Roger Aronoff of the conservative “watchdog” group Accuracy In Media appeared on a Tea Party Unity conference call today to repeat tired talking points about liberal media bias. But Aronoff did include an interesting tidbit in his otherwise worn-out analysis: MSNBC is left-leaning because it was part of a secret deal between the Obama administration and Comcast.
Aronoff, citing absolutely no evidence, said that the reason the Federal Communications Commission approved Comcast’s 2009 takeover of NBC Universal was that Comcast promised the White House that it would ensure liberal bias in NBC and MSNBC’s programming.
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The deal between Comcast, that enabled Comcast to purchase NBC Universal, was sanctioned by the Obama administration and I always felt we never saw maybe some side deals that were made in that to guarantee that they’re going to support the administration in ways that are just really incredible,” he said. “When you see, it’s not only on the news shows, but if you watch a lot of the primetime shows they insert things in there, they always take digs at the Tea Party or any conservatives or treat the other side as absolutely on the moral high ground.”
Rick Scarborough, the head of Tea Party Unity, added that such a deal would make sense since NBC’s prior owner, GE, is involved in alternative energy research backed by the administration.