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The Media Research Center has a criticism of a package done for the CBS Evening News by correspondent Lee Cowan last Friday about former Republican House leader Tom DeLay’s first appearance at a Texas court for charges of conspiracy and money laundering. While the MRC says the package was, “on some counts, balanced,” they take issue with the portrayal of a frequent DeLay critic who was used in the package.



Beverly Carter, a publisher and Republican precinct chair in DeLay’s district, was used in the package as an example of a member of DeLay’s own party not happy with him. The part of the story she was used in included a DeLay soundbite concerning his feelings about the prosecutor who indicted him, Ronnie Earle (a Democrat). Here’s the pertinent part of the package:

DeLay: “The only reason I had to be in that courtroom today was because Ronnie Earle has abused his prosecutorial power."



Cowan: “That's been his defense all along, and some Republicans aren't buying it."



Carter: “I've not heard of any Republicans that are supporting Tom at this point. Win, lose or draw, whether he's guilty or not guilty, they've kind of had it with him."



Cowan: "And that's coming from a Republican precinct chairwoman in his home district."



Carter: "Pigs get fatter, but hogs get slaughtered, and Tom's been a hog."



Cowan: "Don't mistake that for lack of support. He's still plenty popular here. Margaret Gow runs a neighborhood program for foster children that DeLay and his wife started years ago."

You can view the entire piece here.

Here’s the MRC’s problem with the piece:

“Although Fort Bend Star publisher Beverly Carter has been a longtime critic of DeLay who even endorsed his opponent in last year's election, Cowan simply referred to her as a "Republican precinct chairwoman," thus giving her credibility as if she were simply a typical local Republican leader.”

I asked Lee Cowan for a response, and here’s what he said:

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Complaints and criticism about the October 2nd edition of “Face the Nation” continue to hit our inbox despite some of our efforts to answer them. So after yesterday’s broadcast, I expected more coming in. Grand total of e-mails thus far – zip.



Here’s why I'm puzzled. What outraged many about last week’s show was the fact that three Republican members of Congress were invited on to discuss problems their party is dealing with, including the indictment of their House leader, Tom DeLay. Host Bob Schieffer’s explanation – he wanted to discuss the “Republican problem” – sent some into spasms of indignation. DeLay’s indictment is, they argued, much more than a “Republican problem,” it’s a national problem.



What upset them most was the lack of someone with an “opposing” viewpoint. It seems the idea that each show must have a “Republican” view and a “Democratic” view has become so embedded as to be a de facto programming law. That’s why the lack of criticism for yesterday’s show is confusing.

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I doubt that congressmen David Drier (R-CA), John Shadegg (R-AZ) and Jim Leach (R-IA) have ever generated the kind of passionate outrage we’ve seen at PE this week. Their sin, it seems, was agreeing to appear on “Face the Nation” this past Sunday to discuss the indictment of Republican leader Tom DeLay and other problems currently plaguing the GOP. More accurately, in the view of the dozens of e-mails and comments we’ve received, the real culprit here was “Face the Nation.”



This e-mail from Steve M. is typical of what’s been flooding our inbox:

“This weekend's ‘Face the Nation’ discussion about Tom DeLay should not have been turned over exclusively to Republican politicians. … DeLay's indictments are not, as anchor Bob Schieffer put it, a ‘Republican problem,’ but a national one. When the ‘Hammer’ comes down on some hapless Democrat or Republican dissident, he negatively affects me and nearly all other Americans who are not rich and Republican. How can we assess whether the Democrats have any plan on any issue unless CBS and others broadcast the Democratic positions?”

While I tried to address this in an earlier entry, my effort appears to have been woefully inadequate for some. Here’s another crack at it.

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Well, we certainly have been getting it from all sides as of late -- a good thing in my opinion. As we continue to work on finding our way with PE, I’ve sought to be somewhat eclectic in what we cover. So far, I think the results have been overall worthwhile, but understand the confusion it generates among some. Here’s a complaint by one commenter to the open source entry earlier, by mailpro56:

“It was supposed to bring transparency to CBS, yet there is no place to discuss their reporting. Case in point the new Tom DeLay charges … CBS leads with new charges against DeLay … but doesn’t discuss that there may be problems with the first set of charges … how about leading with ‘First set of charges by Ronnie Earle may be tossed.’



But here we are discussing everything else besides CBS News.”

First, let’s deal with the specific charge.

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