrus Nowrasteh, “The Stoning of Soraya M.“ is based on Freidoune Sahebjam’s novel and stars Jim Caviezel and Shohreh Aghdashloo. According to a press release, it opens June 26th “in New York, Los Angeles and other key markets, with a national roll out to follow.”

More information is available at the official website.

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Tags: Blocking the Path to 9/11, cyrus nowrasteh, Freidoune Sahebjam, Jim Caviezel, john ziegler
Posted May 14th 2009 at 6:37 am in Politics, Religion, Video | 102686No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/05/14/trailer-the-stoning-of-soraya-m/Trailer%3A+%27The+Stoning+of+Soraya+M.%272009-05-14+13%3A37%3A51Big+Hollywood

Cronkite Award for Couric Represents Journalism’s Rotting Corpse

On April 15th, the “prestigious” (and apparently now openly liberal) USC Annenberg School for Communication will be presenting CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric with the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Journalism. 

Now, for there to even be such a thing as an prize for “Excellence in Television Journalism” in an age where a desperate thirst for ratings has caused most TV “news” to become little more than glorified infotainment, is a bit like passing out awards for fiscal responsibility to members of Congress.  But for Katie Couric, the poster child of this “infotainmentification” of news, to be the recipient of such an oxymoronic honor is much like if that aforementioned trophy for frugal spending in Congress went to John Murtha or Barney Frank. 

But what makes this situation so particularly galling is the specific reason why Couric is being honored for her “excellence in journalism.”  Couric is being presented with the award for “Special Achievement for National Impact on the 2008 Campaign.” 

What was it that Couric did that was so “special?” The judges singled her out solely for “her extraordinary, persistent and detailed multi-part interviews with Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.”  (more…)

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Tags: 2008 campaign, john ziegler, Katie Couric, Media Malpractice, news media
Posted Apr 9th 2009 at 1:47 pm in Featured Story, Media Criticism | 99498One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jziegler/2009/04/09/cronkite-award-for-couric-represents-journalisms-rotting-corpse/Cronkite+Award+for+Couric+Represents+Journalism%27s+Rotting+Corpse2009-04-09+20%3A47%3A00John+Ziegler

Sarah Palin Proves She’s No George Bush

Back in January, when the media firestorm over my “Media Malpractice” interview with Governor Sarah Palin erupted, I wrote on this website that it was my belief that she was no George W. Bush. I can now say with even greater certainty that I was absolutely correct in that assertion.  

The reason I felt that way initially, was that after several days of the news media cherry picking snippets from my interview with her in an out of context way that appeared designed to make Palin seem whiny and weak (the exact opposite of what she actually was during the interview), she had a couple of choices. Basically she could try to pretend the interview and the issue of how the media lied to destroy her candidacy didn’t really exist, lick her wounds, mitigate whatever perceived political damage there might have been (though with her base the interview was CLEARLY a huge hit) and never speak of the topic again, or she could continue the fight for the truth regardless of the potential consequences.   (more…)

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Tags: george bush, john ziegler, news media, sarah palin
Posted Mar 26th 2009 at 2:47 pm in Media Criticism, Politics | 895345 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jziegler/2009/03/26/sarah-palin-proves-she-is-no-george-bush/Sarah+Palin+Proves+She%27s+No+George+Bush2009-03-26+21%3A47%3A10John+Ziegler

Obama’s Remarkable 9/11 Blindspot

As a guy who has just made a film about how the news media paved the way for President Obama’s election, it won’t surprise you to hear that I have some critical things to say about his most recent appearance on “60 Minutes.” But what might shock you (because it stunned even me) was the incredibly tepid response that his most incredible remarks elicited even from the right (and no, they had nothing to do with laughter, or the economy).

Whether anyone chooses to notice or not, President Obama put himself out on the very edge of a very long and fragile limb on the issue of how to handle terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay.  For a guy who is a master at not taking any real position at all (or, when he is really at his “best” taking all possible sides to an issue simultaneously) , Obama showed an absolutely unbelievable recklessness in his response to former Vice President Dick Cheney’s criticism of his closing of the prison camp. (more…)

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Tags: "Path to 9/11", 60 minutes, 9/11, Barack Obama, Cuba
Posted Mar 24th 2009 at 12:44 pm in Featured Story, Media Criticism, Politics, Video | 879468 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jziegler/2009/03/24/obamas-remarkable-911-blindspot/Obama%27s+Remarkable+9%2F11+Blindspot2009-03-24+19%3A44%3A16John+Ziegler

My Real Time With Bill Maher

To view video of Andrew Breitbart on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” taped Friday, March 13, 2009 click here.

This week’s Washington Times column:

Pretty much everyone I respect in media and politics recommended I not go on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher.” But on Friday night, I defied that wisdom and had the time of my life.

I sparred with Mr. Maher, Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson and a MoveOn.org audience from hell that booed my sentences before they were completed. Unfortunately, my wife and in-laws, who watched from the green room, were not as enamored with the experience as I was.

Since the salad days of ABC’s “Politically Incorrect,” which minted countless right-wing pundits and best-selling authors, conservatives have rightly assessed the HBO version of the Maher show as R-rated and shockingly hostile to their worldview. So most opt out.

I totally see why. But I think that’s exactly the wrong strategy.

(more…)

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Tags: Bill Maher, Fox News, Georgetown, hbo, john ziegler
Posted Mar 15th 2009 at 4:03 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, Media Criticism | 80614204 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/03/15/my-real-time-with-bill-maher/My+Real+Time+With+Bill+Maher2009-03-15+23%3A03%3A13Andrew+Breitbart

‘Brothers At War’ Matters

It’s a little surprising to look back and realize I’ve been complaining whining pouting crying bitching moaning writing about the insidious effects of left-wing Hollywood on both our culture and the art form of film itself for a few years now. Watching conservatives catch up a bit in the political documentary department has been encouraging, but if someone were to ask, “What do you want?” My response would be, “Brothers at War.”

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As we’ve seen with John Ziegler’s important and well-made “Media Malpractice,” there’s a place and need for the political documentary, both on the left and right, but when it comes to the art of telling a story through film, that’s not the end game, it’s merely the opening kickoff. Though a documentary, “Brothers at War” is a reminder of what the goal line looks like. (more…)

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Tags: Brothers At War, Iraq, Jake Rademacher, john ziegler, Media Malpractice
Posted Mar 11th 2009 at 11:26 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics, Video | 7741815 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/03/11/brothers-at-war-matters/%27Brothers+At+War%27+Matters2009-03-11+18%3A26%3A44John+Nolte

Reaction To My Palin Interview Proves The Point

Unless you were hanging out with Joe the Plumber in Gaza this past week, you probably heard that I did an exclusive interview with Governor Sarah Palin for my forthcoming documentary, “Media Malpractice… How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Smeared.”

The reaction to the interview excerpts has been far more intense and far more deranged than I expected. Quite simply, the media response has done more to prove the basic point of the documentary than just about anything I could have produced in the film.

Here are just a few ways in which this episode felt like I had suddenly become Alice in Wonderland (without the dress or blond hair).

Governor Palin’s comments about being taken out of context were clearly taken out of context and her statements that they were being taken out of context were themselves taken out of context in a blatant, though thus far, unsuccessful attempt to turn the Governor and I against each other.

The Governor’s measured, rational and accurate attempts to correct the historical record about the basis for which a Presidential election was decided were “reported” by the left as being “whiny,” “catty” and “delusional.” Folks, there’s a reason why there’s such a thing as a war crimes tribunal; some things you just have to get to the bottom of.

(more…)

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Tags: documentary, john ziegler, Media Malpractice, new media, sarah palin
Posted Jan 14th 2009 at 4:45 am in Featured Story, Media Criticism, Politics, Video | 17157221 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jziegler/2009/01/14/reaction-to-my-palin-interview-proves-the-point/Reaction+To+My+Palin+Interview+Proves+The+Point2009-01-14+12%3A45%3A32John+Ziegler

Video Exclusive: A Revealing Morning With Sarah Palin

If someone told me five months ago that in early January I would pay over $1,400 for an incredibly inconvenient plane ticket and $120 for a 3 a.m. cab fare to get from sunny Los Angeles to Wasilla, Alaska, I would have told them there was a better chance the Dow Jones would be below 9,000 and a gallon of gas less than two dollars.

If they would have told me I’d be glad to have made the journey (even with a seven-hour, weather-aided stop in Seattle), I would have told them Sarah Palin had a better chance to be John McCain’s running-mate. Of course, as we all now know this turned out to be true. And even though I still have the flu I got just before the trip, I’m thrilled to have experienced minus-eleven degrees in Alaska.

Obviously, I was there to interview Governor Palin for my forthcoming documentary about the media coverage of election 2008. My understanding is that the only reason Governor Palin did this interview (while rejecting hundreds of other requests) is because of her sincere devotion to setting the record straight on what really happened during the campaign and to determine why the news coverage was as dangerously slanted as it so clearly was.

Largely because of absurd claims by Democrats that she was violating ethics rules by answering campaign questions on state grounds (one of several ways in which the Democrats in Alaska, who used to love her, are now fully invested in the “take Sarah Palin down” industry), we did the interview at the Palin home. At 9 a.m., without a security guard or handler in sight, Bristol Palin, eight days removed from giving birth, politely answered the door and Governor Palin, not yet fully put together, rushed out to tell myself and my crew to make ourselves at home.

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Tags: john ziegler, news media, sarah palin
Posted Jan 7th 2009 at 8:52 pm in Media Criticism, News, Politics | 108852,243 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jziegler/2009/01/07/my-interview-with-sarah-palin/Video+Exclusive%3A+A+Revealing+Morning+With+Sarah+Palin+2009-01-08+04%3A52%3A05John+Ziegler

We Must Hang Together, Or We Will All Hang Separately

Big Hollywood will likely contain plenty of stories dealing with and (hopefully) overcoming the hardships associated with being a “conservative” in and around Hollywood. I want to commend those who have been able to hold on to their principles and have had the courage to share their true convictions in the face of obvious and insidious prejudice.

However, coming from an area of the “entertainment” world (talk radio and documentary films) where expressing a strong opinion is not only allowed, it is mandatory; I come at this challenge from a different perspective than many of the writers for this site. I believe that a complementary relationship between those who are just now slowly “coming out” and those of us who are already battle scarred and hardened is absolutely vital to our side having any chance in the message/information war which is currently raging, and in which we have been getting creamed, for far too long.

And make no mistake this is a war we are in. One of the many reasons we are losing so badly is that their side gets this, our side does not.

When you are in a battle like this (even one that usually doesn’t involve real bullets, but rather only the verbal variety) you need generals, infantry and diplomats all working in coordination and in the best interest of the team. In my experience, our forces are largely disorganized, discouraged and in disarray. Consequently, our soldiers, through little fault of their own, are forced to act out of their own survival instincts rather than out of what might be good for the cause.

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Tags: cyrus nowrasteh, FOA, hollywood conservatives, How Obama Got Elected, john ziegler
Posted Jan 7th 2009 at 7:15 am in Entertainment, Media Criticism, Politics | 641756 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jziegler/2009/01/07/we-must-hang-together-or-we-will-all-hang-seperately/We+Must+Hang+Together%2C+Or+We+Will+All+Hang+Separately2009-01-07+14%3A15%3A41John+Ziegler