Skip to main content
  • CNSNews.com
  • MRC TV
  • Biz & Media
  • Culture & Media
  • TimesWatch
  • Take Action!

Join Us @:
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon Kindle

Free email alerts!

NewsBusters logo
May 19, 2013
  • Home
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Forum
  • Take Action
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Search
  • RSS

Hot Topics

  • IRS Targets Tea Party
  • Benghazi Fiasco
  • Gosnell Trial
  • Censoring the News
Home » Blogs » Noel Sheppard's blog
  • Video: Brent Bozell Cautions Media Will Quickly Revert to Defending Obama, Attacking GOP Over Scandals
  • Bozell Column: 'Progress' Gets Canceled
  • CNN's Banfield: 'Take Me Off the Ledge' and Tell Me IRS Audits Weren't Political
  • NBC's Williams Ready to Move On: 'It's Tough to Know the Staying Power of Any Given Scandal'
  • Video: Bozell, Hannity Amused That Obama Sycophant Chris Matthews Worried Obama's White House Filled with Yes-Men
  • Luke Russert: 'Smart' House Republicans Aren't The 'God, Guns & Guts People'
  • Tea Partiers Confront Comcast CEO: Why Would a Conservative Want Their Money to Pay Al Sharpton's Salary?
  • Bob Schieffer Spins Obama Scandals: White House Not Like Nixon's, Which Had Burglars and Bomb Plots

Did NBC Pull 'SNL' Videos From YouTube Because it Favors Obama?

By Noel Sheppard | March 01, 2008 | 13:51

A  A
Noel Sheppard's picture

If you haven't been asleep or out of the country the past seven days, you are fully aware of two rather controversial skits performed last Saturday on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."

In one, CNN Democrat debate moderators were depicted, "like nearly everyone in the news media," as being "totally in the tank for Senator Obama." Later, host Tina Fey basically gave a campaign speech for Hillary Clinton.

Videos of these skits began appearing at YouTube almost as soon as they were performed on the East Coast. Apparently for copyright infringement reasons, these unauthorized videos were pulled, sometimes within hours of them being posted.

Yet, as suggested by NewsBusters reader Myron Howard, there appears to be a political element at play for this clip from Saturday's show featuring Republican candidate Mike Huckabee was posted at YouTube on Sunday, and has not been removed:

 

There are approximately 20,000 videos available at YouTube which include the words "Saturday Night Live" or "SNL" that have not been removed for copyright reasons. To be sure, many of these don't actually include material subject to copyright laws. However, besides the Huckabee segment from last week, many do.

This raises an important question: when does NBC feel the need to enforce copyright rules and pressure YouTube to comply? Is there a political element here, especially given the continued presence of the Huckabee skit from the very same installment as the two popular segments that have been aggressively removed from YouTube?

Consider, for instance, this "SNL" video from last Halloween that is very unflattering to the Clintons, while positively depiciting surprise guest Obama:

It was originally posted at YouTube on December 9, and despite copyright rules, it's still there!

Why? Is NBC only willing to enforce its copyrights on skits that don't reflect its political views? Were NBC top brass offended enough by Fey's positive sentiments toward Hillary, as well as the implication that media are in the tank for Obama, to force YouTube to pull them?

Yet, a skit from last year bashing the Clintons while gushing over Obama is allowed to stay at the video website for almost three months.

Why the selective enforcement of copyrights, NBC?

About the Author

Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Click here to follow Noel Sheppard on Twitter.
  • Campaigns & Elections
  • 2008 Presidential
  • Mike Huckabee
  • Tina Fey
  • NBC
  • YouTube
  • Noel Sheppard's blog
  • Login to post comments
  • Printer-friendly version
Stop Censoring The Gosnell Trial!
Stop Censoring The Gosnell Trial!

Editors' Picks

  • Is asking about what you pray for inappropriate for IRS? IRS commish not sure (Say Anything)
  • Another fed court invalidates Obama's NRLB recess appointments (Politico)
  • Former SecState Hillary Clinton's record leaves much to be desired (Kondracke)
  • Sen. Boxer is lying about impact of budget cuts on Benghazi security (WashPost)
  • Left-wing actor Cusack attacks Obama, Holder over AP scandal (Twitchy)
  • Dopey Chicago gun laws prevent museum from displaying unloaded WW2 relic (Fox News)
  • New Google Maps is flat, clean, user-friendly (Gizmodo)
  • New Google Maps looks spectacular (Mashable)
Walter E. Williams's picture
Walter E. Williams
Walter E. Williams Column: Hating America
Michelle Malkin's picture
Michelle Malkin
Malkin Column: Obama's Emptiest Benghazi Talking Point
Ann Coulter's picture
Ann Coulter
Coulter Column: Sorry, Sen. Rubio, But Your Immigration Plan Is Still Problematic
David Limbaugh's picture
David Limbaugh
David Limbaugh Column: Partisan Obama Culture Spawned a More Abusive IRS
Walter E. Williams's picture
Walter E. Williams
Walter E. Williams Column: An Honest Examination of Race
More >

RSS FeedAmazon KindleFacebookTwitter

Stop Censoring The News!

ObamaCare's a Real Pain in the Neck
more cartoons
  • Romney: ‘I’m Not a Fan of the President’
  • Krauthammer on IRS Testimony: ‘You've Got to be a Knave or a Fool to Say That and an Idiot to Believe It’
  • Leno: GOP Should Repeal ObamaCare By Naming it Conservative Non-Profit and Letting IRS Take it Down
  • ABC Drama Warns of ‘Conservative Overlords’ Bringing Anti-Black ‘Salem Witch Trials’ to DC
  • Gay NBA Player’s Twin Brother Gets ‘I’m The Straight One’ T-shirt From Jimmy Kimmel
More >
NewsBusters

Executive Editor
Matthew Sheffield

Editor at Large
Brent Baker

Senior Editors
Tim Graham
Rich Noyes

Managing Editor
Ken Shepherd

Associate Editor
Noel Sheppard

Contributing Editors
Tom Blumer
Geoffrey Dickens
Dan Gainor
David Limbaugh
Mithridate Ombud
Clay Waters
Scott Whitlock

Senior Contributor
Mark Finkelstein

Contributing Writers
Matthew Balan
Michael M. Bates
Erin R. Brown
Jack Coleman
Kyle Drennen
Douglas Ernst
P. J. Gladnick
Stephen Gutowski
Matt Hadro
D. S. Hube
Kathleen McKinley
Dave Pierre
Amy Ridenour
Julia A. Seymour
Terry Trippany
Rusty Weiss
Brad Wilmouth

Publisher
Brent Bozell

Site Design
Dialog New Media

 

  • Home
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Forum
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Search
  • Account
  • rss
  • CNSNews
  • MRC TV
  • Biz & Media
  • Culture & Media
  • Take Action!
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Amazon Kindle
  • Advertise
  • Jobs

Copyright © 2005-2013 NewsBusters.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use