CBS Evening News Anchor Chair: One Liberal (Couric) Makes Way for Another (Pelley)
Today CBS News officially announced that longtime correspondent Scott Pelley will be taking the reins of the CBS Evening News from departing anchor Katie Couric. A review of the MRC's archive reveals Pelley will most likely continue the long tradition of liberal bias advanced by his anchor predecessors Couric, Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite.
From celebrating the likes of liberal heroes like Hillary Clinton, saying that she is of the rare few that can match Barack Obama's "global star power" to even offering praise of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, depicting him as a "genuinely humble" figure with "no fancy clothes, fancy cars" who was "absolutely incorruptible," Pelley's new stint as anchor promises to be one filled with biased platitudes for those on the left and harsh criticism of the right.
Below the jump are just a couple examples of Pelley's bias over the years, but to see even more outrageous outakes from Pelley's time as a correspondent for the CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes please visit his Profile in Bias page at MRC.org.
Republicans Just Like Timothy McVeigh
On the January 2, 1996 edition of CBS Evening News, Pelley perhaps overdramatized the impact of the government shutdown when he opened his story this way: "In April, terrorists tried to kill them. Today politicians stopped their paychecks. In Oklahoma City's Social Security office, they're being ordered to work for nothing."
[audio available here]
Pelley: Ahmadinejad 'Friendly,''Incorruptible,' 'Modest'
On the September 24, 2007 Early Show Pelley was very generous in his personal assessment of dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he hailed that the Iranian president as "incorruptible" and a "modest" and "friendly" guy as he told host Harry Smith: "The important thing, I think, Harry, to understand, he's described in the West as a madman, crazy, that's not the case. I found him to be as many politicians are, very engaging, very friendly, he's clearly not mad, he's sane. In fact, he's very wily I would tell you."
Pelley went on to praise: "He is genuinely religious, genuinely humble, there are no fancy clothes, fancy cars, he lives with his wife and his three children. They live in an apartment in Tehran. He is a very modest man and said to be absolutely incorruptible as well, he's a fascinating character."
[audio available here]
# # #
- Geoffrey Dickens's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
What exciting news this is....
Submitted by PrairieSky on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 4:18pm.
NOT. Exchanging Pelley for Couric simply means that CBS chose (shocker shocker) to replace one dimwit libnut with yet another dimwit libnut.
Nothing new here...Move along.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
*Yawn*
Submitted by gwalt on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 4:47pm.
What time is the 6:00 evening news on again? I forgot----around 1998.
"A lot of briefing for a 2 hr. special with Dan Rather. Saw the show & wonder why we bothered". Ronald Reagan
3 months
Submitted by grammajane on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 5:06pm.
Give him three months to take cbs futher down the tubes. Who cares. No one watches the big three evening news anyway. Brett Bair on Fox has the huge audience that wants and receives the news that is important and not bias. Who replaces Pelly on 60 minutes?? Maybe Olberman???
It would be great
Submitted by gwalt on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 5:32pm.
It would be great if NB ran a few ads on some local CBS news stations with Scott Pelleys greatest hits preceding his newscasts. Just a few cheap ones on some mid-market stations and then go all Youtube with it. It would surely open some eyes.
But I agree, 3 months----never anchored and he comes off condescending. At least Katie held a morning program. This guy just does 15 minute segments from the Lib side with a commercial break inserted. No----how does the Intelligentsia describe Obama?-----gravitas!
"A lot of briefing for a 2 hr. special with Dan Rather. Saw the show & wonder why we bothered". Ronald Reagan
cbs gets more liberal
Submitted by right of way on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 5:48pm.
pelley makes katie look like hannity. pelley is more dangerous because unlike katie, he is a real journalist. katie would be better suited on extra or e.t., but pelley is a hard hitt'n lib. but, the douche comes off as an arrogant jerk, just like dan rather. cbs evening news will remain in the toilet.
Enjoy your sinking ratings, CBS!
Submitted by Phryj1 on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 6:09pm.
Couric at least had name recognition. How many people who don't watch CBS regularly even know who this guy is? He'll bring in even fewer viewers than Katie.
At this rate, CBS will be forced to shut down their news division by the end of the decade. Good riddance.
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
Who?
Submitted by ctophfranko on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 6:21pm.
I guess when someone everyone knows fails, the next best thing is to fail with somebody nobody has heard of.
What this shows is that CBS
Submitted by Rusty Shackleford on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:54pm.
What this shows is that CBS really doesn't understand the problem because they actually think it's Couric's fault when in reality it's the socialist agenda of the content. Sure Couric is a bleeding heart airhead and is therefore part of the problem, but CBS hasn't even gotten to the point where they acknowledge the problem. To replace someone with such a huge name with an unknown proves they just don't get it.
They could have done something bold and maintained their leftwing slant, Jon Liebowitz (aka Stewart) would have kept the agenda the same but really would have grabbed the ratings. Bikini-clad hotties would have driven up the ratings too (and don't give me that line about maintaining the integrity of journalism. Integrity was abandoned years ago) A creative reimagining of the entire format of the presentation of network news could have been good too (i.e. turn CBS News into the Nintendo Wii of network news) I liked the idea someone on Newsbusters had where they suggested getting rid of the anchor altogether.
It's really surprising that a bunch of Lefties got together to pick a new host for CBS News and they decided an old white guy with gray hair was the best choice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Matthews: The Joy Behar of MSNBC.
Bill Maher: The Joy Behar of HBO.
Paul Krugman: The Joy Behar of The New York Times.
What's great is that this is
Submitted by Rusty Shackleford on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 6:31pm.
What's great is that this is a win-win scenario. If the ratings continue to go down then we can continue ridiculing CBS for keeping its world news program as an outlet to broadcast leftist fundamentalism. If the ratings go up then it will just make perky Katie's little head go *POP* because her little feminist mindset will be outraged over the fact that a man did a better job than she! I think Katie needs to shop for a new husband at a hospice because she's going to need to exploit the death of another husband to get herself back on top.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Matthews: The Joy Behar of MSNBC.
Bill Maher: The Joy Behar of HBO.
Paul Krugman: The Joy Behar of The New York Times.
Or call Roto-Rooter for a
Submitted by Dan Diego on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 8:35pm.
Or call Roto-Rooter for a close-up.
"Roto-Rooter, that's the name and away go troubles down the drain."
Honestly, you guys would be
Submitted by balboa on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 7:58pm.
Honestly, you guys would be very disappointed if they went with a conservative, wouldn't you?
Who cares?
Submitted by Boudin on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 8:41pm.
When in 2 yrs these same morons will be scratching their noggins, wondering why you libs are not watching their shiny new moron?
"... if they went with a conservative...
Submitted by Chris Norman on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 8:52pm.
Like there was even the remotest chance of that ever happening. By the way, I don't want to be able to tell if it's either a "conservative" or a "liberal" reporting the news. I want someone who expresses no opinion about what they're reporting - either overtly or subtly. I don't want the news shaded to support one political ideology or another. Here's an idea - why don't they just report what's happening straight up?
Bal, CBS could put a deaf, dumb and blind monkey in the anchor
Submitted by Dave. on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:10pm.
...chair, and I wouldn't know about it unless one of the contributers here posted an article about it.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Dave
Submitted by Chris Norman on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:18pm.
They might try that monkey if after two years Pelley doesn't budge their abysmal ratings. I wonder if Fred J Muggs is still available?
If Fred refuses
Submitted by Dan Diego on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:23pm.
they may settle for Shep.
...or Shemp....
Submitted by Chris Norman on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:50pm.
...or Shemp....if they aren't the same guy...
Chris,
Submitted by Dave. on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:55pm.
LOL - That would be an improvement of no small proportion.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
It matters not
Submitted by The Irishman on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 8:21pm.
Until NewsCorp buys CBS conservatives aren't planning on watching regardless of who sits in the anchor chair.
To state the obvious...
Submitted by Chris Norman on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:01pm.
Three overused words that still work in this instance: "Deck Chairs" and "Titanic"...
LOL Chris!
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:06pm.
You hit the nail on the head!!
The difference between Couric and Pelley
Submitted by Bill Brasky on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 8:53pm.
Couric is an airhead latte liberal just following the crowd. Pelley is an angry, paranoid, committed leftist that thinks he smells a "vast right wing conspiracy" in every story. It doesn't change anything except CBS now has a stranglehold on last place for years to come.
Hillary?
Submitted by MightyMouth on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:07pm.
"global star power"...? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
*sigh*
Submitted by dmntd1 on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:10pm.
Another old white guy.
We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
Georgia Girl, stratman, Cool
Submitted by Scuba Dude on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 9:42pm.
Georgia Girl, stratman, Cool Arrow, matthewdean, 26CX, Par for the Course and motherbelt
CHECK YOUR PM'S
Scott Pelley, forces of nature denier
Submitted by deadeyedan on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 1:07am.
Well this may come as quite the treat - Pelley will be scorching the airwaves with Al Gore blather about "climate disruption" just as the whole global warming deck of cards becomes exposed for the fraud that it is, hopefully taking him and the whole rest of the MSM with it.
Wait until it comes out that, not only has the climategate instigators "censorship" been self-imposed, almost all the genuine scientists are muzzled by their starving-for-grants institutions because the money comes from agenda-driven rich Democrats (redundancy, sorry) and the federal till and only if the research fits dialectical materialism.
If the Republicans in the House Science Committee manage to get the investigation underway as they ought, the specter of climate scientists under oath should be a hoot. Then the AGW myth crumbles for all time.
Climategate - the revelation that the pseudo-scientists at East Anglia University know just as much about the atmosphere as Harvard law professors know about the Constitution - deadeyedan