No room for progressives on cable news inauguration coverage
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
Media Matters for America inventoried all guests who appeared on FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC during the channels' January 20 inauguration coverage. Between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Republican and conservative guests and commentators outnumbered Democrats and progressives 19 to 7 on FOX*, 10 to 1 on CNN (not including a Republican-skewed panel featuring Ohio voters), and 13 to 2 on MSNBC. Moreover, the rare Democrat or progressive guest usually appeared opposite conservatives, whereas most Republican and conservative guests and commentators appeared solo or alongside fellow conservatives.
| Republicans or conservative commentators | Democrats or progressive commentators | |
| FOX News | •Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) •Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) •Brian Harlan, head of officially authorized Bush-Cheney inaugural memorabilia •Ashley Faulkner, star of “Ashley's Ad,” campaign spot by pro-Bush political action committee •Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) •Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) •Bush-Cheney '04 chief campaign strategist Matthew Dowd •Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes •U.S. News & World Report senior writer Michael Barone •National Review editor Rich Lowry •Wall Street Journal contributing editor Peggy Noonan •Weekly Standard editor William Kristol •Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer •Radio host and FOX News contributor Mike Gallagher (opposite Beckel) •Pro-Bush singer Tony Orlando •FOX News political analyst and radio host Tony Snow •Former Bush-Cheney '04 senior adviser Tucker Eskew •Boxing promoter and outspoken Bush supporter Don King •Advertising executive Jerry Della Femina (opposite Hindery, Koplovitz) |
•Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) •House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) •Democratic strategist Bob Beckel (opposite Gallagher) •National Public Radio senior correspondent Juan Williams (opposite Barnes) •Representative Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) •RTV Media chairman Kay Koplovitz (opposite Della Femina) •InterMedia Partners chairman Leo J. Hindery Jr. (opposite Della Femina) |
| CNN | •Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) •Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) •Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) •Governor George Pataki (R-NY) •Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani •Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer •Bush senior adviser Karen Hughes •White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card •National Review contributing editor David Frum •Republican author Doug Wead Additional note: CNN political analyst Carlos Watson's Ohio citizens panel included four Republicans, one Democrat, and one swing voter. |
•Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) |
| MSNBC | •Vice President Dick Cheney •Lynne Cheney •Senator John McCain (R-AZ) •Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) •Former Representative J.C. Watts (R-OK) •MSNBC host and Former Representative Joe Scarborough (R-FL) •Radio host and MSNBC contributor Monica Crowley •Washington Times editorial page editor Tony Blankley •Former Reagan Chief of Staff Ken Duberstein •Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge •Bush senior adviser Karen Hughes •Retired baseball manager Tommy Lasorda •Bush-Cheney '04 attorney Ben Ginsberg |
•Progressive blogger Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette) •MSNBC political analyst Ron Reagan Jr. (opposite Crowley, Watts, Scarborough) |
*The original version of this item mistakenly omitted Lott and Chambliss from “Republicans and conservatives” on FOX and Pelosi from “Democrats and progressives” on FOX. These additions changed the FOX tally from 17 to 6 in the original version to 19 to 7 in the corrected version.