Media Matters For America
On the July 31
broadcast of her nationally syndicated radio show, Laura
Ingraham — who has attacked reporters stationed in Iraq for
“report[ing] only on the IEDs [improvised explosive devices], only on the
killings … only on the reprisals,” and for “reporting
from hotel balconies” instead of in the field
— said CNN “emailed me”
and “said, ‘Will you fill in the 8
o’clock [p.m. ET] hour for a week?’
” Paula Zahn Now currently occupies
the 8 p.m. weeknight time slot on
CNN, but host Paula Zahn is leaving the network, to be replaced
ultimately by Campbell
Brown. Ingraham is the
second conservative radio personality that CNN has recruited to guest host a
prime-time show during the 8 p.m. time slot.
As Media Matters for America noted, Glenn Beck, whom CNN hired in 2006 to host a CNN Headline News
program, filled in for Zahn from July
2-6.
Ingraham’s attack on
reporters stationed in Iraq came during an appearance on the
March 21, 2006, edition of NBC’s Today. Later that day, on Fox News’
The O’Reilly Factor, Ingraham
stated that “before the [Today]
segment began … I actually was watching a report by their NBC reporter,
Richard Engel, who was doing one of those from-the-balcony reports, reporting on
the bombs going off, reporting on the difficulties in Iraq.” She followed
up these comments on the May 31, 2006, broadcast of her
nationally syndicated radio show, stating:
And by
the way, when I went on the Today
show back in March to talk about the fact that it would be nice for the Today show to go to Iraq and do a show on
a military base, and I brought up the hotel balconies, that was coming right off
a Richard Engel report from a hotel balcony about the latest IEDs going off. The
point of that is all the guys I talked to in Iraq were tired
of it, and I was speaking for them.
In the wake of a car
bomb explosion that killed two CBS News crew members — cameraman Paul Douglas
and freelance sound man James Brolan — and severely wounded correspondent
Kimberly Dozier, Ingraham asserted on the June 6, 2006, edition of
Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor
that she was “surprised” that NBC president Steve Capus criticized her
for her comments about what she called the “dinosaur media.” She
claimed she had said that reporters in Iraq should “go to a military
base” and “just talk to the troops” when in fact, in her original
comments, Ingraham added that reporters should “go out with the Iraqi
military.”
Additionally, while
discussing CNN’s offer on July 31,
Ingraham said she was “not sure whether I should do it or not” because “lots of
factors are in play, but just in
principle.” She further commented that she would “be up against [Fox News host
Bill] O’Reilly. That’d be tough. Might be
fun to just mess with the computers at CNN and see if I could put chewing gum
under the seat and stuff.” During an appearance on the June 1 edition of CNN’s
American Morning, Ingraham referred to “the liberal elites … at
CNN.”
Some of Ingraham’s
other notable comments follow:
- As the blog
Firedoglake first reported, on the November 7, 2006,
edition of her radio show, Ingraham encouraged listeners to jam the phone
lines of the Democratic Party’s voter assistance hotline 1-888-DEM-VOTE. Ingraham said: “I want
you to call it and I want you tell us what you get when you call 1-888-DEM-VOTE.
They’re on top of all of the shenanigans at the polling stations. One problem:
you can’t get through.” She later added: “Let’s keep ‘dem’ lines ringing.”
Firedoglake later reported that that
the voter assistance
hotline was “being flooded with calls from crank
callers.” - On the June 27, 2004, edition of CNN’s Reliable Sources, Ingraham challenged
former President Bill Clinton’s assertion on CNN’s Larry King Live that nationally syndicated
radio host Rush
Limbaugh has said that former
deputy White House counsel Vince
Foster “was murdered in an apartment that belonged to the
Clintons.” Ingraham said: “I never heard Rush Limbaugh say anything of the like.
And I’m certain he didn’t say that. … There are people on the right who were
saying those things. Those things were reprehensible. I don’t know anyone
responsible who was saying that.” However, according to the national media
watchdog group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
(FAIR), during a 1994 broadcast of The Rush
Limbaugh Show, Limbaugh said he had received a fax with “a bit of
news … that claims that Vince Foster was murdered in an apartment owned by
Hillary Clinton.” FAIR went on to report that “[a]fter he returned from a
commercial break, Limbaugh began referring to the story as a ‘rumor,’ but
continued to claim that the story was that ‘the Vince Foster suicide was not a
suicide.’ “
From the July 31
broadcast of Talk Radio Network’s The Laura
Ingraham Show:
INGRAHAM:
CNN called me up and asked me if
I would fill in — if I would think of — they didn’t call me up, they emailed me
— excuse me — and said, “Will you fill in at the 8 o’clock hour for a
week?” Would you consider doing a week some time because they have a
number of months before Campbell Brown takes over the 8 p.m. slot. She’s having
a baby, and she’s going to have the baby, I guess, and then do the show.
And I’m not sure whether I should do it or
not — well, obviously lots of factors are in play, but just in
principle. If all those other factors, all those other conditions —MALE
PRODUCER: Well, there is one factor that will be in play up against you there at
8 o’clock.INGRAHAM:
Oh, that’s right. I’ll be up against O’Reilly.
That would be tough. Might be fun to just mess with the computers at CNN and see
if I could put chewing gum under the seat and stuff. See if that
would work out. But — it’s so — I don’t know, we’ll see, we’ll see. They’ve
done some interesting segments and shows. I don’t even know who the hosts are
anymore. It’s just a rotating cast of characters at 8 o’clock, and I don’t know
how — I don’t know how you can take four months off from competing with
O’Reilly. How do you take four months off? You got to get a show on the air. You
can’t take four months off. But that’s what they’re doing. I mean this is —
What do I know? I’m just a radio host. I’m not a big television executive.
I don’t know anything.
From the June 1
edition of CNN’s American
Morning:
JOHN
ROBERTS (host): Take a quick listen and we’ll get you to react to it.BUSH
: If you want to kill the bill, you don’t want to do what’s right
for America. You can pick one little
aspect out of it. You can use it to frighten people or you can show leadership
and solve this problem once and for all.ROBERTS:
What do you think about that, Laura, the fact that he says that opponents of this
bill are opposed to what’s right for America?[…]
INGRAHAM:
Well, you know, it’s absurd. I think it was a bad tactical decision for him to
say that. The way to get people on your side is not to insult them, especially
people in the conservative movement, who worked tirelessly to get him
re-elected, and the president has been consistent on supporting this. You know,
you have to give him credit on that. And, I’ve, I’ve never questioned his
motives in pushing for this type of comprehensive reform. But to insult his base, I mean, I hope he thinks he’s going to be saved by the liberal
elites at, at CNN, John, because if, if he is, then, then I’ll be
wrong about this. But I think it’s kind of silly.ROBERTS:
Excuse me, what was that last comment?INGRAHAM:
What? How did — you know, by the way, John, how did you introduce me for this
segment before the break? “The outspoken Laura Ingraham.” Do you guys — do you
guys introduce liberal commentators that way? I’m going to check.
—C.M.H.
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