compelling than any 60 seconds he got in the debate. i agree with na, that's this week's edition of the journal, editorial report and that's it for the panel and all of you for watching. merry christmas we hope to see you next week for our iowa caucus preview. >> on news watch. >> what would it be like to lose $40 out of your paycheck. >> president obama gets congress to accept the deal. >> and did the white house succeed controlling the media message? north korea loses a dictator and the world watches as millions turn out to show some emotion. but should the media and viewers trust what we see? >> and back to the campaign. >> it's the mi double fizzle. >> and welcome to mitt's media blitz. the front running candidate pulls out the stop and getting at much media attention as

possible. will it help win his party's pick. >> ron paul had it with cnn. what did they do to get him hopping mad? mr. obama held a coffee talk with his facebook followers, but aren't they supposed to be journalists? and are bloggers putting responsible journalists in danger? on the panel this week, writer and fox news contributor judy miller. syndicated columnist cal thomas. jim pinkerton contributing he understands tore the american conservative magazine and the daily beast columnist, kirsten powers. i'm jon scott. fox news watch is on right now. >> now, if you're a family making about 50,000 a year, this is a tax cut that amounts to about a thousand dollars a year. and that's about 40 bucks out of every paycheck.

it may be that there's some folks in the house who refuse to vote for this compromise because they don't think that 40 bucks is a lot of money, but anyone who knows what it's like to stretch a budget knows that at the end of the week or at the end of the month, $40 can make all the difference in the the world. >> that's president obama in front of the media making his pitch to persuade the house of representatives to pass the two month extension of payroll tax cuts. the white house making an allout effort to swing things its way, creating a website for americans to tell what $40 a week means to them. and that white house media blitz paid off. >> without objection, the bill read for a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> well, i guess, jim, the question is, did the president and the democrats outmaneuver the republicans on this one and did the media help?

>> well, they've certainly outmaneuvered them. the the media, mainstream media helped, but as that graphic reminds us, the white house now is perfectly capable of creating its own media. quite something when white house resources and salaries are used to create a website, sends in your arguments about what the 40 bucks a paycheck would mean to you, and then, we'll read them and then david plouffe, the former campaign aide now, you know, doing a tour of duty inside the white house, said we'll have a lottery. if you, all the people who send in things, telling the compelling reason why the $40 means to you we'll put you on tv and talk as the president did on friday. they don't need media bias when they manufacture their own media. >> i wonder where the travel money comes from, seriously do. where did the people who sent in $40 stories come from? did they fly in from california? i don't know. >> the president played this remarkably well. not just because he was so smart, but because the republicans were so stupid. he did something that i have

been advocating for a long time. he brought in real people instead of getting trapped into this ideological tax spend, all of the business, and the republicans got mugged. all you saw was john boehner up there, a tanned chain smoking, right winger, and trying to make an argument when the president did an emotional argument. >> and the media generally portrayed john boehner and the republicans as these intrance gents, as these dug in right wingers that might be the term that cal just used. >> then they were doing a good job reporting because that's what was going on. they were completely dug in on this and they, as cal said didn't change their position based on principle per se, they lost a political fight. with the democrats and they should have seen it coming frankly, you know, you cannot argue for tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts and oppose a tax cuts and not expect, you know, some

kind of blowback-- >>, but the white, judy is an enormous bully pulpits, did he play the game better than the republicans did? >> i think he played the game better and he had a lot of inadvertent help with john boehner and-- >> boehner was not where the tea party was, and for the sake of accuracy here. boehner would have loved to have done the deal a week ago. in this case it wasn't just the liberal media, charles cro krauthammer and saying that the politics were terrible. >> over ann curry asked if speaker boehner has lost control on the house, that he leads the erika hill at cbs compared republicans to the grinch. i mean, is that where we heard

that before? >> well, newt gingrich. time magazine's cover story the gin-grinch that stole christmas and this is the way they play the game. republicans know this going in. i'm just amazed that all they can do is shout media bias. they know how the game is played they haven't learned how to play better thatten the democrats. >> i wonder if erica hill is to say, i'm quoting obama saying that are they talking directly and don't bother to get footnotes. >> another event that happened this week, the death of a dictator in north korea, kim jong-il is gone and as soon as it was announced he was gone we saw the images of north korea in distraught. all kinds of emotion, not a lot of tears, i have to say. what's the power of those images, kirsten? >> well, i think in terms of the coverage of this one, one thing i wish we would have seen more of is a background and

explanation of what we were watching, puzzled are they crying, not crying, do we know. >> there were a the lot of people foreign policy experts who were offering their opinions on blogs that didn't work into the mainstream media so much which is it's complicated than we can get into here, but basically some of the people actually have been brain washed, some people are doing it out of fear and some people, you know, actually believe this he was taking care of them and stockholm syndrome. a lot of different explanations for it. >> and they don't call it the hermit kingdom for nothing. >> exactly, and i think a couple of comment taters who did make it on to at least fox news that i saw, note that had we know so little about north korea that this is really an absence of intelligence story, and the fact that after all of this time, we can't do better. we don't even know for sure where he died, when he died. what he died. >> or if he died. >> we think he died, but we don't know much about the son,

supposedly educated in switzerland, did they put him in a box so he wasn't exposed to anything on the alps and keep saying we don't know and that's frightening. >> i thought that nick christoff had an excellent piece, on the last visit to north korea, he went into a home on his own and he saw these boxes on the wall. right out of arthur kessler and george orwell and constantly chanting propaganda, including the great leaders scored four holes in one on the golf course today and this is what they get with no other information. >> one other big information came from joe biden who said, quote, look the taliban per se is not our enemy, that's critical. there's not a single statement that the president has ever made in any of our policy assertions that the taliban is our enemy because it threatens u.s. interests. what about the coverage of that? >> well, i mean, a lot of head

scratching with that, but i think that john boulton had the best explanation, this is not an accident. biden is well-known for gaffes, what they want is a way out of afghanistan. say we defeated al-qaeda and leave behind the taliban and they'll be okay. that's the biden argument that of course bolten doesn't agree with. >> all right. and it's time for a break, but first, if you want to keep up on the media stories that erupt during the week, go to our website, and watch the daily bias bash and up next, over a week until the iowa caucuses get ready for media overload. . >> what's up, ganstas, it's the-- it's the mi-double 'tisle. >> and g.o.p. contender ms. romney goes out to get his mug seen everywhere. is it work sng while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantiis proven to help people quit smoking. it reduthe urge to smoke.

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>> what's up, ganstas. it's the mi-double tizzle.

i'm actually here to meet tom cruise. my new cologne is available at macy's. it's a myth high pressure phied. another thing that they would like to say to the american people? >> it's a pair piece. >> that's g.o.p. candidate and formerly media shy mitt romney throwing caution to the wind. david letterman. criticized for not enough media and now it seems he cannot get enough. not two weeks ago, the media were criticizing for not coming to them. >> i was one of them and a telephone interview to be sure. sure, something you have to do. and bobby kennedy went on dick cavett. bill clinton and saxophone and everybody thinks a late night comedy appearance and show america there's a sense of

humor. i've got to tell you. mitt romney going on david letterman and doing the top ten list is sort of like going to a jazz piano bar and playing classical music. just, didn't quite fit. >> romney got the des moines register endorsement and newt gingrich the endorsement of the manchester union leader and ron paul barry manilow's endorsement. >> the most sought after endorsement. >> and how many media endorsement or famous figure endorsements. >> i predict that barry manilow. >> he has a lot of fans. >> i don't see him in the caucus world of republican politics, but i could be wrong and let jim correct me if i am. (laughter) >> and the power of the endorsement of the register and the union leader and they're pretty poor, i mean, it's-- iffy, but it gives romney and media momentum and romney has done well and last few weeks before the caucus, he opened up

and he's-- for a guy running nonstop for six years he's relatively fresh including what he did on letterman. >> i thought he was pretty good as comedian in chief. >> i wasn't reviewing his abilities, just saying he's everywhere. >>'s out of the mittness protection program and doesn't have to use that phrase more. >> and they asked ron paul about newsletters he produced in the 1980's and '90s and here is a little bit of that exchange. >> so, you read them, but you didn't do anything about it at the time? >> i never read that stuff. i've never read-- i was probably aware of it ten years after it was written and it's been going on 20 years that people have peststered me about this and cnn does every single time so when are you going to wear yourself out? >> and some of the content apparently some questionable items about racism and is cnn making a mountain out of a mole

hill or a legitimate question. >> it has been discussed for 20 years and what if every press conference with president obama somebody says bill ayers and the he rest of them. i think that obama will be yanking on the microphone and saying the secret service says we have to to get out of here. they're not trying it elicit information from paul. they're trying to get television moments and which they did. >> if you allow your name to be put on something and goes out with racist and anti-semitic and conspirator yal stuff on it. the thing to do, i wasn't paying attention, should have paid attention to this and i reject the issues in there and-- >> he doesn't seem that upset. more irritated he's asked about it rather than outraged that the comments are made. >> he might be outraged by the comments. and up in the polls. national reviews, jonah goldberg

wrote this. let's take the idea of a president paul as seriously as supporters say they should. though the idea that he could take them in the elections strikes me as crazier. >> and it speaks to where the conservative movement sees paul and supporters say, fine, we'll show them in iowa and may not, but they're trying. >> we'll see. time for another break. if you see something that shows evidence of media bias, e-mail us at news watch@foxnews.com. up next, a fact checker gets hit from the left and the interesting coffee clach at the white house. it was liberal media day at the white house. a chance for journalists from the left to chat with our president about his plans to win reelection. and other things. what's wrong with this picture? details next. on news watch. me, and get a cold... ...you need a cold medicine with a heart.

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>> well, president obama held a coffee talk, if you will, at the white house on monday. the guest list as jake tapper called it, a progressive and liberal media folks including

msnbc hosts and ezra cline, new york times frank bruney and ariana huffington and think progress to think of a few. jim, were you not invited? >> i was not invited. look, this is, you know, every white house has a base and there's the base and curious who they are. >> the group chatted with the president about economic messaging, including conservative-- i'm sorry, about his agenda for 2012, and the various campaign arguments against different g.o.p. candidates, and the desire among some democrats to highlight his foreign policy accomplishments, and fighting corporate influence and the quote, crappiness of the senate fooibl. >>-- filibuster. >> and there were a few who would-- >> jack tapper is generally-- >> ai'm not talking about the-- >> and just at the white house

news conferences. >> the progressive people have been tough on the president and gotten a lot of criticism from the left. probably more than anywhere else than the light, but the mainstream media is much easier on him than a lot of these people are. >> so you bring him into the white house and feed him some coffee and sugary treats and maybe hope for a little better treatment? >> jim, that's right. all the administrations do this. and i went in either solo or with groups with bush 43, bush 41. i was on two meetings with clinton the at the christmas party and dumped from the list and haven't been back on for a democrat since and i don't understand this. >> what did you do? >> we'll try to get on there. moving on to journalistic fact checking, the website political fact, ignited a firestorm from liberals labelling democrats and fellow lefty's claims that republicans vote today end medicare. the lie of the year. that raised all kinds of ire in the mainstream mess and well,

paul krugman wrote political fact, bent over backwards to appear balanced and in the process made themselves useless and irrelevant, why the hatred. >> if you're a liberal, you have to believe that changing the financing mechanism for medicare is ending the program. and ryan is-- paul ryan, any change in the financing message of that. and the goal for helping senior citizens is the same, but if you say ryan is ending medicare and then paul krugman and the rest of the left leaning-- >> it's absurd they made in the lie of the year and everyone national review had someone blog on this. it's a lie, and a voucher system, and will eventually phase itself out.

you could disagree about that, but it's so far from the lie of the year. i think what they were doing, pandering trying to say oh, we're balanced. the republicans the lie of the year and last year the democrats the lie of the year. >> here is what they wrote in responding to the criticism. we've read the critiques and see nothing at that changes our findings and stand by our story and conclusion that the claim was the most significant falsehood of 2011 and made no judgment on the merits of the ryan plan and said the characterization by the democrats was false. >> the big lie of the year and every year is that we can't go on like this. and debt is 15.2 trillion dollars, both sides agree that the system cannot continue to support itself like this. but the media just stands back and watch the fight like it's some kind of cage match. >> it's also, the issue itself has become so polarized that both sides have stopped listening to one another and

each side takes out a script and score card and just, cites the litany. we've stopped having a real debate about this issue. >> all right, we have to take one more break, pardon me. up next, why bloggers should not be labeled journalists. nner! [ garth ] we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast, we can bring the whole gang! it's hard to beat double miles! i want a mace, a sword, a... oww! [ male announcer ] get the nture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitaloneom. i wonder what it could be?! what's in your wallet?

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>> jon: we have often tackled the question whether bloggers can be labeled journtsd. a district judge decided that question. dan springer has the outcome. >> just before the police moved in to clear out the occupy los angeles camp, they removed all the reporters. a group dominated by bloggers and group called citizen journalists. a self-investigative blogger is not a journalist and not entitled followed are a defamation suit. but later cases over the first amendment of freedom of the press.

>> the most you like a journalist the more the court will look as you of journalist. >> they ruled that there is no education of journalism or the standards. they jury came back for her for a $2.5 million judgment. many of critical of her saying she got her facts wrong. >> we're in the bases of criticizing people so we need to be accurate with that criticism. >> kevin accused by cox of fax fraud, it's about the power of internet to destroy reputation. >> false allegations can be made against somebody and they will have to live with those false allegations for the rest of their life. >> according to the media law resource center, they have been hit with 47 in million in liable

judgments. $30 million in the last two years. proliferation of blorgs and there are 1.6 million postings a day. >> crystal cox did not return our phone calls stheesm is vowing to fight the judgment against her and now finally has legal help from a fellow blogger and college law professor taking the case pro bono. >> jon: judy miller you have done a lot of work on freedom of the press. are bloggers journalists. do they deserve on protections? >> i think each state has assigned this differently. each as a definition. my definition is walks like a duck, talks like a talk, it's probably a duck but this needs a uniform standard. we need to decide this once and a for all but julian assange

probably won't get it at the federal level. >> i think we need a group that everybody respects and doesn't have a political leaning. people applying to be a journalists should be basic non-aassociations, no contributing to parties. no dog in the fight. >> emergency rooms and hospitals everybody wants to come out at school and blogger school and make six figures. >> cal, i'm not going to put you on that committee. >> good luck cal. >> i think it used to be standards and rules generally accepted for what constitutes a journalist but there are none anymore. >> you say you have to have proo