You Stay Classy, MSNBC

The General Electric-owned network sure knows how to write a headline — even if it has to apologize for it later:

I am not a religious person myself. I’m not an atheist either. So when I see progressive liberals attack religion and people of faith I just shake my head in disgust but am able to just realize that it’s what progressives are, and it doesn’t affect me personally. However, what happened with MSNBC crosses the line even with me. According to the site What Does The Prayer Really Say, Catholic League president Bill Donohue accused MSNBC of libeling Pope Benedict XVI:

Go to the home page of MSNBC and click on “World News.” From there click on “Americas.” Next click on the article, “Losing Their Religion? Catholicism in Turmoil.” Scroll down and in the “Click for Related Content” section there is an article entitled, “Pope Describes Touching Boys: I Went Too Far.” Clicking on this piece takes the reader to an article about a homosexual German priest who had sex with males in the 1980s. It says absolutely nothing about the pope. Yet MSNBC paints Pope Benedict XVI as a child molester in the tease to the article.

Later in the day and numerous e-mails and phone calls, NBC apologized the an article on MSNBC’s website entitled, “Pope Describes Touching Boys: I Went Too Far.” The article that readers accessed after clicking on it actually had nothing to do with the pope. Catholic League president Bill Donohue accepted the apology today:

NBC says the attributed quote was erroneous and they have corrected the error. An apology was also extended. The apology is accepted. We hope that whoever was responsible for this outrageous post is questioned about it and that appropriate measures are taken. We look forward to hearing the outcome.

Enough is enough of NBC. It’s time to boycott their sponsors! Here’s a list:

Click over for the list; the Anchoress (who tipped me to to MSNBC’s latest credibility meltdown) adds, “WOW. Still think the press isn’t actively trying to destroy the pope? My jaw is on the floor: NBC Apologies for egregiously untrue,shocking headline.”

Meanwhile, Brent Bozell questions the authority of the religious expert brought in by the even more low-rated CNN to analyze the latest news from the Vatican.

As Polipundit noted yesterday, Fox News has more prime time viewers than the other cable news networks combined. Perhaps not insulting vast swatches of its potential audience might be one clue as to why.