Little Green Footballs

Little Green Footballs (often abbreviated as LGF) is a weblog run by California web designer Charles Johnson. Much like neo-conservative icon Irving Kristol, Johnson claims that he was "a liberal who was mugged by history" — in this case, by the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Mainstream media bias

Since founder Charles Johnson's post-9/11 turn to the right, some "mainstream media" sources have accused LGF of promoting ethnic bias. This has led many LGF fans to conclude that the mainstream media is itself biased against LGF. A few examples used to back this claim:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• In October 2002, MSNBC's Will Femia wrote of LGF thus:

"This site is the focus of considerable controversy for its focus (and particularly the focus of the constituents in its comments section) on Islamic culture and dogma as the source of Islamic terror. As a popular, active, and well presented site, it is worth checking out, but some may find its content hateful or even racist."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• In January 2005 conservative columnist Andrew Sullivan described LGF as "enthusiastically pro-torture".
• On September 25 2004, the New York Times Sunday magazine ran a cover story about political bloggers. Although Charles had been interviewed for 43 minutes by author Michael Klam, neither he nor his weblog got a mention in the final piece - Klam focused instead on longtime rivals Wonkette and the Daily Kos. Johnson struck back with a post entitled "They Smile in Your Face" (an allusion to the 1972 soul hit "Back Stabbers" by the O-Jays), noting:

There is not one word about the anti-idiotarian blogosphere... The mainstream media?s shameful, arrogant bias up there for all to see.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Johnson has also frequently complained about the failure of Google News to index his blog. In March 2005, he called attention to that service's inclusion of the white supremacist National Vanguard site, sparking a controversy that forced Google to remove it from the news index.

Related Topics:
Google News - White supremacist

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the other hand, LGF has also found considerable support from mainstream media sources, leading some to point to a possible bias towards it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The Weekly Standard has described LGF as one of "the saner precincts of the blogosphere" (http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/303yjmdi.asp?pg=2)
• Michelle Malkin, Mark Steyn, Bill O'Reilly and other high-profile conservative pundits have praised (or at least mentioned) LGF
• Syndicated columnist James Taranto (see links below) has dedicated an article to its defense

Johnson's stated distaste for mainstream media news sources (MSM) are reflected in his heavy use of MSM content itself as a tool to point out what he believes is liberal bias in the media.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~