Moyers addresses 'liberal' label



Moyers addresses 'liberal' label

Moyers addresses 'liberal' label
By Michael D. Sorkin
Of the Post-Dispatch
05/15/2005

Bill Moyers on Sunday denounced the right wing and top White House officials for trying to silence their critics by controlling the news media. He also took aim at reporters who become little more than willing government “stenographers.” And he said the public increasingly is content with just enough news to confirm their own biases.

Speaking in St. Louis at a conference on media reform, Moyers answered for the first time charges that public television in general, and Moyers in particular, is too “liberal."

The latest charges are from Kenneth Tomlinson, the Republican chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and, in effect, Moyers’ boss. For nearly 40 years, Moyers has been an award-winning journalist on the Public Broadcasting System.

Moyers said those in power -- government officials and their allies in the media -- mean to stay in power by punishing journalists “who tell the stories that make princes and priests uncomfortable... ."
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Moyers described those officials as “obsessed with control’’ of the media. They are “Using the government to threaten and intimidate.”

Tomlinson paid an outside consultant $10,000 to keep track of the political leanings of guests on Moyers’ show, “Now.” Moyers left the show last year but has returned to PBS with another show.

In March, according to The New York Times, Tomlinson hired a senior White House aide to draw up guidelines to review the content of public radio and television broadcasts, on the recommendation of adminstration officials.

Moyers said he was aware his broadcasts have created a backlash in Washington.

“The more compelling our journalism, the angrier became the radical right of the Republican Party,’’ he said. “That’s because the one thing they loathe more than liberals is the truth. And the quickest way to be damned by them as liberal is to tell the truth.”

Moyers speech drew standing ovations from many of the 2,500 people attending the Conference for Media Reform this weekend in St. Louis.

Reporter Michael D. Sorkin
E-mail: msorkin@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8347

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May 7, 2005: This Week's Top Stories "Peace Corps Online" on recess until May 21 7 May Carol Bellamy taking the reins at World Learning 7 May Gopal Khanna appointed White House CFO 7 May Clare Bastable named Conservationist of the Year 7 May Director Gaddi Vasquez visits PCVs in Bulgaria 5 May Abe Pena sets up scholarship fund 5 May Peace Corps closes recruiting sites 4 May Hill pessimistic over Korean nuclear program 4 May Leslie Hawke says PC should split into two organizations 4 May Peace Corps helps students find themselves 3 May Kevin Griffith's Tsunami Assistance Project collects 50k 3 May Tim Wright studied Quechua at UCLA 2 May Doyle not worried about competition 2 May Dodd discusses President's Social Security plan 1 May Randy Mager works in Blue Moon Safaris 1 May PCVs safe in Togo after disputed elections 30 Apr Michael Sells teaches Islamic History and Literature 28 Apr

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