What’s going on lately at the station formerly known as the Clinton News Network?
Last week, CNN was the only major American news outlet other than Fox News to cover the al Qaeda torture manual story.
On Tuesday, unlike virtually every press organization that did its best to sidestep the issue while covering Cindy Sheehan’s resignation from the peace movement, Kiran Chetry actually said on “American Morning” “she renounced her ties to the Democratic Party.”
And, as reported by Allah at Hot Air Thursday:
If you’re keeping score, this makes not one, not two, but three hard slaps on ethics delivered in the span of nine days.
What was Allah talking about? Well, in the past couple of weeks, CNN has done a number of segments tearing into federal spending, in particular, earmarks by – wait for it – Democrats.
Impossible you say?
Well, take a look at the following video of a rather shocking segment from Thursday’s “CNN Newsroom” that went after prominent Democrat Jack Murtha. Here’s the transcript with emphasis added at key points so that you can read along and be even more amazed by what you see:
TONY HARRIS, ANCHOR: Thirty-nine million dollars poured into a secretive federal agency and tucked away in a former department store? It's funded by you and it's protected by a powerful Congressman.
CNN's Drew Griffin went looking for answers. He is keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's somewhere down there, a $39 million taxpayer gift to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, hidden among the shuttered steel mills and not so bustling streets two hours from Pittsburgh. It was also hidden here, too, among the pages and pages of this year's House Intelligence Bill, hidden until some Republican Congressman, including former FBI agent Mike Rogers dug it out.
REP. MIKE ROGERS, (R-MI): Subsequently they came forward and said, oh, this was an oversight.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Yes, after you caught it.
ROGERS: After we caught it.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Caught what? An "earmark," a special spending request slipped into the Intelligence Bill by Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha. The $39 million funds the National Drug Intelligence Center, located right here in Murtha's district on the fifth floor of a former Johnstown, Pennsylvania department store, 200 federal jobs.
What did they do with your $39 million at the National Drug Intelligence Center? No one inside would talk to us, neither would the parent agency, the Department of Justice. It was even hard finding NDIC employees heading to work, less than eager to share what they were up to.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Do you guys work at NDIC? Sir? Do you work at NDIC?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you need to talk to our upper management.
GRIFFIN: I tried that. They won't talk to me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, sorry, thank you.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): What the National Drug Intelligence Center was supposed to do when first proposed back in 1990, was gather information on the national drug war, then become a resource for local and federal agencies. Isn't that what the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Department of Justice, and even the FBI, already were doing? Answer, yes. According to the government accounting office report issued way back in 1993 when the NDIC first opened, that report found the NDIC was doing work already being done by 19 other agencies.
In 2005, the Office of Management and Budget asked the NDIC be shut down because it "has proven ineffective in achieving its assigned mission." U.S. News and World Report called it "a drug war boondoggle." With the DEA short on funds and under a hiring freeze, Congressman Rogers again proposed shutting down the NDIC this year, using the money to hire more drug agents.
ROGERS: Clearly, it would show that this is not the right place to place that money. They've wasted a lot of it already. And we're just throwing money down a rat hole when we've got serious challenges in the intelligence community and law enforcement community across this country.
GRIFFIN: Instead, the Republican found himself in an open fight with a powerful Democrat. Representative John Murtha threatened to eliminate earmarks in Representative Rogers district, $45 million worth.
ROGERS: This is old in the 1950s ward-style "Soprano" type politics that you go along to get along and you don't talk about these things in my district if you want something in your district.
GRIFFIN: The dispute ended on the House floor, with Congressman Murtha chastised for his back room threats, he ended up offering an apology. But, that $39 million for an agency that has proven ineffective is still in the Intelligence Bill. The federal jobs in Johnstown appear safe.
(on camera): And what does Congressman Murtha have to say in defense of the National Drug Intelligence Center here in Johnstown, Pennsylvania? Surprisingly, nothing at all.
(voice-over): "We have decided to decline a CNN interview," is what Murtha spokesman wrote in an e-mail who added the NDIC "was fully funded in last year's Congress."
I asked if Congressman Murtha would show us his other earmark requests. The spokesman told us his requests had all been submitted to the Appropriations Committee. "They are available for review with the committee." Then, we got another e-mail saying that he was mistaken, those earmarks aren't available for review after all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Drew Griffin joins us now. And Drew, how often does this kind of thing -- it seems crazy -- but how often does this kind of thing happen?
GRIFFIN: Look, this is done -- this is how business is done in Congress.
HARRIS: Business -- exactly.
GRIFFIN: Thousands of pages of earmarks in a bill, time after time after time. And the Democrats promised reform. And it's not happening.
Shocked? Well, then take a gander at this video and transcript from an “Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees” segment aired just twelve hours before on Wedneday evening:
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: During the most recent elections, a lot of politicians made a lot of promises. Now that they're in power, we thought we would check up on some of those politicians, and see if they had kept their word.
We call it "Keeping Them Honest." And, in this case, that's been a challenge, sort of like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack, because what some politicians promised to make public is still very much hidden, as CNN's Drew Griffin found out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're on a treasure hunt, looking for your money. Let's start with two million bucks, your tax dollars right here.
Listen.
(on camera): I think I hear a plane.
(voice-over): This is the tiny airport in tiny and remote Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Pull up a chair, grab a magazine, a newspaper, because it's going to take a while to show you how your federal tax dollars were spent here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a pretty slow day today, so, if we had known you were coming, I'm sure we would have been busier.
(LAUGHTER)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): we will get back to how Congress spent your money in Rice Lake in a moment.
Meantime, here are more ways Congress has secretly spent your money.
Chances are you weren't a guest at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida, last summer, but taxpayers spent $96,000 to help renovate it.
Skiing more your style? You paid $250,000 last year to renovate a ski lift. In our treasure hunt, it was tricky to find that one. The money came out of last year's massive transportation bill -- no mention of skiing.
Instead:
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the construction of the Alyeska Roundhouse in Girdwood, Alaska, $250,000.
GRIFFIN: In Congress, such treasure is called an earmark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got no -- no name. And, oftentimes, these earmarks are certainly a bit vague.
GRIFFIN: Annie Patnot (ph) watches Congress for a conservative economic watchdog group. She found two earmarks for the Alyeska Roundhouse, a total of $500,000 for the top of a ski lift.
The new open, Democratic Party-controlled Congress promised the earmark process would no longer be secret. All earmark requests would be made public, with plenty of time for debate.
(on camera): But Dave Obey, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and one of those Democrats bragging about the changes, has decided that earmarks, those generous gifts of your money, will be inserted into bills only after the bill has cleared the House floor. In other words, earmarks will still be done in secret -- no public debate.
There was supposed to be some kind of change.
SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: Well, they lied to the American public. It was a game.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Senator Tom Coburn says it's the same over on the Senate side. Not even other members of Congress can find out who asked for how much and for what.
COBURN: No, they are published. And they're not out there. I couldn't find them if I wanted to.
GRIFFIN: And that's the way the new appropriations chief in the Senate wants to keep it.
Appropriations Chief Robert Byrd apparently thinks other members of Congress, and even the public, can't be trusted with seeing spending requests in advance.
In an e-mail to CNN, the senator's staff told us: "If all earmark requests are made public," the e-mail says, "this would almost certainly lead to an increase in requests, as members are pressured from home to compete for more projects."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is an omnibus appropriations bill.
GRIFFIN: This behemoth of a bill is chock-full of one-line requests for your tax dollars. We followed the clues back to where we started this treasure hunt.
(on camera): So, this is the Rice Lake Airport I asked you about?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure. Look for it on there.
GRIFFIN: And this is on page 1,384. And it's somewhere in this fine print, I'm taking it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look -- look for it.
GRIFFIN: The -- right down here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
GRIFFIN: So, Rice Lake Regional Airport, Carl's Field, Wisconsin, various improvements, $2 million.
(voice-over): Two million dollars in federal funds, without debate.
Back at Rice Lake, Wisconsin, we sat at the end of the runway and waited four hours. In all that time, we counted just seven private planes. There are no commercial flights at Rice Lake.
But this airport is vital, we are told, for corporate executives, who like to visit Rice Lake's manufacturing plants but don't like to stay the night.
JERRY STITIES, RICE LAKE AIRPORT MANAGER: Before we did the expansion on the runway, they couldn't land here. They had to drive an hour and half to get to their plant, because our airport wasn't large enough for that.
GRIFFIN: And which U.S. congressman decided extending the runway for a few corporate jets was worth your money? Wisconsin Democrat David Obey, the very same person now in charge of appropriations and earmarks.
He said in a statement, Wisconsin doesn't get its fair share. "My only apology," he wrote, "is I can't do more for Wisconsin." (END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And that's the kind of apology that plays well in Wisconsin.
Shocking, wouldn’t you agree? Two different reports on CNN in a twelve-hour span absolutely lambasting prominent Democrats? Are you kidding?
Add to this the at the time exclusive report last Wednesday on the al Qaeda torture manual, and CNN coming very close to telling viewers that Cindy Sheehan resigned from the Democrat Party last Saturday, and one has to wonder whether the management at CNN are comparing Fox News’ ratings with their own and reconsidering their overt liberal bias.
Now, granted, a couple of balanced pieces is no indication of a policy change. However, this bears further observation in the future, don’t you agree?
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Yes, it seems that CNN is mov
June 1, 2007 - 10:59 ET by Michael ChapmanYes, it seems that CNN is moving to presenting more balanced reports in some ways. In addition to the 2 items mentioned in this blog post, there is CNN's addition of Glenn Beck, as well. And The Situation Room nearly regularly includes conservative Human Events editor-at-large Terry Jeffrey for analysis and commentary (paired with a liberal). CNN has perhaps seen the FOX light, if you know what I mean.
Losing audience (customers)
June 1, 2007 - 11:14 ET by Senior ChiefLosing audience (customers) will drive a business to turn around- they call it new business strategy. Profit point any businesspeople to that direction- even to the point of selling souls and remaining principles. But for how long...Leftoids will always be leftoids until they heard Rush and read NB.
Let's not forget the next ste
June 1, 2007 - 11:58 ET by KC MulvilleLet's not forget the next step here. Suppose CNN is dabbling with the idea that moving to the right will attract more of an audience. There has to be a payoff for them, otherwise they'll go back to their original bias.
So, for the sake of conservative values ... let's all watch CNN. (We can always take bathroom breaks when Begala or Carville is on. They'll see the water level drop, and it'll reinforce the results ...)
The payoff is that they will
June 1, 2007 - 15:44 ET by FishFace222The payoff is that they will appear to be unbiased now--a pre-pre election strategy. A few months from now they'll be back to the left but claim they ran all these stories from the center to right. It all has to do with timing.
NBD for me; even CNN has to k
June 2, 2007 - 10:04 ET by RightOfMostNBD for me; even CNN has to know that they need to throw us a few bones to try and re-legitimize themselves. But CNN didn't go out on any limbs; they picked safe topics where "everybody does it" (junkets) or earmarks funneled by an always-elected-by-the-sheeple Anti-American jerk (Murtha).
I mean, in flyover country, there's no way a Diana Irey would ever lose to this horse's ass, especially after what he'd done and said. Sometimes you can't beat a hypnotized electorate, especially one with welfare pigs feasting on the bacon he brings home.
('Hope PETA doesn't mind the animal references!)
Or Noel if you take a conspir
June 1, 2007 - 11:13 ET by dscottOr Noel if you take a conspiratorial view of CNN, you could just as easily say the events you have noted are CNN positioning itself on the Iraq war issue as they have seen the writing on the wall that al Qaeda is on the ropes in Iraq. Once the surge is fully implimented with more troops as planned, all of Iraq will be like Anbar Province. By outing Murtha (major anti-war politician) and discrediting him they position themselves as being in agreement with Bush indirectly. The coverage of Cindy Sheehan renouncing the Dem Party again could be seen as CNN repositioning itself over the Iraq war issue. Haven't you noticed that Hillary has refocused her rhetoric to Universal Health Care and other non Iraq war issues? The MSM is trying to do a slight of hand here otherwise if Iraq goes well, then they are discredited over their biased reporting.
Maybe I'm off here but I think it is wishful thinking that CNN was finally making a business decision to report all the news and stop spinning for the Dem Party. You can call me a cynic.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius
liberals
June 1, 2007 - 11:21 ET by iveseenitallRight on, dscott. I'll say it again, over and over,---NEVER,NEVER TRUST A LIBERAL! If you do, you'll regret it.
NEVER,NEVER trust a liberal
As a follow up on my comment
June 1, 2007 - 13:06 ET by dscottAs a follow up on my comment of al Qaeda on the ropes in Iraq. CNN just like the Dems have seen the handwriting on the wall for Iraq. Unless al Qaeda starts detonating tactical nuclear weapons in Iraq, their fight is over. Losing in Iraq would be a serious body blow for al Qaeda, they staked their reputation on it and no one wants to be identified with a loser. But the biggest loser will be Iran, they have a vested interest in seeing the US defeated on the ground (that's why the Quds are involved in Iraq) as this would give the illusion that attacking Iran over the nuclear issue would be bloody and fruitless. They have spent billions of dollars formenting revolution around the world to claim leadership of the Muslim world, all of it hangs on Iraq, if they can't win there, they can't win anywhere.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius
Let's see, in the early '90
June 1, 2007 - 11:20 ET by sarcasmoLet's see, in the early '90s this "NDIC" entity is found to be duplicating efforts of other agencies, and it takes all the way 'till 2005 to even consider defunding it. And people here still seem to wonder why I have the temerity to call it "the tax and spend drugwar." There's probably a joke in here somewhere, but I suspect it's -- as usual -- a joke on US taxpayers...
JMR
I don't see this as a move to
June 1, 2007 - 11:21 ET by BruzillaI don't see this as a move to the right, but rather a response to marching orders from the Dem leadership. Why did the Dems fold on the timeline issue, despite all the media polling showing support for them? Because, as we all know, most media polling oversamples Democrats and is invalid. The only reason Dems would fold on timelines would be if their internal, and more accurate, polling was showing that support for timelines, and opposition to the war, was far less than what the media polling was showing. So while they'll never admit that, their actions speak very loudly.
The Democrats took over, very narrowly, on the anti-war sentiment of their constituents. They whipped them up into a ferver with protests, marches, and guys like Murtha ranting. I think the Democrats have learned that the war is not the loser issue they've been portraying, and that most Americans do support the war, and they now have to put the stops to the anti-war machine and get debate back to domestic issues or risk alienating moderate voters who are for the war. So you're seeing them tossing Sheehan and Murtha under the bus, chopping support for ant-war marches and protests, and giving new orders to their minions at CNN - tone down the anti-war stuff.
That's my take as well, I con
June 1, 2007 - 11:28 ET by dscottThat's my take as well, I contend it's a well planned Machiavellian move. (Remember Howard Dean's backpeddling on troop pullout when asked the day after the Nov 2006 elections) The useful idiots have to be gotten rid of now that the issue doesn't serve a purpose anymore. Liberals are not stupid, just very sneaky.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius
I agree, and that was my take
June 1, 2007 - 13:36 ET by BruzillaI agree, and that was my take immediately after the election. Hannity et al was all up and ranting about how stupid Pelosi was for allowing all this talk of a pull out. I felt all along that the opposite was true: Pelosi knew what would happen if we pulled out just as much as Hannity did, but she ran on that issue so she had to find a way to slowly make it go away and that's what we're seeing now.
I agree, and that was my take
June 1, 2007 - 13:37 ET by BruzillaI agree, and that was my take
June 1, 2007 - 13:38 ET by BruzillaIn their hearts, most America
June 1, 2007 - 11:29 ET by iveseenitallIn their hearts, most Americans do support the war. However, Geoge Bush has exposed himself on the immigration issue. He's not been straight with us about his true nature. Maybe we've been fighting with one hand tied behind our backs. This thing in Iraq should have been over long ago.
NEVER,NEVER trust a liberal
What hasn't Bush been honest
June 1, 2007 - 13:45 ET by BruzillaWhat hasn't Bush been honest about in terms of immigration? He was "in bed" with Vincente Fox for years; has always been a proponent of guest worker programs; and I don't believe I've ever heard him say he was in favor of mass deportations.
I don't know for sure because
June 1, 2007 - 11:43 ET by bigtimerI don't know for sure because I have been used to so many years of their blatant leftist bias on CNN, msnbc and other alphabet soups that I watch very rarely, but I too have noticed something going on....which is still quite puzzling to me.
Maybe, just maybe someone at the top is seeing the light and want, no need their ratings to increase to become ....somewhat...profitable.
Maybe, just maybe they are sick of the lies that are so blatant by what the dem's promised in '06 to become the most ehtical open let the sunshine in House in history yet turn around and have done the complete opposite with the fearless leader blinky at the helm...that they want answers too, and are sick of it...doubtful, but maybe...after-all it is news, it should be dug into, it should be televised, after-all they have done this to the republican's for years.
Maybe they really are trying to be fair and balanced.......maybe.
Time will tell.
As an aside, I wished there would be some demands for investigations in congress on where exactly the outrageous sums of money went for Murtha's earmark, more than any of them...this man has gotten away with murder for years and has never been held accountable...even when his hand has been caught in the cookie jar...of course that will not happen with the dem's in power...unlike what the republicans do when the media and screeching from the dem's do....they always fold and hold hearings.
Obey and Murtha along with Pelosi have not been held accountable for any of their outrageous earmarks and other tacked on or omitted amendments or bills.
Let the sunshine in my arse.
sunshine
June 1, 2007 - 12:06 ET by iveseenitallSunshine "my arse". Right on, BT. And what about Feinstein, Jefferson, Reid and probably more? Liberals are such hypocrites.
NEVER,NEVER trust a liberal
In the movie "The St
June 1, 2007 - 12:24 ET by motherbeltIn the movie "The Sting", the Lonergan character says to Henry Gondorf (the con man played by Paul Newman) "Not only are ya a cheat, you're a gutless cheat as well!"
Just popped into my head while reading that story.....
Looks to me like CNN is going
June 1, 2007 - 11:50 ET by BeowulfLooks to me like CNN is going the way of the NYT. Their viewers were dropping off, they knew why (lefty reporting), and they're making a token effort to lure them back with "objective" stories. It's called fear of going out of business. Look at the NYT subscriber drop off. Look at Air America going bankrupt. Look at ANY hard-core lefty news source losing business. Look at the poll numbers for all the network and cable news sources. The farther left they are, the lower their numbers. Fear is such a great motivator.
The Closed Mind Erects Strong Barriers
CNN anchors
June 1, 2007 - 12:10 ET by RotorcraftJOEI was just thinking this morning how Kiran Chetry and John Roberts seem to give a more balanced view than the smug Soledad and Miles O'Brien. This morning Laura Ingraham suggested that CNN "elites" were liberal and John Roberts started blinking a lot, clenching his teeth, and getting indignant. That was pretty funny.
In the movie "The Stin
June 1, 2007 - 12:20 ET by motherbeltdelete
Error on the side of caution
June 1, 2007 - 13:20 ET by goldenthroatLet's not jump the gun on this one. CNN is STILL CNN and, just like some of the libs out there that are trying to sound centrist or even conservative, they'll only doing it thinking they'll win a vote or gain a viewer.
Look how Shmillary is flip-flopping - she drifts whichever way the politically correct winds blow. Osama Bama is doing the very same thing. Shall I go on? They are and probably will always be left-coast, bleeding-heart, 'do as I say, not as I do' liberals.
I'll believe CNN is moving right when I see a pig fly past my window.
Never dance on an empty stomach unless it's a liberal.
Even if they'd only move &quo
June 1, 2007 - 13:52 ET by mattmEven if they'd only move "right" to get viewers, that would still be a good thing...
And if they develop ulcers over the fact that their ideology doesn't sell, and because reality has forced them to tacitly admit that capitalism actually works, all the better...
It is possible...
June 1, 2007 - 13:56 ET by c5thenThat CNN is making a concious effort to move back toward the center of the spectrum to try and stem the loss of viewership. I can't help but notice that Kiran Chetry used to work for FoxNews. Perhaps the management of CNN are tired of seeing FoxNews beat them in the ratings and are making coverage changes to try and change the public's perception.
Maybe.
We'll have to wait and see. They still have a long way to go even if it's true.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic
Transparency Act of 2006
June 1, 2007 - 14:32 ET by Gary HallI've died and landed. They must just be pissed at Murtha for something else, but we can hope that a change is in the air. Thanks Noel.
Hey this brings to mind the lobbying by the bloggers last year in their successful effort in assisting in getting The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 passed and signed into law. Ken Shepherd covered that story. Think that when the "on-line" program is set up next year that these earmarks will all be out in the open?
Is CNN Moving to the Right?No
June 1, 2007 - 15:45 ET by Chris NormanIs CNN Moving to the Right?
No. Aberrations.
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
- Arabian Proverb
Maybe so, but with new hire
June 1, 2007 - 15:52 ET by sarcasmoMaybe so, but with new hires like Glen Beck & Kiran Chetry, it's bound to slightly change their entire culture, right? I'm not saying we should be satisfied, or anything, but lately I've seen stuff like a great attack on "earmark" spending on CNN which put me in a "good for CNN bad for CONgress" mood. If only our Gerrymandered Congress could be blessed with the turnover of CNN...
JMR
Glen Beck - yes. But Kirin Ch
June 1, 2007 - 16:12 ET by Chris NormanGlen Beck - yes. But Kirin Chetry? I've seen here on NBs, evidence that she has moved over to the leftist culture at CNN. Besides, Beck's show is one little teensy island in a huge liberal ocean. The hard news still skews towards the liberal side. I'll occasionally watch Headline News in the morning. I can't see anything that would make me conclude that they balanced or neutralized their natural liberal tendencies. One or two stories doesn't really create a preponderence of evidence...
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
- Arabian Proverb
When pigs fly!
June 1, 2007 - 16:13 ET by buddycWhen pigs fly!
The brains inside CNN Center are losing O2.....
June 1, 2007 - 22:51 ET by Dave RIt has to be the dust in the air here in Atlanta. We haven't had any rain to speak of for over a month (as I am averaging one healthy sneeze every half-hour).
The brains inside CNN Center are losing O2 due to the dust build-up in their nostrils. Once it rains, the dust will clear out, and it will be business-as-usual down at the eyesore that Ted built. :-)
This republic will not survive the continued neglect of its people.-Neal Boortz