The Twenty-Sixth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting

[Valin]

MRC:

 

Welcome to the Media Research Center's annual awards issue, a compilation of the most outrageous and/or humorous news media quotes from 2013 (December 2012 through November 2013).

 

To determine this year's winners, a panel of 42 radio talk show hosts, magazine editors, columnists, editorial writers, and expert media observers each selected their choices for the first, second and third best quote from a slate of five to seven quotes in each category

1. . First place selections were awarded three points, second place choices two points, with one point for the third place selections. Point totals are listed alongside each quote. Each judge was also asked to choose a "Quote of the Year" denoting the most outrageous quote of 2013.

 

The MRC's Cassandre Durocher distributed the ballots and tabulated the results. Senior news analyst Scott Whitlock helped produce the numerous audio and video clips included in the Web-posted version. Rich Noyes and Brent Baker assembled this issue and Brad Ash posted the entire package to the MRC's Web site.

 

 

Go to first award

[Valin]

Confessions of a Columnist

ROSS DOUTHAT

12/28/13

 

IN ancient Sanskrit, the word pundit meant wise man or religious sage. In modern English, it means often wrong, rarely accountable. There are ways that those of us who scribble about politics can avoid living down to that reputation by keeping our predictions vague (it worked for Nostradamus), by sticking to sure things (I told you Herman Cain wouldnt be elected president), or by deploying weasel words like its possible that ... at every opportunity. But time, chance and fallibility eventually make false prophets of us all.

 

Still, where wisdom fails, self-criticism is useful. For the last four years, David Weigel, a political writer for the online magazine Slate, has subjected himself to a pundit audit, looking back on his worst predictions and explaining what went wrong. Its a good idea, and so Im stealing it this week and highlighting my three biggest analytic errors of 2013 before the year is shown the door.

 

1. In Boehner I trusted.

 

(Snip)

 

2. I underestimated Pope Francis or misread the media.

 

(Snip)

 

3. I made too much of the Syria debate.

 

(Snip)