From today’s Gay City News:

Karl Frisch, a contributor at Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog group, agreed.

“It seems that some people, whether it’s LGBT employees at Fox News or other News Corp. outlets or people at other publishing outlets, value their paychecks more than they value being treated with simple human dignity,” Frisch said.

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For Frisch, this apparent agnosticism about the content of these right-wing books ignores the harm caused by them and the fact that those messages are carried to a wide audience.

“The Glenn Becks of the world, the Ann Coulters of the world make it okay for people to openly ridicule gay people,” Frisch said. “They bring it in front of people who are not pursuing that type of information.”

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From today’s National Post (Canada):

Some critics claim he is a classic demagogue, providing simplistic solutions to complicated problems, creating mysterious enemies and weaving conspiracy theories.

“Fear sells,” said Karl Frisch, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America, a liberal think-tank.

“If you can convince a good enough number of people that the problems they are facing in a tough economy with a progressive Democratic president are the result of some ominous threat to their liberty and freedom, and present that day in and day out, you’re liable to get a dedicated audience who will not question what you say.”

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But Mr. Frisch of Media Matters for America said people should not to be fooled by Mr. Beck’s impressive numbers.

“It’s like NASCAR — a good number turn in for the race but a lot of people are tuning in for the crash,” Mr. Frisch said.

“No doubt a majority of his listeners buy into his demented world view. There are also a number of people who tune in for the theatrics, who find him absolutely hysterical even when he’s not intending to be.”

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From today’s Politico:

Media Matters obtained the student’s driver’s license and proved he was 16 at the time, the age of consent in Massachusetts. While some may still question Jennings’ judgment, he didn’t break any law.

“This should put to rest claims made by Fox News and other conservatives that Jennings covered up ‘statutory rape’ or ‘molestation,’” wrote Media Matters senior fellow Karl Frisch. “To continue reporting such reckless speculation is at best willful disregard for the facts and at worst journalistic malpractice.”

The battle over Jennings convinced Media Matters that it needed to not only monitor other media but to do its own original reporting. On Monday, Joe Strupp, who covered the press for 11 years with Editor & Publisher magazine, will launch a new media blog after signing on as the group’s first investigative reporter.

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From today’s Washington Times:

As a result of these decisions, liberal media analysts, a Facebook group and at least one coalition of national feminist groups have called on CBS to withdraw the ad or stand accused of a double standard.

It isn’t surprising the CBS’ hypocrisy has sparked an effort throughout the progressive blogosphere and on Facebook demanding that the network either reject the Focus on the Family ad or agree to also air the UCC’s, wrote Karl Frisch of Media Matters for America on Monday.

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From today’s U.S. News & World Report:

Karl Frisch, senior fellow at Media Matters for America: Fox News will live up to basic journalistic standards, becoming more like the news outlet it claims to be and less like the communications hub of the GOP that it is–we can dream, can’t we?

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From today’s Guardian UK:

A spokesman for media monitoring organisation Media Matters said the network missed an opportunity to “offer the American people a frank discussion of the issues that we all face and how these candidates plan on tackling them.

“Instead, those that tuned in saw a veteran news team clearly out of touch and more interested, frankly, in gaffes and gotchas than health care, the war in Iraq, and our failing economy,” said the spokesman, Karl Frisch.

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10/23/07 – Los Angeles Times

Karl Frisch, spokesman for the progressive Washington, D.C.-based media watchdog Media Matters, called Beck’s comments “heartless and wholly inappropriate.”

Media Matters called today for CNN, which airs Beck’s cable TV show, to “distance themselves from his comments or risk being seen as endorsing them.”

Frisch, whose parents live in the Santa Clarita Valley, which has been ravaged by the Buckweed fire, also said Beck “owed all Southern Californians an apology.”

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10/03/07 – ABC News

“After referring to troops who disagree with him about Iraq as phony soldiers, he’s gone on to compare one of our Purple Heart veterans from the war in Iraq to a suicide bomber,” said Karl Frisch, spokesperson for Media Matters. “It’s time for him to stop digging the hole and start being accountable.”

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09/27/07 – Washington Post

Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters, called O’Reilly’s remarks “insensitive and racially charged” and rejected O’Reilly’s contention that his comments were taken out of context.

Frisch said his organization has documented 765 instances since mid-2004 in which O’Reilly has misstated or misrepresented facts or made “insensitive” statements. “His knee-jerk reaction is always that he was taken out of context,” he said. “If he was caught robbing a bank, he’d say his actions are being taken out of context.”

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09/26/07 – Associated Press

Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters, said it is typical for O’Reilly to criticize his group for merely reporting what he says.

“We didn’t call him a racist,” Frisch said. “We said his comments were ignorant and racially charged and we stand by that.”

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