Report: Matthews accepted hefty speaking fees from conservative groups

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Report_posits_that_Chris_Matthews_star_0309.html

<snip>

A new report advanced to RAW STORY Thursday suggests that Chris Matthews, the star of the MSNBC's daily talk show Hardball, has accepted hefty speaking fees from an array of conservative trade associations.

Matthews has given speeches to at least ten major conservative trade associations since 2001. The report's author, Dave Johnson, who blogs at Seeing The Forest and is also a fellow at the progressive Commonweal Institute, could find no records indicating that Matthews has spoken before any Democratic-leaning organizations. The report is not a product of the Commonweal Institute.

"Why is Matthews speaking at so many events with Republican-associated trade organizations?" Johnson asks. "What is NBC policy on speaking engagements and why does NBC keep it hidden? Are these trade associations paying Matthews to purchase influence?"

A call placed to Matthew's publicist was not immediately returned. An NBC spokesperson could not confirm to RAW STORY whether the network had banned the acceptance of speaking fees. It seems unlikely that Matthews would have spoken to so many groups pro bono. Matthews is also listed at a second speakers bureau here. Johnson says he made numerous calls to NBC inquiring about their speaking fee policy. He says his calls were not returned.

<snip>

[yourout]

1. No conflict of interest here.......none.

Move along now.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

2. From the article:

Howard Kurtz reported in 2002 that NBC had banned the practice of journalists accepting speaking fees but the report's author suggests otherwise.

[LSparkle]

3. Interesting discovery ... I'm sure Insanity, O'Really and co do the same

But should they be allowed to host "fair and balanced" programs while accepting money from political groups that can push for guest slots, etc.? Any legitimate NEWS host shouldn't be allowed to do so, IMHO ... which makes these guys ... ???

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

4. Exactly.

[bullimiami]

5. tweety is a puke but swears he isnt.

whatever dem he ever had in him is long long gone.

[MADem]

11. His wife works at the TV station in DC--DC mind you--that was the only

outlet in the southern MD-DC-NORVA region that carried Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect show. They canned the show after that episode where Bill discussed the 9/11 hijackings, and did not bring it back even after other outlets did. There was a HUGE email drive to get them to restore it, but they flat-out fundy-refused.

So the friggin' Congress couldn't even see what was a most-watched program, to get a sense of what people were saying about them...

[Rose Siding]

6. So, I expect, have Scarborough and Carlson

and any number of other pundits. What liberal organization would have any of them?

Is this a scandal just because NBC hasn't been clear about their policy?

[DainBramaged]

8. What happened to the bow tie twit, is he done at MSNoBodyCares?

[k8conant]

12. The bow tie twit is on vacation this week...

or so they said last night.

[specimenfred1984]

7. Propaganda Whore w/Zero Credibility

Too bad the suckers that listen to his lies didn't waste 100G per person.

[against all enemies]

9. Shocked, Shocked I say.

[OKNancy]

10. I can't wait for the real author's work to be out

his bio page:
http://www.seeingtheforest.com/author.html

[flamingyouth]

24. Yes, that will be quite interesting indeed.

[Up2Late]

13. And this is news becauuuuuuuuuuuuuuse...?????

I hope this help clear up the reason a LOT of us here do not like or trust Tweety, and I'm one of those people.

[RazzleDazzle]

18. Yes, precisely. News because it's now explicit and documented

instead of just a sure thing but UNdocumented.

[howmad1]

30. You can never trust.......

.....a dumb blonde.:wtf:

[stepnw1f]

14. Well Now It's Publicly Confirmed

The GOP owns the ever failing mainstream media....

New meme..

[meisje]

15. so pundits make money?

[BlueEyedSon]

16. Enought already, he is a f*cking whore... lets move on!

[VegasWolf]

17. I stop listening to tweety so many years ago when he lost his conscience

and sold out to the pukes. Tweety is a joke. I am surprised his show is still on the air.

[salin]

19. Tip has got to be spinning

certainly explains tweety's spin - and that even when he is critical of bushco/cons in congress - he reverses direction within a day or two and is back to bleating praises.

[mandyky]

20. Shall we call him Armstrong, now?

I guess no more Hardball for me, and less of MSNBC. I've gone back to CNN anyway, except that Kyra witch still bugs me..

[VegasWolf]

21. People pay real money to listen to Matthews?? Couldn't afford Coulter

I guess?

[KittyWampus]

31. at least with Coulter you get the sick thrill of the "car wreck effect".

[IndianaGreen]

22. Tweety compared Bush to Henry V, the warrior king!

Tweety has been a Bush apologist for years, so it is not surprising that he would take rightwing money.

[feistydem]

23. I was thoroughly unimpressed with this Rawstory piece. Hyped up nothing.

None of the so-called rightwing organizations they listed seemed all that rightwing to me...

International Franchise Association;
the National Association of Chain Drug Stores;
the National Association of Convenience Stores

Oh my goodness, Tweety sold his soul to 7-11 and Burger King store owners!

I think he's a primadonna and a hack journalist, but this story is just hyped up crap. If he spoke in front of the gun lobby and then got on the air and talked up gun manufacturers' rights to make semi-automatic weapons for 'hunting' I'd say that's a story.

Rawstory made it sound like they had something really BIG --like he had an affair with his priest or something. I felt like they were jerking their readers around.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

25. From a journalistic vs. a 'it's not news; next' perspective....here's my

two cents.

When I was in Journalism class in college, we discussed media bias. This was in the late 1980s, early 1990s. I recall the professor telling us that while many people have a view that the media "shifts" left, most reporters are actually middle-of-the-road. He may have been talking about print reporters.

I wonder if the statistics still hold true, now 14 years after graduation.

Granted, I don't consider Tweety a reporter (hell, Ted Baxter's more a reporter than Tweety?!), but for goodness sakes, is it too much to ask for balance in news, whether it be coverage, panel discussions, etc.?

In terms of objective news coverage on TV, is CNN Headline News the closest I'm gonna get to straight, objective news? Not very in-depth, but it's something.

[feistydem]

29. I was in journalism classes those same years, and no doubt the news

has shifted from mostly staight reporting to entertainment and now out-and-out pandering to a political philosophy and/or corporate parentage.

Matthews never seems to know where he stands. I think he's flaky as all hell. I also think the Rawstory piece was also reaching for the entertainment, shock & awe factor with their headline of big breaking news yesterday only to follow up with this lame story on Matthews today.

I really miss the days of real investigative journalism when careers were made by breaking well-researched and deeply-sourced stories. Some journalists still seem to care about journalistic ethics and integrity. Josh Marshall is one of my favorites.

[Marie26]

27. Don't all pundits do this?

You'll see Hannity or Tim Russert giving speeches for lots of $$$. And ex-Presidents do the same thing. I don't see why this is a big shock. They could probably go through the speaking engagements of every single TV journalist & find something similar. I agree that Raw Story is losing creditability w/stuff like this. They may get more visitors in the short term, but those vistors won't come back if they feel like the site isn't getting real scoops.

[feistydem]

32. Agreed. I don't need the big scoops...just don't jerk me around

with phony headlines to get me to come back tomorrow to read a half-baked story.

I don't appreciate DUers who write a subject line like, "I'm not voting for another Democrat!" and then you click on the link to see what all the fuss is about and they write, "Just kidding, but..." I think those should be dumped as flame bait as soon as they go up.

Maybe I'm just getting ornery in my old... oh wait, I'm not old. Maybe I'm just ornery, ha!

[Just Me]

28. HA!!!! I love it!!! He sold his soul,...like ALL dishonorable journalist

types have and, it's on the record.

He has no honor towards his profession, no loyalty to journalism, no commitment to the American people. He DESERVES to be called on his call: a "HO".h

[Generic Brad]

26. It's Not a Surprise

It's been increasingly obvious who butters his bread based on his public statements. I think the majority of DU'ers have recognized him as a media whore for a few years now.

[mvd]

33. I wouldn't be surprised

I stopped watching him long ago, but it never seemed like he uttered a negative word about Bush.

[Faygo Kid]

34. He's finally as bad as Russert. What a pair. Tweety loves Boehner.

Russert is still trying to pry his tongue off Rush's pilodinal cyst-laden ass. Now Tweety wants to join him with his tongue attached to the House Majority Leader's - er - Boehner. Enough. Get him, Sylvester.