From the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 to the high gas prices of 2008, the mainstream media has spent years finding ways to bash ExxonMobil. But here’s something the media should have a hard time finding fault with Exxon for: in its August 24 issue, Forbes magazine named ExxonMobil the “Green Company of the Year.” Forbes’ Christopher Helman praised the oil and gas company for its efforts to go green. And it’s about time ExxonMobil got some positive press.

Helman praised the company because “ExxonMobil’s real thrust into green energy is a big bet on natural gas.” Exxon is currently finishing up a multibillion dollar project in Qatar that will be the home of the largest natural gas field in the world. “Per unit of energy delivered, methane releases 40% to 50% less carbon dioxide than coal and a quarter less than petroleum,” Helman explained. Exxon also is putting millions into algae farms that will produce automotive fuel from sunlight. The latter project Helman described as “purely political” – a not-very realistic move to buy “ExxonMobil some peace with environmentalists.”

Religiosity can “cloud” one’s thinking and human beings on life support are the “living dead,” according to Bonnie Erbe, contributing editor to U.S. News and World Report. Her August 11 blog post, “Sarah Palin's Lies About Obamacare Are Based on Religion,” attempted to rebut former Governor Sarah Palin’s controversial remarks about health care, and ended up insulting  people of faith.

It all started on August 7 when Palin wrote a Facebook note. “And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.”

To the liberal Erbe, “flailin’ Palin” went beyond the pale. “Once again, former Governor Palin is letting her religiosity cloud her thinking.” But Erbe didn’t stop there.

What is up with the media pitying the pornography industry?

On July 15, CNBC aired a special highlighting the industry’s financial woes. Then the Los Angeles Times did the same Aug. 10, in the article: “Tough Times in the Porn Industry.” Ben Fritz's article described the same economic problems the industry is facing, a weak economy, online porn and piracy, but failed to include any industry critics or point out negative aspects of porn.

Instead, Fritz focused on a porn actress who is struggling financially. He said Savannah Stern used to earn $150,000 a year, but now only makes a $50,000. Stern used to drive a Mercedes, but Fritz wrote, “She’s replacing it with a used Chevy Trailblazer-from her parents.”

Stern lamented that, “The opportunities in this industry really are disappearing. It’s extremely stressful.”

Michael Jackson’s tragic, untimely death was certainly newsworthy. The network news organizations covered it from every angle in the following days. A previous Culture and Media Institute study found that 13 days after Jackson’s death the networks devoted over one third of their evening shows to Jackson.

But every news story fades, right? Not Michael Jackson and not on the network morning shows.

The networks have made it a part of their morning programs for more than five weeks. In what have come to seem like regularly scheduled daily segments, “Good Morning America,” “The Early Show” and “Today” have continued to obsess over every detail of Jackson’s life and death, and even tie him into segments that are irrelevant to him. All this comes at the cost of information of actual value to viewers.

MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer really has something against the Bible. Or maybe it’s just a convenient way for her to paint conservatives as nuts for her liberal viewers.

During an August 3 interview with Politico’s Josh Kraushaar about the anti-ObamaCare protests occurring in town hall meetings across the country, the anchor took two opportunities to portray the Bible negatively.

To Brewer, these disruptions could only come from the crazy right-wing fringe. “You know, I do get the – that there are some people out there who are far out. If you’re at a forum on health care, and somebody’s holding up a Bible and saying it’s the only truth, you have to wonder what does that contribute to how we get health care for all people?”

Host Martin Bashir raised the question, “And with 1 in 3 adults now clinically obese, it seems the message of eating less and exercising more is still struggling to get through. But is there something in the food we eat that may be adding to the problem?” 

Correspondent Juju Chang thought so. “Greg Wells is a recovering addict. But his vice wasn’t heroin or meth. It was something available over the counter,” she said. “… the grocery store counter.” 

Wells was not alone. Former FDA head David Kessler explained that “he too was a conditioned hypereater.” Chang stated that according to Kessler, “for roughly 70 million people, their brains are wired in such a way that they are literally hooked on food.” 

Looking for a “great” television show that you can watch with the family? Then NBC’s “The Today Show” has a recommendation for you: “The Secret Life of the American Teenager!” Never mind that it’s about a pregnant fifteen-year-old. During the July 23 “Today Talk” host Kathie Lee Gifford and guest host Steve Schirripa were discussing the ABC family show “The Secret Life of an American Teenager,” which Schirripa stars in.

Schirripa described the show as being, “about a fifteen year old kid that gets pregnant and how it affects everyone’s life, and I mean everyone – everyone at school and the other kids and it really is show that you could watch with your kids.” Gifford touted, “And learn something.” Yep – a great show to learn about sex, promiscuity and contraceptives.

Gifford also praised the show because “it’s got great critical raves because of Brenda Hampton who’s behind it.” Gifford apparently didn’t read CMI’s 2008 article about the show’s reviews. “The Los Angeles Times summed up “Secret Life” by stating, “the tone of the pilot [episode] careens between an after-school special and “American Pie,” with a bit of “Pretty in Pink” grabbed along the way.”  The New York Times called it “a parody of an after-school special” and said “‘Secret Life’ doesn’t take the fun out of teenage pregnancy, it takes the fun out of television.”  The Hollywood Reporter said ‘it feeds into parental hysteria in ridiculously one-dimensional ways.’”

Dan Gainor, vice president and T. Boone Pickens Fellow of the Business & Media Institute, will be appearing on FOX News Channel at 11:45 ET to discuss House GOP charges against ACORN.

“How do you tell your kids that mommy is now a daddy? Or that a daddy is now a mommy?” Leave it to ABC to raise these questions on “Good Morning America.” A July 21 segment previewed “Primetime Family Secrets” airing later that night about a transgender woman and the effects of the decision on his family.

Correspondent Juju Chang documented the Prince family for one year. In 2008 Ted Prince became “Chloe” through a sex change and his wife, Rene, stayed with him. The couple has two sons: Logan is 7 1/2 and Barry is 6. Since the family stayed together, the purpose of Chang’s report was to examine all the adjustments that had to be made.

Filmmakers, do you want to impress critics at The New York Times, Newsweek and Time Magazine, while alienating vast legions of moviegoers? Then "Humpday"  has the formula for you!

Have your two “straight” male leads have sex with each other in a video for an “experimental homemade pornography” film festival. Oh, and in order to impress those writers (whom you may run into at a Manhattan cocktail party) make sure to stress that it’s not gay and it’s not porn either. It’s art masquerading as “bromance” comedy. Don’t worry, they’ll understand that you’re critiquing straight men or straight society or our uptight Puritanical culture or something. After all, they’re smart like you.

What a difference a few hours makes. On the July 15 “World News with Charles Gibson,” ABC medical expert Dr. Tim Johnson interviewed President Obama about his healthcare reform proposals and grilled the president over the cost of the bill, benefits, and primary care. But by the next morning Johnson was back to form, parroting the administration’s line on “Good Morning America.” Johnson often cheerleads for the Obama administration and socialized medicine.

Introducing Johnson, Robin Roberts said, “Tim, President Obama and others, they keep saying, that in the long run, we're going to save money while expanding coverage. As you know, many are skeptical about that statement.”

A new study found that unborn babies may start to develop memories as early as thirty weeks into a pregnancy, but ABC’s “Good Morning America” ignored the study’s potential impact on the abortion debate, especially concerning late term abortion.

Reporter Sharyn Alfonsi’s July 15 segment covered the pivotal study without even mentioning abortion. Anchor Chris Cuomo attempted to broach the issue during a follow-up interview but fell short.

Alfonsi touted the study, “Day by day, a fetus goes through remarkable changes. By 30 weeks, opening and closing their eyes. Making facial expressions. And now, a new study reveals, forming memories. Yep, barely three pounds, but already able to remember. For the study, researchers used a fetal monitor to make a buzzing sound against a mother's belly. The noise and vibrations startle the fetus and it typically reacts by moving. But with repeated applications of the buzzing the fetus learns its okay and does not have to react. And four weeks later, when the fetus is buzzed again, many don't react at all, because researchers say they now remember the sound.”

When a well-known individual creates a disruption at a highly public, widely televised event and is then arrested, any news organization worth the name would include the incident in its coverage of that event. Right?

Not CBS’ “Evening News with Katie Couric.” And NBC’s “Nightly News” only gave the story 21 words. On July 13, Norma McCorvey, better known as “Jane Roe” in the infamous Roe v. Wade case that made abortion legal, was arrested for disrupting Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill.

Looking for wholesome family television oh, say, about 9 pm on July 15? Then make sure not to tune into CNBC. The network will air “Porn: Business of Pleasure,” hosted by Melissa Lee. The special, as touted by the network, will give viewers a look at the pornography industry. But if the marketing is a reliable indication, “Porn: Business of Pleasure” is nothing more than an attempt to normalize, and even promote, the porn industry.

According to a preview, those with qualms about pornography need to get over it. A voiceover explained how porn “is here. People want to see it.” Over images of naughty nurses and various scantily clothed people, a female explained how she wanted to be sex symbol, and another voice said that “pornography has been around since the time of the caveman. It’s not going anywhere.” And that’s just the preview.

The show will be much more than that. CNBC described it as “an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look inside the multibillion dollar pornography business, from the threats to its profitability to exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews with the industry's biggest stars to the one issue that could bring the adult industry to it's knees.”

The Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released on July 1 the “F as in Fat Report,” which studied obesity rates in America While it is certainly worth reporting the facts of the study, NBC managed to take its report to another level. On the July 2 “Today,” host Meredith Vieira interviewed NBC News Chief Medical Editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman. Snyderman used the report to give her over-the-top personal opinions about America’s role in the world and drive through pharmacies.

Vieira cited study findings, saying that obesity has tripled since 1980 in children and not a single state has decreased its obesity rate in the past year. Snyderman chimed in, “And we know that now almost forty percent of these heavy kids- teenagers- have diabetes, they already have plaque in their arteries, they grow up to be bullies. These are kids who already start to have problems sort of fitting in.”

What is it with fast food chains and off-color advertising? First Burger King came out with a highly suggestive ad for a sandwich, now Hardees suggests we buy an order of ”Biscuit-icles.”

The fast food restaurant had added a new item to their breakfast menu, Cinnamon Sugar Biscuit Holes. But Hardees found it a “challenge” to name its new product so they enlisted the help of their patrons. While the search continues Hardees released an ad in which consumers were asked to name the product after tasting it. The ad features many of them – and the paid pitchman – offering inappropriate alternative names for Biscuit Holes.

“Bruno,” a controversial movie about a gay Austrian fashionista is set to debut in the United States on July 10, but the film has already garnered an abundance of media attention due to its over-the-top portrayal of homosexuals. On June 29, MSNBC’s “Morning Meeting” featured a segment the was nothing short of a promotion for the film.

 “Bruno” stars Sacha Baron Cohen, best known for his controversial 2006 film “Borat,” as well as for his recent MTV Movie Award stunt in which he in character as Bruno, dropped into the theater on a harness and exposed his bare back side to rapper Eminem.

On June 26, the House narrowly passed the controversial Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy & Security Act to limit carbon emissions, but USA Today readers can be forgiven for not knowing it. Instead of covering a hotly debated bill that could result in “the largest tax increase in history,” the newspaper devoted its’ coverage to the death of pop star Michael Jackson.

From June 26 to June 29, USA Today did manage two articles on cap and trade – “Analysis: Climate Change Bill Major Victory for Obama” and “Obama Urges Senate to Act on Climate Change Bill” – but they were only featured online.

Jackson, who passed away June 25, dominated USA Today. Nine articles were devoted to Jackson on June 26 and 29. The June 26 front page blared: “MICHAEL King of Pop dies” over a photo of Jackson that took up much of the remainder of the page. The top of USA Today advertised: “Faces of Jackson: Keepsake posters, 8-9D.” Jackson also was the headline on June 29: “Inside Michael’s Last Show.”

A House vote on Waxman-Markey’s American Clean Energy & Security Act to cap-and-trade emissions was imminent June 26. Some Republicans have called the bill “the largest tax increase in American history,” but despite the enormous burden to taxpayers the three major networks failed to cover the bill the night before.

ABC, NBC, and CBS instead devoted June 25 evening news programming to recently deceased celebrities, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. While the deaths of such iconic figures was certainly newsworthy, failing to provide coverage over legislation that would cost every American family $1,241 a year in higher energy bills was irresponsible. 

The lack of network coverage on the cap-and-trade issue isn’t new (only 13 stories between Jan. 20 and May 25) and has contributed to ignorance and confusion about the issue.

SIRIUS XM Radio announced on June 25 that Rosie O’Donnell will host a daily talk show beginning this fall. Rosie Radio “will blend her many passions and interests - an eclectic mix of humor, pop culture and serious conversation.” The talk show will be featured on XM 155 “SIRIUS XM Stars.” Given her history of making outlandish statements it’s quite hard to believe anyone gave O’Donnell a talk show.

During her time as a co-host on “The View” O’Donnell said some controversial and downright weird things. In 2006 she stated that “radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America.” The same year she also proclaimed, “Don't fear the terrorists. They’re mothers and fathers.”