Over the weekend, ABC provided hyperbolic, worried reporting on the 9/12 protest in Washington D.C. And while the other networks had mixed results, Good Morning America co-host Bill Weir opened the program on Saturday by fretting, "This morning, outrage. Protesters descend on Washington to rally against the President's health care plan. As civility gives way to shouting, what's fueling all this anger?"

On Sunday’s GMA, Weir spun that the protesters were "rail[ing]" against higher taxes, government run health care and spending. Reporter Yunji de Nies highlighted a marcher who labeled Barack Obama a "communist." She then pounced, "Do you really believe the President is a communist?" Right after this exchange, de Nies told viewers that those rallying "insist they're not extremists."

Some financial indicators took somewhat of a shock over swine flu fears on the first day after the swine flu fears were realized.

"But on Wall Street today and overseas, travel-related stocks took a beating over flu fears," NBC correspondent Tom Costello said on the April 27 "NBC Nightly News," reporting that U.S. airline stocks were hit hard, down a little over 8 percent on the news.

Costello then ran video of Moody's Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi, who lived up to his reputation for being very pessimistic in his economic forecasts and warned that things may get worse.

"If this lasts two months and spreads across the globe, then the global downturn will intensify," Zandi said. "Millions of more jobs will be lost, unemployment will rise, and this recession will last well into 2010."

Here we go again - another Obama administration/media personality feud in the works.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has no problem addressing media critics of President Barack Obama - even on an individual basis. Since Obama was sworn in as president, Gibbs has addressed criticism from conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, CNBC mercantile exchange floor reporter Rick Santelli and now CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer.

During the March 3 White House press briefing, Tom Costello of NBC News asked Gibbs to respond to remarks from Cramer, who was described as "not a conservative," made on NBC's March 3 "Today" show that he "thought the president's policies, his agenda had contributed to the greatest wealth destruction he's ever seen by a president."

Like ABC and CNN on Monday morning, NBC’s Today also lauded the Obama daughters’ new Sidwell Friends school as green and compassionate, a school that "emphasizes a lot of the themes of the Obama administration." Like the other networks, NBC made no mention of the Obamas choosing a pricey private school and not considering a public school, or their opposition to school choice for children poorer than theirs. Today co-host Matt Lauer interviewed Maureen Orth of Vanity Fair magazine (Tim Russert’s widow) to get all the compassionate details:

LAUER: Yeah but, but I just want to mention, a lot of people thinking, well it's great, they're sisters, they'll have each other to lean on. But they're going to separate campuses, aren't they?

ORTH: That's right, yes. The lower school where Sasha is going is in Bethesda and that's just right outside of Washington D.C. Where Malia is going is a, the first platinum green building in Washington. And there are so many things about the school, it's a Quaker school. There are so many things about the school that, that emphasizes consensus. Lighting your light from within.You bring a vegetable on Wednesdays to cut up for the homeless shelter. There's a lot of stuff in this school that emphasizes a lot of the themes of the Obama administration.

As anyone aware of the concept of supply and demand could have foreseen, Americans are driving less now that gasoline prices have passed $4.00 per gallon. So on this morning’s Today show, NBC’s Tom Costello dutifully noted that Americans have driven 20 billion fewer miles so far this year, but then declared a “bad news” side effect of drivers buying less gasoline:

“We use federal tax money that comes from gasoline sales to maintain the nation’s roads and bridges. We’re looking at a billion-plus-dollar short fall right now, and the National Governors Association wants Congress to come in and fill the gap.”

I guess “filling the gap” could either mean hiking the tax on gasoline, or supplementing the highway fund with other tax dollars. Maybe the real “bad news” for consumers is that some politicians seem determined to collect all of the gasoline taxes they desire, whether drivers actually buy the gas or not.

"NBC Nightly News" has found yet another hardship story caused by the credit crunch - prospective college students seeking student loans.

The March 6 "Nightly News" aired a segment about how a lack of funding for student lenders will cause some students not to be able to attend their first choice of college.

"More than a dozen lenders have pulled out of the federal student loan program, unable to raise enough money to make loans," NBC correspondent Tom Costello said. "Now - Pennsylvania, Missouri, Michigan, New Hampshire and Iowa have suspended parts or all of their student loan programs - unprecedented."

Once again, the media have demonstrated its disregard for the rationale behind business decisions.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and Northwest Airlines (NYSE:NWA) are in negotiations for a merger, which could be a win-win for both companies. However, a segment on NBC's February 15 "Today" portrayed it as the two airlines teaming up to take advantage of travelers and ignored the possibility that the survival of both airlines may hinge on this merger.

"But airline mergers have traditionally meant job losses, especially in the airlines' hub cities, as well as fewer flight options for passengers in smaller cities and higher ticket prices," NBC correspondent Tom Costello said. "In Atlanta, we found frequent travelers fearing that's exactly what could happen."

Never underestimate the power of the media when it comes to taking something completely legitimate and distorting its image as if it is some shady racket.

The January 10 "NBC Nightly News" gave that impression about reverse mortgages - a special type of home loan that allows a homeowner to convert some of the equity in his or her home into cash. These loans are geared toward senior citizens, one of the key demographics of the evening network news shows.

"Nightly News," however, based its report completely on a 78-year-old story who felt she was deceived.

"Reverse mortgages allow seniors 62 and older to borrow against the equity they've built up in their home," NBC correspondent Tom Costello said. "But upfront costs can be steep, $12,000 for Ms. Munoz. Then, her attorney claims, the sales agent who suggested the reverse mortgage sold the 78-year-old woman long-term investment annuities that don't mature until 2033. When she tried to withdraw some of that money, she faced a 20-percent penalty."

Rather than attack the government for its inability to manage air traffic, the August 20 “NBC Nightly News” shifted the blame to the airlines – specifically attacking American Airlines.

“So far this summer, Flightstats.com has reported American Airlines has had the lowest on-time arrival rate at 65 percent. But yet another Dallas-based carrier, Southwest, has had the highest on-time rate at 78 percent,” said correspondent Tom Costello making the case against American.

However, Costello’s comparison was faulty because it ignored major differences between the two airlines.