Chris Ariens

As the presidential contest enters its final weeks, one loser is clear: the Big Three television networks' evening newscasts, home of some of the worst examples of ongoing and still influential media bias.

Chris Ariens at Media Bistro noted this on October 2 in covering the results for the week of September 24: "Leading into a presidential election, one might think the tune-in to the evening news programs would increase. But one would be wrong." The trend continued during the following week, as will be seen in the graphic following the jump.

Clay Waters at NewsBusters addressed this item earlier today, but I want to emphasize one particular quote in the related New York Times piece which also caught the (possibly gullible) attention of Chris Ariens at Media Bistro's TV Newser: "In private meetings with columnists, he has talked about the concept of 'false balance' — that reporters should not give equal weight to both sides of an argument when one side is factually incorrect. He frequently cites the coverage of health care and the stimulus package as examples, according to aides familiar with the meetings."

Wow. Where do you start? I'll cite just one example in each area Obama cited. I suspect readers will have more.

UPDATE, May 18: NewsBusters commenter "dreamsincolor" has pointed out that CNN "somehow" forgot Democratic New York Congressman Eric Massa, who resigned in 2009 to avoid "an ethics investigation into alleged misconduct toward a male staff member."

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Chris Ariens filed a report today at MediaBistro's TVNewser that opened with a reader's Tweet, which plaintively asked: "Did CNN really exclude Spitzer from Malveaux package on Sex Scandals & Politics? Hmm.."

Ariens responds:

The answer: yes it did.

Earlier this month, my colleague Tim Graham wrote about "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams self-congratulatory five-year anniversary as the newscasts's anchor, followed hours later by actress Jane Krakowski of the network's "30 Rock" show heralding Williams as a "towering figure in the world of news" during the network's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting special.

Williams, who has had cameo appearances on "30 Rock" and the "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," doesn't seem to be stopping his forays into the network's entertainment division anytime soon.

TV Newser's Chris Ariens reported shortly before 5 p.m. EST:

Dylan Ratigan (file photo at right), whose bias and occasional forays into balanced journalism have both been documented at NewsBusters, is set to gain an afternoon slot in 2010, according to Chris Ariens of TVNewser:

MSNBC's "Morning Meeting" is about to get an afternoon edition.

TVNewser has learned that starting Monday, host Dylan Ratigan will be on for one hour, 9am ET only, so he and the team can prepare for a move to the afternoon after the first of the year.

Back on November 11, Ariens reported:

In response to an accidental dropping of the F-bomb by "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough yesterday, MSNBC opted to put the program on a delay, reports TVNewser's Chris Ariens in a November 11 post:

Insiders tell us that beginning today, Morning Joe will air on a slight delay. Yesterday, host Joe Scarborough sort of forgot he was on live TV and said, "They don't go around flipping people off or screaming 'Fuck You' at the top of their lungs," when describing how members of Pres.-elect Obama's inner circle work. The delay will allow producers to "drop" the audio so expletives aren't heard over the airwaves.

This is not new for MSNBC morning TV. When I worked there, Imus in the Morning always aired on a seven-second delay.