Guns, Sex, And MSNBC: Daily Caller Publishes Media Matters Exposé

Mediaite reached out to Smith to get his take on the report. “I didn’t feel comfortable talking to the Caller for the story,” Smith told us in an email, “because they’ve made specific errors the two other times they’ve written about me (and it’s not like I get written about all that much, or have ever had this experience with another outlet), and then refused to correct them.” He adds that he told the Caller’s Will Rahn (whom he CC’d on his email) that because the Daily Caller “has made specific mistakes about me and refused to correct them in the past, I’m afraid I’m not comfortable speaking to you about this.” Smith also noted that he’d been critical of Media Matters on several occasions, and has been on the receiving ends of attacks from the organization:

I’m also amused to note that they are following my own reporting on
Media Matters (without credit) (see the 2010 memo with the phrase “de
facto” here http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=2531E25B-654B-4948-BD46-C0C717F5B557
and here http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/12/inside-media-matters-sources-memos-reveal-erratic-behavior-close-coordination-with-white-house-and-news-organizations/4/)

I’ve reported on Media Matters quite a bit http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/69929.html and have been on the receiving ends of their attacks (http://mediamatters.org/blog/201001120015) as well as of tips from a war room that conservatives are imitating, as I first reported http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71099.html.

Perhaps the most sensational aspect of the Caller’s report, however, is what it had to say about Brock. Citing anonymous sources close to Media Matters, the Daily Caller offers a picture of a paranoid man prone to fits of mania, who requires medication and whose colleagues “believe he was regularly using illegal drugs, including cocaine.” Brock’s erratic behavior, the sources add, had an impact on Media Matters’ working environment:

Sources back at the Media Matters offices describe an atmosphere of tension and paranoia. “Many of us lived in fear that at any point we could be fired,” one said. Brock believed he had received credible death threats, and employed a two-man security detail, at least one of whom was armed and acted as his driver. A new security system was installed in his house. He became concerned that one of his bodyguards was plotting against him.

And what’s an exposé without sex?

The atmosphere in the office was considerably more tolerant on non-editorial matters. “There were these two folks who got caught [having sex] in the communications war room on the weekend,” said one employee.

“People came in, and lo and behold there were two of their colleagues doing the nasty on a desk.” Neither one was fired.

A source at Media Matters, meanwhile, notes that the Caller’s report “comes one week before our book, The Fox Effect, comes out, and Tucker Carlson is a Fox News contributor. This is an anonymously-sourced Daily Caller story, and that’s how we’re treating it.”

Tucker Carlson spoke about the report earlier today on Fox & Friends, where he shared highlights from the Daily Caller’s report and offered the news that internal memos from Media Matters would be coming out soon:

And Vince Coglianese discussed it with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly this afternoon , sharing that Daily Caller reporters spoke with current and former Media Matters staffers in addition to “progressive leaders, Democratic leaders” familiar with the organization:

h/t Daily Caller