PAUL MORIGI/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE GUARDIAN
BEYOND HOOKERS,
HAMAS AND HAGEL
The conservative media drumbeat did drive attention to the
Fast & Furious scandal and the
administration’s response to the
attacks on the U.S. consulate in
Benghazi, Libya. But while the
national media covered those topics, it didn’t obsess over them. In
some cases, mainstream reporters
poked holes in the scandals.
Perhaps the most defining feature of the conservative media’s
election coverage, however, was just
how wildly off base it was in predicting the outcome. Paid for their
political analysis, several prominent
HUFFINGTON
03.24.13
conservative pundits predicted a
landslide Romney victory. On election night, Karl Rove, speaking as
an analyst for Fox News, practically
begged the network to hold off on
calling Ohio, and therefore the election, for Obama.
The election results should
have served as a sobering point
of introspection. But in recent
weeks, as Obama’s second term
got underway, the hits kept coming. Conservative outlets like the
Weekly Standard and Washington Free Beacon, along with highprofile writers such as Washing-
Conservative
writer
Josh Treviño
was hired to
lead a paid
propaganda
campaign by
the Malaysian
government.