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Times Watch for January 30, 2004

Critics of Liberal Bias Should "Get Out More"

     TV critic Alessandra Stanley's review of Dennis Miller's eponymous new talk show touches on the comedian's post-9/11 conversion to conservatism, and wonders how conservatives can possibly complain about liberal bias: "Like its sister cable news network, MSNBC, the business-oriented CNBC seems obsessed with outfoxing the Fox network, boosting its ratings by catering to conservative viewers who seek an alternative to what they regard as a widespread liberal conspiracy on television. Not surprisingly, Mr. Miller's highlights this week included a commentary by Bernard Goldberg, a disenchanted CBS producer, whose latest book, 'Arrogance' (Warner, $26.95.), rails against the 'liberal media elite,' and David Horowitz, the editor of FrontPage magazine and a Los Angeles-based advocate for conservative causes. (Conservatives in Hollywood and New York always complain about stigma and persecution in the media and entertainment worlds, which makes one wonder why they don't get out more.)"

     Of course, conservatives don't believe there's a "widespread liberal conspiracy" among reporters to slant the news. As Bernard Goldberg (who was actually a CBS reporter as well as a producer) himself wrote in 1996: "No, we don't sit around in dark corners and plan strategies on how we're going to slant the news. We don't have to. It comes naturally to most reporters."

For the rest of Stanley's review of the Dennis Miller show, click here.

• Conservatives | Bernard Goldberg | Liberal Bias | Dennis Miller | Alessandra Stanley | Television

Moving Gay Marriage Into the Mainstream

     A Friday front-page story by Laurie Goodstein, "Gay Couples Seek Unions in God's Eyes," is the latest attempt by the Times to mainstream the idea of gay marriage.

     Goodstein takes pains to portray gay couples as religious and monogamous homebodies: "It is a perennial complaint among members of the clergy that many straight couples regard the chapel as little more than a stage set for a picture-perfect wedding. In contrast, many of the gay couples who are heading for the altar are regular worshipers who say in interviews that religion is central to their lives. They represent an often-overlooked slice of gay America: the monogamous homebodies more likely to have met their mates at Bible study than at a bar."

     Goodstein concludes with a cutesy, flattering anecdote from a lesbian couple: "Gay couples who would never consider attending a march or protest for gay rights are now asking for church weddings. Ms. Trzcinski and Ms. Auger, who met in the National Guard, said they had lived together discreetly since 1977, attended a Catholic church and never considered themselves part of a gay movement. Ms. Auger said she did not even know there was a movement until she asked one day what the rainbow flag stood for. The two used to attend weddings and hold hands secretly in the pews. It was only after Vermont passed its law permitting gay unions that they began to think about their own."

For more of Goodstein on gay unions, click here.

• Gay Rights | Laurie Goodstein | Religion

E-mail TimesWatch Director, Clay Waters, with TimesWatch feedback at cwaters@mediaresearch.org