With its new collaboration with the right-wing Tea Party, CNN appears to be reentering the "who-can-pander-to-the-Right-the-most" sweepstakes.
As the New York Times reported, "CNN, the 24/7 cable news pioneer long derided by conservatives as a mouthpiece of the political left, and Tea Party activists, who pride themselves on bucking the establishment, came together here Monday evening for a presidential debate -- an unusual display of cooperation between the news media and some of its most hostile critics.
"Each stands to benefit from reaching the other's following, raising questions about whether the arrangement was a shrewd political transaction masquerading as public service."
The Times quoted Sal Russo, a Tea Party Express co-founder, as calling the partnership a way for the Tea Party to shed its image as an extremist movement.
"The fact that they're broadcasting and partnering with us shows that they [CNN executives] understand it's a broad-based political movement and that it isn't fractured and narrow," Russo said.
Though CNN insisted that it maintained its journalistic independence in its Tea Party collaboration , the network widely promoted the debate with banners linking CNN to the Tea Party Express and fashioned the debate as something of a Tea Party rally.
CNN coordinated with Tea Party activists to frame questions and arranged live satellite feeds from Tea Party gatherings in Arizona, Virginia and Ohio, the Times reported, adding that "even the graphics on the video screens behind the stage flashed flags that are often seen at Tea Party rallies."
In an e-mail alert, the liberal media watchdog group FAIR asked, "Is there really a need for another national cable news channel devoted to promoting far-right elements within the Republican Party?"
With CNN still feeling a need to blunt even the most ridiculous accusations about its supposed left-wing bias, the answer apparently is yes.
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