MRC DisHonors Awards - 2016 | Media Research Center

Introduction

Watch video of the entire awards program (video below of pre-dinner invocation and pledge) of the Media Research Center’s annual gala, featuring the “DisHonors Awards,” held on Thursday, September 22, 2016, starting with the “William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence,” then the four annual awards for the worst bias and the “Quote of the Year” selection, finishing with “funny clips.”

Stephen Hayes, Deneen Borelli, Chris Plante, Charlie Daniels, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William G. “Jerry” Boykin, Becky Norton Dunlop and former Congressman David McIntosh highlighted the Media Research Center’s “2016 Gala featuring the DisHonors Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporting,” presented on Thursday night, September 22, before an audience of nearly 800 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

In addition to the presentation of the DisHonors Awards videos in four categories and a look at some “funny clips,” the audience decided Melissa Harris-Perry had earned the Quote of the Year dishonor. MRC President Brent Bozell asked the audience to show their derision, via jeers and noisemakers, of quotes from Joy Reid, Chris Matthews and Melissa Harris-Perry, each of whom had won a news category earlier in the program. The audience’s pick was assessed by Bozell and the presenters and acceptors brought on stage to judge the audience’s preference.

The MRC opened the post-dinner program with Bozell honoring Charlie Daniels with the MRC’s tenth annual “William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence.” Daniels celebrated the beauty and treasures of the nation, heralding: “This is America, the land God blesses with everything.”

The four DisHonors Awards category winners were determined by the audience. After watching the three nominated quotes, attendees at each of the 80 tables discussed the quotes and then, by electronic device, the table captain cast the choice on behalf of the table.

The nominated quotes were narrowed beforehand to three in each category by a distinguished panel of ten leading media observers, including Rush Limbaugh, Monica Crowley, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, David Limbaugh, Walter E. Williams and Erick Erickson (List of judges).

At the MRC’s 2016 gala and “DisHonors Awards,” Cal Thomas, the Master of Ceremonies, welcomed the audience before dinner and introduced Father Robert Rippy, who delivered the invocation, and then Army Colonel (Ret.) Fred Johnston led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Cal Thomas, an author, TV commentator and nationally syndicated columnist, served as Master of Ceremonies. Stephen Hayes, senior writer for The Weekly Standard and a regular on FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier, presented the first two award categories before Deneen Borelli, chief political correspondent for Conservative Review, handled the third and fourth awards. The evening’s program concluded with Chris Plante, host of a talk show on Washington DC’s WMAL Radio, cuing up “funny clips.”

In place of the journalist who won each award, a conservative accepted it in jest. Those standing in for the winners: Becky Norton Dunlop, the Heritage Foundation’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow; former Indiana Congressman David McIntosh, now President of the Club for Growth; Army Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William G. “Jerry” Boykin, Executive Vice President of the Family Research Council; and Baltimore Police lieutenant Brian Rice and officers Garrett Miller and Edward Nero.

The evening began with an invocation by Father Robert Rippy and Army Colonel (Ret.) Fred Johnston led the Pledge of Allegiance.

For more on the evening, check the posts on our NewsBusters blog.

Hail Hillary Award

Presentation

Master of Ceremonies Cal Thomas explained how those at each table would vote to pick the award winners via electronic voting devices, before he introduced a video compilation of adulating media “Obamagasms” since Barack Obama’s rise to prominence. He then welcomed Stephen Hayes to present the “Hail Hillary Award.” By audience vote, it was won by MSNBC’s Joy Reid and accepted in jest by Becky Norton Dunlop, the Heritage Foundation’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow.

2016 Award Nominees

Tamara Keith Runner-Up

“Madame Secretary, last night when you took stage in Sacramento, there was a woman standing next to me who was absolutely sobbing. And she said, you know, ‘It’s time. It’s past time.’ And you see the women — you see people here and people just come up to you and they get tears in their eyes. Do you feel — do you feel the weight of what this means for people?”

— NPR’s Tamara Keith to Clinton at a June 6 press availability shown live on CNN Newsroom.

Lester Holt Runner-Up

“I want to ask you about a moment at the town hall the other day. A young man, a Bernie Sanders supporter, stood up and said young people don’t trust you [man: “I’ve heard from quite a few people my age that they think you’re dishonest.”] And when he said that, I winced. And I was wondering, you’ve obviously been in tough battles, political battles, but do you get your feelings hurt sometimes?”

— Anchor Lester Holt to Hillary Clinton on NBC Nightly News, January 29.

Joy Reid Winner

Correspondent Joy Reid: “If you look at Hillary Clinton’s qualifications, I mean, my God, since the Founding Fathers, has anyone tried to run for president with more on their resume?”

Host Andrea Mitchell: “John Quincy Adams, maybe.”

Reid: “Maybe John Quincy Adams. True, true, true. Jefferson, Adams, I mean you have to go back literally to the 18th century to find somebody with a more packed resume than Hillary Clinton.”

— Exchange on noontime hour of MSNBC’s Place for Politics, April 8.

Damn Those Conservatives to Hell Award

Presentation

Stephen Hayes presented the “Damn Those Conservatives to Hell Award” which, by audience vote completed via electronic device at each table, was won by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and accepted in jest by former Indiana Congressman David McIntosh, now President of the Club for Growth.

2016 Award Nominees

Fareed Zakaria Runner-Up

“Republicans have fed the country ideas about decline, betrayal, and treason. They have encouraged the forces of anti-intellectualism, obstructionism, and populism. They have flirted with bigotry and racism. Trump merely chose to unashamedly embrace all of it.”

— Host Fareed Zakaria on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, March 6.

Jeremy Scahill Runner-Up

“Let me be clear here, I believe that what we’re seeing with Trump has whiffs of how Hitler rose to power.”

— Founder of The Intercept, Jeremy Scahill, on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, May 13.

Chris Matthews Winner

“There’s a troll-like quality to Cruz. He operates below the level of human life.”

— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Morning Joe, February 10.

The Celebrity Dumbass Award

Presentation

Deneen Borelli presented the “Celebrity Dumbass Award” which, by audience vote completed via electronic device at each table, was won by Bill Maher and accepted in jest by Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William G. “Jerry” Boykin, Executive Vice President of the Family Research Council.

2016 Award Nominees

Jeff Daniels Runner-Up

“I love Bernie. I love the ideas that he’s got. To me, it’s like somebody who went to Woodstock who now is running for President. And it’s all those ideals, let’s just make the world a great place, and legalize this, and free health care, and free college, and going for all of that. Great ideas. But that thing called ‘Congress,’ you know, is a problem.”

— Actor Jeff Daniels on Bloomberg TV’s With All Due Respect, May 9.

Joy Behar Runner-Up

“I actually am aroused by him [Bernie Sanders]. I’m serious. I find him to be eye candy, not ear candy, eye candy. I like an old Jewish guy who’s a socialist. That’s my type of guy. Everybody is talking about [former Maryland Governor Martin] O’Malley and how hot he was. But to me, Bernie is hot.”

— Co-host Joy Behar on ABC’s The View, October 14, 2015.

Bill Maher Winner

“I saw David Cameron today. You know, I’m up at 2:00 in the morning when this all happens. So I watched his whole speech and it’s like ‘well, I lost the vote, I graciously leave office.’ It’s like their system works so beautifully. We can’t even get a vote on something that 90 percent of Americans agree on and can’t get a vote. Our system sucks. It really does. The Constitution needs a page one re-write.”

— Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time, June 24, reacting the House not taking up gun control bills and the Brexit vote in Britain.

Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Analysis

Presentation

Deneen Borelli presented the “Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Analysis” which, by audience vote completed via electronic device at each table, was won by MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry and accepted in jest by Baltimore Police lieutenant Brian Rice and officers Garrett Miller and Edward Nero.

2016 Award Nominees

Chris Matthews Runner-Up

Host Chris Matthews: “But do you think we’d have mass shootings if we didn’t have guns? How would we have them?...We don’t have mass shootings all over Europe. We don’t have mass–”

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum: “What do you mean? We just had a mass shooting in Paris!”

— Exchange on MSNBC’s Hardball on December 1, 2015, just 18 days after the terrorist attack that killed 130 people.

Nancy Cordes Runner-Up

“Trump does not discriminate when it come to news outlets. He has blackballed the right-leaning National Review and the left-leaning Mother Jones. The Washington Post, of course, is neutral.”

— CBS’s Nancy Cordes on the June 16 Evening News, talking about Trump’s feud with the Washington Post.

Melissa Harris-Perry Winner

Alfonso Aguilar, Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles: “If there’s somebody who is a hard worker when he goes to Washington, it’s Paul Ryan....”

Host Melissa Harris-Perry: “I want us to be super careful when we use the language ‘hard worker,’ because I actually keep an image of folks working in cotton fields on my office wall, because it is a reminder about what hard work looks like. So, I feel you that he’s a hard worker, I do, but in the context of relative privilege.”

— Exchange on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry, October 24, 2015.

Quote of the Year
via audience applause

Presentation

MRC President Brent Bozell asked the audience to show their derision, via jeers and noisemakers, of quotes from Joy Reid, Chris Matthews and Melissa Harris-Perry, each of whom had won a news category earlier in the program. Bozell, and earlier participants in the program brought on stage to assess the audience reaction, determined Perry overwhelmingly earned the Quote of the Year dishonor.

Melissa Harris-Perry Winner

— Exchange on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry, October 24, 2015.

Funny Clips

Presentation

The evening concluded with Chris Plante presenting funny video clips, from comedy and news shows, identified by Brent Baker and the MRC’s News Analysis Division.

10th Annual William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence:
Charlie Daniels

William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008) was the intellectual cornerstone of the modern conservative movement. His founding of National Review magazine in 1955 provided the home base for conservatives in an America seemingly overrun by liberalism. With NR, and as host of television's Firing Line for 33 years, William F. Buckley Jr. spread the cause, helped rally conservatives during the Cold War, was instrumental in helping Ronald Reagan win the presidency — twice — and continues to provide the intellectual ammunition, along with grace and wit, to strengthen conservatives in the on-going battles to preserve liberty, peace and justice in America.

In addition to NR, Mr. Buckley wrote 40 books, published a regular column syndicated to 300 newspapers, and penned longer articles for magazines and other outlets. He educated and inspired thousands of conservatives, especially young men and women, through his articles, books and TV appearances. These young conservatives have followed Mr. Buckley's example and relayed the conservative message across the country and through various media, particularly the New Media: cable TV, talk radio and the Internet.

William F. Buckley Jr. circumvented the liberal media's "Berlin Wall" of bias with imagination and tenacity. His intellectual progeny now populate the airwaves and cyberspace, leaving the old liberal media in the dustbin of history. To recognize and honor the very best of these new conservative leaders, the Media Research Center is proud to present the annual William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence.

Presentation

Media Research Center President Brent Bozell welcomed the audience to the post-dinner program. He then presented the tenth annual “William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence” to 2016 honoree Charlie Daniels, who decried declining patriotism in the United States. Daniels celebrated the beauty and treasures of the nation, heralding: “This is America, the land God blesses with everything.”