AP's David Bauder holds some kind of weird torch for CNBC. That is, it takes some real effort to find anything admirable in the fact that CNBC has run the same documentary on Wal-Mart 44 times over the last two years. That's right: 44 times. That's more times than Bill O'Reilly has called someone a "pinhead," more times than CNN has declared the Republicans to be "broken." And revealingly, that much-rerun doc still rates as one of CNBC's highest-rated shows. Now what does that tell you about the quality of CNBC's programming?
That's a wicked question that Bauder does his best to avoid answering, as he slops praise over various obviously liberal-leaning documentaries being cranked out by Josh Howard--the same Josh Howard who, it will be remembered, was one of those fired from CBS in the "Rathergate" scandal of 2004. Howard might not have much of a reputation as a legitimate journalist, but he still has a following among liberal journalists.
Of course, it's not just Bauder, sittin' in a tree with CNBC. Others, too, in the MSM are in love with CNBC; consider this puffjob on Pamela Thomas-Graham--you could read the whole thing and never know that she got pushed out of CNBC, on account of low ratings.
So what is that's so great about CNBC in the eyes of the MSM? Actually, maybe nothing, except for this one thing: CNBC & Co. ARE NOT FOX NEWS! Which is to say, in the minds of Bauder et al., how bad can they be?
That's the best lens through which to evaluate MSM coverage of the cable game: If it's CNBC or any of the rest of those liberal peas-in-the-same-pod, then they are likely to be seen gently through rose-colored glasses. But if it's Fox, well then, the MSM-er is likely just to see red.
