Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right.

• Author: Vatz, Richard E.
• Position: Book Review

BY ANN COULTER CROWN 2002, 205 PAGES, $25.95

The dust jacket of Slander acknowledges that the book "continues where Bernard Goldberg's number one best-selling Bias left off," and indeed it does. Both books point to liberal unfairnesses and excesses--Bias in the media distortion of the news and Slander in a broader attack on liberals' rhetoric in the media and elsewhere.

Slander proves some major claims regarding "liberal lies," distortions, and injustices visited upon conservatives, particularly by the media. Coulter argues that the media provide preferential treatment to those representing liberal opinion. The book is filled with individual outrages, such as the intelligent, but badly motivated, liberal Tom Shales of the Washington Post leveling an empty ad hominem attack on Goldberg. Coulter cites the unequal treatment of liberal and conservative politicians who trip over their words and unreported gaffes by liberals.

She also presents seemingly conclusive evidence that conservatives are more successful than liberals in the competitive worlds of talk radio and books, despite advertising disadvantages. The author adds to these the myth of liberal brilliance and a host of smaller calumnies.

Coulter punctures some strong mythology regarding ideological fairness and the media. To the long-standing claim that Diane Sawyer's prominence at ABC News is prima facie evidence of fairness to conservatives in the revolving door between politics and the media, the author points out that Sawyer's conservative lineage and Republican roots are largely illusory. Moreover, the...