Will the Chris Matthews Boycott Work?
Liberal bloggers are encouraging an advertiser boycott of Hardball host Chris Matthews. From the new blog organized for the campaign:
Chris Matthews has repeatedly compared Americans who are concerned about the war in Iraq to Osama bin Liden. We are asking companies to refrain from advertising on Matthews’ MSNBC TV show “Hardball” until he publicly apologizes and promises to stop his right-wing bias.
Our guess is that the boycott won’t work, but that the attention to this issue will force Matthews to tone down his rhetoric a bit. Matthews strives to be balanced, unlike an O’Reilly, so this kind of pressure is likely to have an effect in his case. Of course, then the right will hammer him about something, and he’ll have to adjust again.
The Matthews boycott notwithstanding, we’ve found some of the behavior of liberal bloggers irritating of late — particularly the vicious, uncalled-for attacks on Washington Post ombud Deborah Howell. Liberals aren’t doing themselves any favors by acting like lefty Rush Limbaughs.
Technorati tags: Chris Matthews, Media, Politics, Liberals
I love that you don’t always take one side or the other on things, Scott. I never know what to expect when I come to visit.
Thanks, Reagan. Read enough of my posts, and you’ll realize that I often disagree with myself…
You’re a liberal.
The Matthews boycott may be more like flavor-of-the-moment venting than of much substance and will likely fade away, but the WaPo/Howell et al fiasco is about much more than an attack on a seasoned professional over a few “poorly chosen” words by a seasoned professional.
With WaPo.com trying to marginalize and deprecate legitimate criticism from its readers (which appears as little more than elitist snobbery,and which might have worked yesterday…), a small moment has been magnified beyond it’s relative import and the context of questioning fact and veracity has been lost in the noise and umbrage from both sides over-reaction and hardening of the attitudes. Ignoring and condescending to one’s audience doesnt strike me as a wise choice, and has given legs to this issue and incentive to the critics.
I don’t think the Post would have pulled the plug on comments if the attacks hadn’t been so ugly and personal on Howell. It’s what political debate has devolved to in this country, and it makes me sick.
This is very long, and somewhat “in your face”, but the discussion is both interesting and illuminating…
FWIW, I scanned the Maryland Moments comments (600+) before the hide and seek started, and while I did see a few tasteless ad hominem moments, that was all I saw…
Wow, that IS long. I’ll have to finish some work for paying clients before reading it;)
And I’ll be honest and tell you I haven’t read the comments as you have; I’ve only read accounts of the barrage in AJR and elsewhere, which have been pretty uniformly in WaPo’s favor. These are sources I’ve always trusted so didn’t feel the need to question them.
But I will go back (after I finish this job) and take a look at the comments you scanned. I’m curious now.
Thanks for discussing this with us.
Here’s the AJR piece I referenced.