that's it for this week's edition of the journal editorial report, thanks to my panel and for all of you watching. we hope to see you right here next week. . >> on fox news watch, time for a brewski, as the president beer summit grabs headlines, was this staged for the press? sarah palin quits as governor, will the media quit using her as a punching bag? tn krch t tncmz breaks the news on jackson, why are they so far ahead of the others. which network gets the gay award and should we care? and katie couric takes on the new york times, but why? and on the panel this week, areceipt yeah gut tri, -- guthrey. jim pinkerton fellow at new american foundation and new york post columnist kearse sten

kearse stin powers. and i'm rick folbaum. >> rick: brouhaha, happy hour. the audacity of hops, and a cure for what ales us? some of the headlines the morning after the beer summit at the white house. howard professor henry gates and cambridge police sergeant crowley sipping suds with the president and vice-president there, two weeks after gates was arrested by crowley follow the acting stupidly comment by president obama, kept the attention of the media and sergeant crowley talking to the press after the beer. >> i think what you had to do is two gentlemen agreeing to disagree on a particular issuement i don't think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. we spent a lot of time discussing the future. >> so, jim, this controversy got a lot of attention in the press, almost knocked the president off

stride or actually did knock the president off stride when it comes to the health care debate. did the crowley comment which a lot of people thought was a generous statement afterwards, did that sort of put the story to bed? >> i don't think it did because it-- the narrative of this story didn't have a satisfying conclusion, where to the media and to the public frankly where somebody says i apologize, we're best friend and they left it as he said, agree to disagree, that will only make reporters curious as to how both professor gates and sergeant crowley see this issue in the days, weeks, years ahead. >> and professor gates has a website and he posted a statement on his website, we'll look at it real fast and then you can comment on it. and here is what professor gates had to say after. it is an actual conversation the past week over my arrest has been rowdy not to say tumultuous and unruly and we've learned we can have differences without demonizing each other. hope that people have sympathies

for policing on the one hand and genuine fears about racial profiling on the other hand. so, then we hear from professor gates here. has he sort of helped to end this story as far as the media is concerned? >> the media loves this kind of story so maybe he dependent keep doing it, but i think it was extraordinarily bad job with the story and the reason for that is there have been a couple of columns about it and the reporters didn't pursue what i thought was the main story when it happened. it's not against the law to be rude to a police officer. and at the end of the day he kind of tricked professor gates into coming outside so he could turn it into a domestic disturbance program, but people should have been asking, separate from race, why is a person being arrested just for being rude to the cops? because i think a lot of people have had experiences where that has happened to them. regardless of their color, and it's completely missed, it was all about racial profiling and race issues and how people saw

each other without the actual constitutional issue underlying this. >> well, the president's comments, andrea, we mentioned at the top. when he said the police officer, arresting officer acted stupidly and of course helped to drive the story and make it a much bigger story than it might have been otherwise. i'm wondering if the beer summit so carefully choreographed for the media cameras if it achieved what the white house hoped it achieved. >> i don't think so, i think it was turned into one giant joke, it might have been more legitimate if obama lit up a cigarette and joe biden's presence there, and talk about stumd things, he says things when he's sober don't give the guy a gear. one it a beer summit countdown clock and made it joke out of it. a serious issue, the obama, first time he really came out of his from behind the teleprompter and he's so scripted and said something off the cuff that was very stupid. he didn't have all the facts and he didn't apologize.

and i think they just perpetuated the story that was bad for the white house and it turned it into, like you said, very carefully scripted and i think just comical. i don't think there was any lesson learned. we should mention that the vice-president's beer was nonalcoholic. >> there's a reason for that, i guess. >> now, woman who made the 911 call and her name is escaping me a minute, but she. >> vivian whalen. this is the culture we live in, even the 911 caller had to have a media handler who comes out and helps her to orchestrate a press conference these days, but it was probably a good idea because everybody want today hear from the woman and she claimed that she was a victim with the media calling her racist and her mother came out and said, now, was she the biggest victim in all of this? >> i think she was, should have been invited to the beer summit, too and she wasn't. i can understand how a private citizen would all of a sudden feel a little bit uncomfortable with the media attention focused on them, but the fact is that,

you know, the cambridge police said that you know, that the report they got was that an african-american was break intoing a house and see never she never said that. >> what if she had, who cares? that was strange. he is an african-american what would be wrong with reporting that you saw an african-american? i mean, it's like, have we gotten out of control that you can't report someone's race in a 911 call? >> you're right and came brim you're so p.c. afraid to say it. >> what i can't help to think about, i thought about the story the last two weeks, what happened if there hadn't been the press uproar over this. sergeant crowley would have had a miserable life in cambridge. professor gates harvard university, naacp all would be clobbering him and media pounding away and racist rogue cops and so on and so on and only in this case the media, conservative media saved sergeant crowley and law enforcement--

>> in power, what would you think about-- it was an absolute abuse of power. >> there was no abuse of power whatsoever. >> the guy is in his house and he's being rude to a cop apsond he lures him outside so he can arrest him for domestic disturbance, that's an abuse of power. he did not commit a crime. rude to a cop. >> arrested for disorderly conduct inside your home and you cannot. he asked him to come 0 outside, he was mad for him being rude and calling him a racist, it's fine, being mad, but it's not abuse of power. you're rude to a cop ap and rewarded by a beer at the white house. >> and-- >> real quick, i think there's some juice left in this story. >> well, that's-- >> you took my liep, buddy. that's the headline from the discussion, the story has not been put to bed and the obviously, the media will talk more about it. the big winner is the beer

industry. now what, i'm going to have a beer tonight, too, first, lots of extras to you available on the website, spirited discussion that is break out here during our commercial breaks, hear them after the show at foxnews.com/fox news watch. we will be back in two minutes with this. sarah palin quits her governor's job. has the press quick takie shots at her and katie couric takes a shot at the new york times? was it a taste of pay back? details next on news watch. hey bets, can i borrow a quarter? sure, still not dry? i'm trying to shrink them. i lost weight and now some clothes are too big. how did you do it? simple stuff. eating right and i switched to whole grain. whole grain... studies show that people who eat more whole grain tend to have a healthier body weight. multigrain cheerios has five whole grains... and 110 calories per lightly sweetened serving. more grains. less you. multigrain cheerios.

>> you have such important jobs, reporting facts and power to exert influence. you represent what could and should be a respected, honest profession that could and should be a cornerstone of our democracy, so, how about in honor of the american soldier you quit making things up? one other thing for the media, our new governor has a very nice family, too, so leave his kids aloneme alone. >> former alaskan governor sarah palin taking shots at the media as she steps down as the governor last sunday. start with you, you're a proud alaskan, i know. what did you make of your former governor's remarks? especially the comments that struck me the most, to-- on behalf of the military for the media, stop making stuff up? >> yeah, i don't really get that to tell you the truth. i think the media should not

make things up. i don't know exactly what she was referring to and i think that she clearly believes that, a good strategy, a strategy that works on the right, which is attack the media, be against the media, the media is out to get us and that's going to be her drum beat and i think she's kind of crossed over to whiney territory and she's just now a complainer not that she doesn't have things to complain about, i don't know how well it works politically long-term for her. >> andrea, you've written about the former governor on the website, when she talks about her kids, successor's children and talking about her children, leave them alone. is there any way she's sort of trying to have it both ways, where she talks about, you know, leave my kids alone and invites matt lauer ap the today show into her home where her children are there, they're there in the kitchen. you know, while she's preparing a meal or you know, going fishing or whatever? >> well, i think one is very dinner from the other. i think we know that she, her

children come under attack, her youngest son with down's syndrome has come under attack and i think that's what she's referring to, inappropriate comments made about her kids. look i thought that comment about the media was right on. i don't think she sound whiney, she hits a chord and she can do it in this country. the media, we're talking about the troops, the media has been reporting no-- none of the progress that's been happening in iraq, that's what she should have said, is report the truth that our guys are over there giving their lives, things are better in iraq. that's what she should is said probably instead of making things up, but i think her comments were dead on. and i think this woman has dropped in the polls because of the constant baseless attacks the media wants to have an ethics inquiry report about all of these stories, to file all of these baseless ethics inqueries, she hasn't been convicted of any of them and so, she has some work to do. no, none, no. >> pay a fine for one of them. >> she had some work to do no doubt to repair her image, but the media is not going to some p

on her and she shouldn't stop fighting back. >> you mentioned polls, we asked in the latest stocks news poll. we asked the americans what career sarah palin should pursue. her is what the americans say about the job with the former governor and a homemaker, 32%, one in five here and the television talk show host, 17% saying that, vice-president of the united states, comes in 14%, and followed closely by college prefer, 10% by the president coming in dead last and only 6%, so, jim, all of the media attention that she has received since see was announced as john mccain's running mate last year, has it helped her or hurt her? >> well, it certainly made her a celebrity, but i did think, the way she's handled things, including the snafu over whether or not she's going to appear at the congressional dinner back in washington and then the mrit could he report on friday she's not going to make it to the reagan library event, the reagan

library, a great shrine of republicans. if she doesn't make it to that event there's clearly a screw loose in the palin operation and it makes her not credible with all of the pressures that one faces to be president of the united states. talk show host, yes, mart stuart, yes, but not president. >> you watch talk shows as a living as part of the broadcast-- you certainly have your eye on the media. now what it takes, does it have what it takes to be a good talk show host, as a cable news host, for example? >> sure, she could do that, absolutely. she seems so undisciplined and i found her speech, again, completely perplexing and undisciplined. y i don't know what the truth had to do with the media making things up. you know, the media didn't get the-- you know, the w and d story right and now that's why all the troops are in iraq and i think

she does sound like a whiner and her poll numbers have dropped. people don't like whiners. charles krauthammer on this network said that she-- >> yeah, and fred barnes, this whining isn't good for her. >> okay she doesn't have a teleprompter at her press conference, shame on her and as i said she has a lot of work to do, but at the end of the day, look at hillary clinton and compare the numbers with sarah palin. hillary clinton at lowest point as first lady, approval rating was 54%. hillary said don't expect me to sit home and bake cookies and look where she is now. so, i think that sarah palin, if she does tighten her organization up, get her act together, start giving serious speeches on substance, i think she can be a talk show host, advance her career in politics. >> we'll all be watching carefully. time for another quick break and first like your help. if you come across a story for media bias, mail us at and we will be right back with it.

>> tmz takes the prize in michael jackson scoops. how do they do what they do? and katie gives the new york times a piece of her mind. but why? the answer is next on news watch. xxpx [ female announcer ] want color that shines all year long? spend 10 minutes a month with natural instincts. it's the healthier way to blend away gray how? it's antioxidant rich and ammonia-free. in fact, the more often you use it, the healthier your hair looks. natural instincts, it's all good. to being able to manage your diabetes properly. it's very important for me to uh check my blood sugar before i go on stage.

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>> you're looking at it on the screen, another exclusive story by the website tmz on the michael jackson story. now, this cite repeatedly scooped them on the jackson story, how did they do it? the site is run pby former los angeles anchor and attorney harvey levin who came to attention during the o.j. simpson trial and relies on stringers to send the tips and news and tmz pays for the tips, but levin says that a minor, minor part of what we do is pay

for the tips. we have very, very good sources who trust us. this is not about money at all. so, maris sa, should we be surprised by the success of tmz shall the attention that the website is getting in light of the jackson scoops that it's been having repeatedly and is this sort of a turning point as harv harv harvey leavitt that he would like for us to believe, that the websites are eventually going to take over the mainstream media. >> the jackson story put tmz in the forefront and they were first with anna nicole smith, i mean, they have done a lot. but i think they're still-- as long as their beat is celebrity deaths and celebrities getting beaten up and drunk celebrities and mug shots and lacking that, pictures of celebrities looking bad, they're going to continue to be mar nalized. >> even tmz makes mistakes and

reported on a couple of celebrity deaths and deaths recently ended up not to be correct. do you think that people are going to continue to go to websites leak tmz as their number one news source as long as they keep breaking stories. >> i don't know about number e one, but i love tmz, they have the 30 mile zone, the tmz i think they hit it big with michael jackson, probably more than a star or a us magazine. if you watch them religiously like i do, they do something interesting, they don't just report celebrity deaths, they actually report what celebrity really are, a lot of them and that's just messes, they report them you know, looking and sounding ridiculous, saying stupid things, making really bad decisions and i mean, these people in hollywood are given scripts, we think they're smart. a lot of them are really not so tmz reveals almost in a conservative way, these people are really a lot of them a lot

of jokes. >> what about the idea of paying stringers for scoops, some of which turn out not to be correct. is that a problem, do you think for the average news consumer? >> no, i think it's pretty standard, actually, for this type of news. i mean, it doesn't surprise me, per se, i don't think of them as a serious news outlet, i do think that andrea is right. they're basically going outside of the sort of, these other magazines that often do these kind of puff pieces on celebrities and try to make them look good and they're sort of saying, no, we're going to show you the stuff that normally would never get out because the publicists are too powerful. >> another item at that caught our attention this week, the media gave report from gay and liz bean alliance against defamation, and the annual responsibility index according to the hollywood reporter, a study that evaluates the quantity, qualities and diversity of images, gay, lesbian, trans gender people on television. h.b.o. was the top show with

entourage and nbc and cbs a failing grade and jim my question were if the americ-- irish american alliance talked about the network's friendly to irish americans, no one could care and every single newspaper when study came out, a blurb about reports, . what abo what-- why are the media so concerned. because they say homophobia is one of the worst crimes, even thinking a home mophobic clause and now we'll certify you as homophobic arnott homophobic, it's the p.c. of our time and the point about the irish, italians, polish or whatever is true, because no one would report that. >> as we mentioned a failing grade, should they be concerned, are network executives from the

two networks sitting down for more gay friendly shows? is that going to take place? >> well, hollywood can be notorio notoriously reactionary and see the groups, african-american groups, gay and lesbian groups, women's groups to try to have, you know, equal representation on their programs, because, these are broadcasters and their entertainment program has to appeal to a large swath of the population, i mean, if you don't like something, you can always turn it off. so, you know, they do try to have equal representation. >> would you like to see more gay friendly programming? >> why watch investigation really, so none of this affects me, i think that, i actually think that homophoba is a bad thing, and i just think that there are lots of irish americans on television and there are all the other groups that are represented and this is their area of concern and i think that the newspapers probably think it's news worthy, wl

whether you're on the side of it or not it's a change in the culture, right. i think it's worthy of reporting on even if it's a cultural story. >> there are no greeks on a lot of shows, and no one is reporting that and i'm offended. >> do you expect to not watch any television-- >> come on. >> all right. here is one, another story people are looking at the story of sweet revenge, take a look. >> walter cronkite died one week ago and while we mourn the loss it's been wonderful to see such exuberant and health felt tributes across the country. i have to smile albeit a tad ruefully and i think he would, too, the new york times correcting a piece that appeared following his death. contained not one, not two, but seven errors about his life and career. . >> that's katie curie referring to a piece written by a media columnist xaalexandra stanley. the same who wrote a piece a few years back about katie couric at

the today show talking about how everybody would skuter away when she would walk down the halls of nbc. is this sart ofort of a-- >> clickity click. >> is she getting back at the particular writer? >> as you know, what's the fun of being on television if you don't every now and then get to clobber your enemy and katie cure ic has a natural audience. >> we'll talk more in the break. unfortunately we have to take one more break, the history of a one presidential drink specially formulated to promote hairball control and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. it's what doctors recommend most for headaches. a

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making peace over a beer at the white house, got us to thinking about alcohol and commanders in chief. all presidents toast with champagne but it's rare to see a president drink a beer. here is a president roosevelt who had no problem sipping a coch tail and smoking a cigarette in front of the cameras. here is president bush in 2001, into the beer, in fact he

doesn't drink alcohol. here is russian president in 1995. that's not a beer but here is president clinton with a beer, in fact that looks like a begin necessary with a nice headed it and inspired with all the talk as the great peacemaker. it might be time to stick around and have a cold one. that is wrap on news watch. that thanks for the panel. i'm rick fullbound. thank you for being here ladies. cheers. thank you very much for watching. it's a ginger ale, i swear.