The P.U.-litzer Prizes were established a dozen years ago to provide
special recognition for truly smelly media performances. As usual, I've
conferred with Jeff Cohen, founder of the media watch group FAIR, to sift
through the large volume of entries.
And now, the thirteenth annual P.U.-litzer Prizes, for the foulest
media performances of 2004:
MANDATE MANIA -- Too many winners to name
It became a media mantra. Two days after the election, the Los Angeles
Times reported that "Bush can claim a solid mandate of 51 percent of the
vote." Cox columnist Tom Teepen referred to Bush's vote margin as an
"unquestionable mandate." Right-wing pundit Bill Kristol argued that Bush's
"mandate" went beyond the 49-states-to-one landslides of Nixon in 1972 and
Reagan in 1984. Reality check: This was the narrowest win for an incumbent
president since 1916. As Greg Mitchell wrote in Editor & Publisher: "Where I
come from, 51 percent is considered a bare majority, not a comfortable
margin. If only 51 percent of my family or my editorial staff think I am
doing a good job, I might look to moderate my behavior, not repeat or
enlarge it."