L. Brent Bozell III

Infobox Person
name = Leo Brent Bozell III


image_size =
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date = birth date and age|1955|7|14
birth_place = Washington, DC
death_date =
death_place =
death_cause =
residence = Alexandria, Virginia
nationality =
other_names = L. Brent Bozell, Brent Bozell
known_for =
education = B.A. in history, University of Dallas
employer = Media Research Center, Parents Television Council, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
occupation = writer, activist, president of MRC
religion = Catholic

Leo Brent Bozell III [http://www.mediaresearch.org/archive/newscol/welcome.asp LBB Columns] Media Research. Accessed 2007-04-15] (born July 14, 1955 in Washington, DC [http://www.nndb.com/people/298/000108971/ Brent Bozell] NNDB.com Biography. Accessed 2007-04-15] ) is the founder and president of the Media Research Center, the Conservative Communications Center, and the Cybercast News Service. Bozell served as president of the Parents Television Council from 1995 to 2006, after which he was succeeded by Timothy F. Winter. [cite press release
title = PTC President Bozell Announces Decision to Step Down and Welcomes Tim Winter as New President
publisher = Parents Television Council
date = 2006-09-01
url = http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/release/2006/0901.asp
accessdate = 2007-07-14 ] In addition, currently, Bozell serves on the board for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a group against the defamation of Catholics in America. [http://www.nndb.com/people/298/000108971/ Brent Bozell] NNDB.com Biography. Accessed 2007-04-15] He also has served on the board of directors in the American Conservative Union for some time. [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/01/tv.content/index.html Group calls for voluntary return to TV 'family hour'] . CNN: August 1, 2001.] [http://www.creators.com/opinion/brent-bozell-about.html About L. Brent Bozell] . Creators.com]

Currently, Bozell is the founder and president of the Media Research Center, which works to detect liberal bias in the media and "neutralize its impact on the American political scene". [ [http://www.mediaresearch.org/about/aboutwelcome.asp About Media Research Center] ]

Career

Early career

After receiving his B.A. in history from the University of Dallas, Bozell joined the National Conservative Political Action Committee, working with the group's founder, Terry Dolan, to help elect conservative politicians. [ [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117961334.html?categoryid=18&cs=1 Parents Television Council sees new era] , by Michael Learmouth, "Variety", March 17, 2007] Bozell headed NCPAC for a brief period after Dolan's death in 1986, resigning in 1987 to start the Media Research Center. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DC143FF932A3575AC0A961948260 Conservative Official Resigns] , "New York Times", September 1, 1987]

Media Research Center

Before founding the MRC in 1987, Bozell ran the National Conservative Foundation project at the Conservative Political Action Conference, in which he moderated debates between Sam Donaldson and Bob Novak over media bias. [Bozell, "Weapons of Mass Distortion", p. 18.]

In 1998, Bozell founded the Conservative Communications Center. [ [http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/primer.html The ConWebWatch Primer] . ConWebWatch: September 4, 2007.] The MRC also established CNSNews.com, the site of the Conservative News Service later becoming known as Cybercast News Service, as well as numerous other MRC-affiliated web sites. [http://www.mediaresearch.org/bios/lbb/welcome.asp Media Research Center biography of Bozell] . Accessed 2007-07-16.] On its website, MRC publishes Bozell's syndicated columns, the "CyberAlert" daily newsletter documenting perceived media bias, and research reports on the news media.

In his MSNBC news program "Countdown with Keith Olbermann", as Olbermann named Bozell the "Worst Person in the World" several times in 2006 and 2007. [cite web|last = Olbermann|first = Keith|authorlink = Keith Olbermann|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15969652/|title=‘Worst Person in the World’: Brent Bozell|publisher = MSNBC|date = December 1, 2006.|accessdate=2007-08-17] [cite web
last = Fishel
first = Ben
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Olbermann named Beck third "Worst Person" for Nazi/NY Times comparison; Bozell took top honor for touting debunked WMD discovery
work = MediaMatters.org
publisher = Media Matters for America
date = 2006-06-29
url = http://mediamatters.org/items/200606300001
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-07-16 ] [cite web|last = Olbermann|first = Keith |authorlink= Keith Olbermann |title = World's Worst first: A five-way tie|publisher = MSNBC|date = 2006-10-16|url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15252736/|accessdate = 2007-08-15] [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Olbermann again named Limbaugh "today's worst person in the world," Bozell "a very close second"
work = MediaMatters.org
publisher = Media Matters for America
date = 2005-08-22
url = http://mediamatters.org/items/200508220003
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-07-16 ] In response, Bozell posted a press release on the MRC site claiming that "Countdown" "Preaches Hate Speech". [ [http://www.mediaresearch.org/press/2006/press20061102.asp MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann preaches hate speech and liberal media are silent] .]

Parents Television Council

Bozell founded the Parents Television Council in 1995, initially as a branch of the Media Research Center focusing on entertainment television, after he felt that decency was declining on prime-time television programming.cite web
last = Poniewozik
first = James
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Decency Police
work = Time
publisher =
date = 2005-03-20
url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1039672,00.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-20] The PTC's stated mission is "to promote and restore responsibility and decency to the entertainment industry". [ [http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/faqs/main.asp#What%20is%20the%20PTCs%20mission What is the PTC's mission?] Parents Television Council Frequently Asked Questions]

In 2001, the PTC also organized a mass advertiser boycott of the professional wrestling television program "WWF SmackDown!" over claims that the program caused the deaths of young children who they felt were influenced by watching the program, only later to be sued by the WWF over claims that the PTC used false statements in their campaign.cite news | last = Higgins | first = John M.| title = Bozell's $3.5M apology | work = Broadcasting & Cable |date=2002-07-15 | url = http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA233378.html | accessdate = 2007-05-19 ] That year, Bozell and the PTC had appeared as the subject of criticism in the book "", a memoir published by former WWF wrestler Mick Foley, who questioned the reasoning and research that the PTC used to associate "SmackDown" with violent acts performed by children watching the program. [cite book
last = Foley
first = Mick
authorlink = Mick Foley
coauthors =
title =
publisher = HarperCollins
date = 2001
location = New York, NY
pages = 451-460
url =
doi =
isbn = 0060393009 ] [cite news
last = Smith
first = Dinitia
coauthors =
title = A Wrestler Who Prefers the Pen to the Pin
work = The New York Times
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = 2001-05-22
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE7D9143DF931A15756C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
accessdate = 2008-01-05 ] In July 2002, Bozell settled the WWE lawsuit out of court, the PTC paying $3.5 million to the WWE.

During his tenure as PTC president, Bozell led many campaigns following the PTC's mission to restore its view of decency to the entertainment industry. Among the numerous campaigns Bozell has led with the PTC have included campaigning to bring back the "Family Viewing Hour", filing complaints with the FCC over what he sees as indecent programs, and boycotting corporations that advertise on television programs that the organization believes to be offensive. Among the PTC's largest campaigns for FCC complaints was over the 2004 Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show in which co-performer Justin Timberlake caused the brief exposure of lead performer Janet Jackson's right breast, leading the CBS network that carried the halftime show to be fined $550,000 by the FCC. [cite press release
title = FCC Proposes Statutory Maximum Fine of $550,000 Against Viacom-Owned CBS Affiliates for Apparent Violation fo Indecency Rules During Broadcast of Super Bowl Halftime Show
publisher = Federal Communications Commission
date = 2004-09-22
url = http://www.fcc.gov/eb/News_Releases/DOC-252384A1.html
accessdate = ] PTC filed about 65,000 complaints, [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Broadcast Indecency Campaign
work =
publisher = Parents Television Council
date = 2007-08-17
url = http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/fcc/Complaints.asp
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-27] and Bozell was concerned that many children were likely to have been watching the halftime show, as he told the Associated Press a few days after the show. [cite news
last =
first =
coauthors =
title = The Jackson stunt: What now?
work = CNN.com
pages =
language =
publisher = Associated Press
date = 2004-02-06
url = http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/06/superbowl.fallout.ap/index.html
accessdate = 2008-01-27] In fact, excluding Super Bowl-related complaints, the vast majority of FCC complaints from 2003 to 2006 were found to have come from PTC. [cite news |last = Shields |first = Todd |title = Activists Dominate Content Complaints |work = Mediaweek |publisher = Parents Television Council |date = 2004-12-06 |url = http://web.archive.org/web/20050213091055/http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000731656 |accessdate = 2007-06-28 ]

Responding to two columns that Bozell wrote in early 2005, [cite web
last = Bozell
first = L. Brent III
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Is Sweeps Month Lesbian Month?
work = MRC.org
publisher = Creators Syndicate
date = 2005-02-17
url = http://www.mrc.org/BozellColumns/entertainmentcolumn/2005/col20050218.asp
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-07-11 ] [cite web
last = Bozell
first = L. Brent III
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Moses vs. 'Desperate Housewives'
work = MRC.org
publisher = Creators Syndicate
date = 2005-04-01
url = http://www.mrc.org/BozellColumns/entertainmentcolumn/2005/col20050401.asp
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-07-11 ] "San Francisco Chronicle" columnist Neva Chonin claimed that Bozell wanted to forbid offensive television programs not only from his views, but "from all our living rooms, choice and taste be damned." [cite news
last = Chonin
first = Neva
coauthors =
title = Warning: Graphic Content
work = San Francisco Chronicle
pages = PK-22
date = 2005-04-24
url = http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/24/PKG27BC5M31.DTL
accessdate = 2007-07-11 ] Television Watch, an organization promoting parental responsibility for children's television viewing over increased government regulation of television, used a short clip of Bozell saying that the V-Chip is ineffective at blocking inappropriate television programs in a promotional video [cite video
people =
title = [http://televisionwatch.org/NewsPolls/Video/Exposed.wmv EXPOSED! Why Special Interests Don’t Want You to Use the V-Chip]
medium = Windows Media Video
publisher = Television Watch
location =
date = 2005-07-14 ] released in July 2005 intended to claim that special-interest groups like Bozell's own Parents Television Council are using such propaganda to justify increased government control of the public airwaves. [cite press release
title = EXPOSED! Why Special Interests Don’t Want You to Use the V-Chip
publisher = Television Watch
date = 2005-07-14
url = http://www.televisionwatch.org/NewsPolls/PressReleases/PR012.html
accessdate = 2007-07-11 ]

Culture and Media Institute

In October 2006, Bozell founded the Culture and Media Institute, whose mission is to reduce what he claims to be a negative liberal influence on American morality, culture, and religious liberty. [http://www.mediaresearch.org/bios/lbb/welcome.asp Media Research Center biography of Bozell] . Accessed 2007-07-16.] To this day, he remains an advisor to the Parents Television Council. [ [http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/aboutus/advisoryboard/main.asp PTC Advisory Board] listing as of September 14, 2007. Bozell's photo is displayed at the very bottom right corner.]

Written works

His articles have appeared in such publications as "The Wall Street Journal", "Washington Post" [cite web|last=Benen|first=Steve|title=Far-right offers hints to McCain on how to win their support|url=http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14835.html|work=The Carpetbagger Report|date=2008-03-09|accessdate=2008-03-10] [cite news|last=Bozell|first=L. Brent III|title=From the Right, He Looks Too Blue|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702845_pf.html|date=2008-03-09|work=The Washington Post|page=B1|accessdate=2008-03-10] , "Washington Times", "New York Post", "Los Angeles Times", "USA Today" [cite news|last=Bozell|first=L. Brent III|title=Viewers want end to 'slime'|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-04-28-oppose_x.htm|work=USA Today|date=2005-04-28|accessdate=2008-03-09] , and "National Review". He is a nationally syndicated columnist with the Creators Syndicate, and he is a regular on television, including the Fox News Channel program "Hannity & Colmes". He writes two weekly columns, one covering the news media published Tuesdays or Wednesdays, and one covering entertainment published Thursdays or Fridays on the sites for the Media Research Center [ [http://www.mediaresearch.org/archive/entcol/welcome.asp Bozell's Entertainment Column - 2008 Archive - Media Research Center ] ] [ [http://www.mediaresearch.org/archive/newscol/welcome.asp Bozell's News Column - 2008 Archive - Media Research Center ] ] and Cybercast News Service. [ [http://www.cnsnews.com/bozellcolumn/MainArchive.asp CNSNews.com - Brent Bozell Column Archive ] ] Other web sites such as Townhall.com, Catholic Exchange, Yahoo! News, and others have published these columns. For some time, the Parents Television Council web site carried Bozell's entertainment column, but as of late January 2008, the PTC no longer hosts the columns, instead linking to the columns hosted on the MRC web site. [ [http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/lbbcolumns/ Brent Bozell's Weekly Entertainment Column ] ] In his columns, Bozell has written about such topics as media consolidation, indecency, media violence, and anti-Christian prejudice.

Bibliography

To date, Bozell has written three books covering the news media.
*"And That's the Way it Isn't: A Reference Guide to Media Bias" (with Brent Baker) (1990)
*"" (2004)
*"Whitewash: How The News Media Are Paving Hillary Clinton's Path to the Presidency" (with Tim Graham) (2007)

Personal life and views

He is a nephew of conservative writer and "National Review" founder William F. Buckley through Bozell's mother, Patricia Buckley Bozell. His father (L. Brent Bozell Jr., a Catholic convert) was Buckley's debating partner at Yale University and a conservative activist; his grandfather, Leo B. Bozell, was a co-founder of Bozell Worldwide. [http://www.nndb.com/people/298/000108971/ Brent Bozell] NNDB.com Biography. Accessed 2007-04-15] L. Brent Bozell III has a wife, Norma, and five children, David, L. Brent IV, Joseph, Caitlin, and Reid, and lives with his family in Alexandria, Virginia. [http://www.nndb.com/people/298/000108971/ Brent Bozell] NNDB.com Biography. Accessed 2007-04-15] Bozell has stated that contrary to speculation by some in the media, he is not a Republican. [Bozell, "Weapons of Mass Distortion", p. 5.] [ [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0408/05/cf.01.html CNN.com - Transcripts ] ]

Reactions

Awards and recognition

Bozell was named the 1998 "Alumnus of the Year" at the University of Dallas. [http://www.creators.com/opinion/brent-bozell-about.html About L. Brent Bozell] . Creators.com] That same year, Grove City College named Bozell "Pew Memorial Lecturer".

Criticism

Media Matters for America, a self-described progressive media watchdog organization, has cited numerous examples of perceived misinformation that Bozell has publicly stated [ [http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/tags/l__brent_bozell L. Brent Bozell - Media Matters] ] . Bozell's stance on morality has been questioned. Commentator Paul Waldman writes that he was confronted by Bozell after an appearance with him on "The O'Reilly Factor", profanely attacking his commentary on the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. [cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070411100853/http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=189|title=Mad As Hell - How I got a disturbing view of Brent Bozell's undying rage|first=Paul|last=Waldman|date=2004-08-19|accessdate=2007-04-15]

References

External links

* [http://www.mediatransparency.org/personprofile.php?personID=21 Media Transparency profile]
* [http://www.mrc.org/ Media Research Center]
* [http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrentBozellIII Town Hall]
* [http://www.outloudopinion.com Podcasts of Bozell's articles]