Today

After a Wednesday New York Times story gushed over the "indelible image" of a boy touching President Obama's hair in 2009, Friday's NBC Today dutifully promoted the pro-Obama fluff as co-host Savannah Guthrie declared: "...that photograph has gone viral online....the boy asked President Obama if he had hair just like his own. The President said yes, then bent over and invited the then-5-year-old boy to see for himself saying, quote, 'Touch it, dude.'" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

CBS This Morning stood out as the only Big Three network morning show on Thursday to cover a conservative group's allegation that the Obama administration gave a movie director and writer "special access to government officials involved in the commando operation that killed Osama bin Laden," as reported by Reuters on Wednesday. ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today ignored the story.

Correspondent Chip Reid outlined that "the documents...obtained by Judicial Watch, a conservative government watchdog group...reveal that director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal...met with top national security officials; gained access to Seal Team 6; and visited the CIA."

Following a report on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News about the dropping value of Facebook's initial public stock offering and possible investigations into what went wrong, anchor Brian Williams saw an opportunity to adopt the talking points of the left-wing Occupy Wall Street movement: "Is this a case of the rich get richer, another advantage to the 1%...?"

Williams posed that question to New York Times reporter and CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin, who enthusiastically added to the class warfare rhetoric: "Boy does it feel that way, Brian. This is that and probably a lot more. And it couldn't come at a worse time given the enormous distrust that the public has of Wall Street. And it goes to this sense of fairness. This is the ultimate 1% versus 99% all over again."

42 percent of Democratic primary voters in Kentucky on Tuesday chose "uncommited" over Barack Obama. In Arkansas, a Tennessee attorney finished with 41 percent of the vote. ABC's Good Morning America, NBC's Today and CBS This Morning all skipped the embarrassing story, despite the fact that CBS and NBC covered the far less interesting Republican primary.

During the month of May, Obama suffered through a series of humiliating protest votes in Democratic primaries. On May 8th, the incumbent President nearly lost the West Virginia primary to a convicted felon. Yet, except for a single mention at 4am on May 9th, the networks have buried Obama's bad news.

During a panel discussion on Tuesday's NBC Today about new French President Francois Hollande having a girlfriend, advertising executive Donny Deutsch insisted Americans would soon accept the same: "I think we're ready for it....the culture that grew up on the internet, that is not going to keep prisoner candidates or people because they've had some personal mishaps, infidelities. I think the rest of the world has grown up, we're going to eventually get there." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Appearing on Tuesday's NBC Today, Late Night host Jimmy Fallon could barely contain his glee over a recent appearance by President Obama on his show: "It's the craziest thing ever, to ever happen to us. We keep going like to each other on set like, 'That did happen, right?' Like, 'We did slow-jam with the President of the United States?'" [Listen to the audio or watch the video below]

Co-host Matt Lauer prompted the conversation as he declared: "Let's get to the roll you're on....some of the things you've had a chance to do lately, with the President slow-jamming the news. The leader of the free world and Jimmy Fallon." Fallon excitedly described how "the White House called us" about doing the skit. Lauer asked: "He booked himself on your show?" Fallon gushed: "Yeah, he booked – the President booked himself."

On Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer invited CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer to elaborate on calling Mitt Romney a "job destroyer" as the head of Bain Capital on Sunday's Meet the Press: "You speaking as a pundit, or do you have some experience here?" Cramer declared: "He was talking about rationalizing the workforce, making it so that the companies were more efficient. Matt, these were code words back then. Code words for firing people."

On Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer pleaded with former Secretary of State Colin Powell to again endorse Barack Obama for president: "...it sounds like you're on his [Obama's] team still, four years later....why hesitate at this stage of the game here? I mean, it's basically Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney. Why not just come out right now and throw your weight behind somebody?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

At the top of the show, fellow co-host Ann Curry excitedly teased the upcoming interview: "Four years ago, one of the country's most prominent Republicans threw his support behind Democrat Barack Obama. Will he endorse him again?"

Sunday's CBS Evening News refreshingly spotlighted the continuing persecution of the Coptic Christians in Egypt, an ongoing story that the Big Three networks have largely ignored for months. Correspondent Elizabeth Palmer zeroed in on the uncertain future for the religious minority as the country gears for a rare election: "[Egypt's] Christians are deeply worried....Two of the frontrunners in the race with a realistic chance of winning are deeply devout Islamists."

The last time CBS reported on the anti-Christian violence in Egypt was a news brief on the October 9, 2011 edition of Evening News, according to a Nexis search. Since January 2011, ABC, NBC, and CBS's morning and evening newscasts have only mentioned the issue six times.

Greece is the perfect example of the eventual outcome of unchecked spending – especially as it creeps closer and closer to defaulting on its massive debts, despite multiple government bailouts in May 2011. One recent BBC News headline warned: “Greece: ‘Default within the euro is possible’.”

But, looking back, some journalists predicted the opposite: that the Greek economy would survive because of government bailouts. Huge fan of government-deficit spending, Paul Krugman, has been writing about Greece a lot, arguing that its trouble is proof that austerity doesn’t work.

During the Today's Professionals panel discussion on Thursday's NBC Today, NBC chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman cheered the latest cover of Newsweek magazine that proclaimed President Obama to be "The First Gay President": "[Newsweek editor-in-chief] Tina Brown has revolutionized how provocative and how much you can push magazine covers. And when magazines frankly aren't selling, she's shown that you can uptick sales by what's on a cover."

In a bizarre attempt to make Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wearing a hoodie at a recent Wall Street meeting into a racial issue, on Thursday's NBC Today, attorney and panelist Star Jones decried the supposed "hypocrisy" of it all: "...when we talk about Mark Zuckerberg, rich white guy, wearing a hoodie, we call him brainy and self-confident....But when a young black kid walks down the street in a hoodie, that's ghetto." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Moments later, she made it clear that she was referring to Florida teen shooting victim Trayvon Martin: "...what I'm saying to you is, is you're having a discussion about an article of clothing where two months ago, that article of clothing was looked at as negative."

Barack Obama suffered an embarrassing defeat, Wednesday, when the U.S. Senate rejected his budget 99-0. But, you wouldn't know it on ABC or CBS. The two networks completely skipped the political setback. NBC offered a single news brief on Thursday's Today.

On that program, news reader Natalie Morales allowed, "The Senate on Wednesday rejected President Obama's 2012 budget, the second year it has rejected the President's plan." Morales didn't mention the lopsided rejection, nor did she note that the House spurned the budget 414-0 in March.

On Monday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams attempted to conflate the JPMorgan $2 billion loss with Mitt Romney's business record as he declared: "The Obama campaign may have had this JPMorgan story in mind when it picked today to launch a new ad attacking Mitt Romney's former firm, the private equity giant, Bain Capital, as a middle class job killer."

Chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd followed by proclaiming that the Obama team was "...attacking Mitt Romney's time at Bain Capital for what, in some people believe, are rough ways that they went about buying up some companies, leveraging them...what the campaign believes...says about Mitt Romney's leadership on the economy, that he'll be ruthless in this."

Dutifully doing its part to find any excuse to expand government regulation, NBC News on Monday and Tuesday immediately touted Democratic efforts to exploit a $2 billion loss of private money for banker JPMorgan Chase to push for more government intervention in the banking industry.

On Monday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Anne Thompson used the news to pump up struggling Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren: "[She] worked to create a consumer watchdog group to oversee the banks after the 2008 crisis. She says what happened at JPMorgan shows there's still not enough oversight of the big banks." Thompson failed to mention Warren has been mired in a scandal surrounding her dubious claims of having Native American ancestry.

After grilling Romney campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom on a variety of topics on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry wrapped up the interview by portraying Mitt Romney's support of traditional marriage as behind the times: "...there's a Gallup poll now that shows an increasing support by Americans for relationships between same-sexes. I'm wondering, do you believe that on this issue Mitt Romney is on the wrong side of history?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Curry prefaced her left-wing question by noting how President Obama "is painting gay marriages as an expansion of human rights." In a prior report, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd touted how during a New York campaign fudraising swing, the President experienced "an embrace of enthusiastic donors happy with his new gay marriage stance....firing up his liberal base as he basked in the glow of a friendly audience..."

Early on Sunday's NBC Today, co-host Jenna Wolfe stirred division between Mitt Romney and  conservatives as she proclaimed: "[He] spoke at Liberty University, an evangelical school that's called his Mormon faith a cult. Can he get religious conservatives excited about his presidential campaign?"

Introducing the later report on the speech, fellow co-host Lester Holt ominously declared: "Mitt Romney, the likely Republican nominee, walked into the lion's den this weekend. He gave the commencement address at Liberty University, an influential conservative Christian school where some have a big problem with his Mormon faith."

Leading off Thursday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams enthusiastically touted the President's fundraising efforts: "President Obama cashing in the day after his gay marriage announcement." Moments later, Williams proclaimed: "Tonight, it is clear President Obama is hoping, at least, to capitalize on the history he made yesterday, becoming the first American president to come out in favor of same-sex marriage."

Williams fully embraced the cynicism of Obama's sudden flip-flop on the issue, noting how the President would be "appearing before a sympathetic audience tonight" of big-money campaign donors who "might not have been so sympathetic to the President before the gay marriage announcement."

At the end of a full report on Friday's NBC Today, based on a Washington Post hit piece that accused Mitt Romney of bullying of a gay high school classmate, correspondent Peter Alexander admitted the story may be false: "NBC News isn't naming the student who was allegedly bullied....Late last night, his sister told NBC News that his portrayal in the Washington Post story is 'factually incorrect'..."

Despite that important detail, the network morning show still decided to promote the accusations. At the top of the show, co-host Ann Curry teased: "Prep school bully? Mitt Romney responds to a report that as a teenager he led a bullying incident of a classmate who later came out as gay....Could an incident that happened nearly 50 years ago impact the presidential race?"

To get reaction to President Obama's flip-flop on gay marriage, Thursday's NBC Today brought on openly gay left-wing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who quickly attacked Republicans on the issue: "It's a very, very conservative Republican Party on this issue....Mitt Romney, who wants to roll back gay rights nationwide."

Co-host Ann Curry helped Maddow along by asking series of questions from the left:  "...[Obama's] leaving it to the states, there's no movement to do something federally, in terms of making a change, I mean, what actually changes?....Is it clear, though, that this will not satisfy gay marriage activists?...that there's going to be an increase in their demands to push this further forward? Have it be on the platforms for the Democratic Party?"

In a panel discussion on Thursday's NBC Today about President Obama announcing his support for gay marriage on Wednesday, co-host Savannah Guthrie confessed to the group of all liberal pundits: "...so many people in the media seem to uniformly support same-sex marriage." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

That fact was made blatantly obvious by the discussion that preceded Guthrie's admission. The panel featured openly gay CNBC host Suze Orman, who voiced her support of the President's move: "Yeah, part of me is like, 'What took you so long, President Obama?' This is something that should have been done, in my opinion anyway – obviously, I would think that – a long time ago."

As Matt Lauer went after Mitt Romney over comments about the auto bailout on Wednesday's NBC Today, conservative radio host Laura Ingraham took the morning show host and his colleagues to task: "Matt, as much as the Democrats, and maybe even you at times, want to turn this into a referendum on Romney, this is Romney running against an incumbent president who has a record that the media ought to start talking about and that the media also wants to avoid." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Following Vice President Biden praising the NBC sitcom Will & Grace for changing attitudes toward homosexuality on Sunday's Meet the Press, on Monday's Today, co-host Ann Curry made a similar declaration: "...there weren't a lot of gay role models on television....Now, there – this is, we're in the wake of Will and Grace, you know, we've seen Glee on television..." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Curry made the observation while talking to openly gay Bravo network executive and talk show host Andy Cohen detailing his coming-out story in a new memoir. Noting gay characters on television, Curry wondered: "Is it any easier for people?" Cohen declared: "I think with more visibility of gay people on TV you feel like you know them. And you feel wow, maybe it's okay. So I hope so, yes."

Talking to Meet the Press host David Gregory on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry pushed for Mitt Romney to move away from conservatives: "...does he have to work really hard now to backtrack off of some of his positions in the past, as he was trying to win the primary...?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

In a stunning double standard, in her very next question, Curry fretted about President Obama distancing himself from Vice President Biden's support of gay marriage: "There's been some backtracking, it seems, by the White House. Is it possible that the White House could cause itself some damage in backtracking too much off of this?"

In a complete violation of journalistic ethics, Friday's NBC Today aired an invented hidden camera scenario in which two teen girls were portrayed as participating in racial discrimination as judges of a fake singing contest. Reporter Natalie Morales described the shameful stunt as "such a great education for parents" and "truly a lesson for all of us." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Morales described the scheme: "Allison and the girl next to her, Nia, think they're here to judge a singing contest. They don't know that the other judges are actors we've planted to discriminate against Nick Rodriguez, who is also working with us....The actors go after Nick. Using insults experts say are common for Latino boys." The male actor denigrated Rodriguez for wearing a "backwards hat" and joked that "he could do some salsa dancing or whatever." The female actor suggested Rodriguez "could be illegal" and "May be involved in drugs."

In a fawning interview with liberal comedian Stephen Colbert on Friday's NBC Today, fill-in co-host David Gregory gushed over the Comedy Central host being a factor in the 2012 presidential race: "What a treat for me to be in for Matt [Lauer] today....Stephen Colbert is a man who has had a loud and influential voice in this political season."

Gregory began the farcical exchange by proclaiming to Colbert: "You have a super-PAC and you have a character on television. And you have a real impact on this race." Colbert himself was skeptical: "How do I have an impact on the race?" Still, Gregory urged the fake newsman to share his supposed wisdom: "What are you exposing about the race and about the political system in 2012 that you think the rest of us miss?"

When the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement first arrived on the scene back in October of 2011 the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) news networks greeted, what they viewed as the left’s answer to the Tea Party, with a whopping 33 full stories in just the first 11 days of coverage and a total of 81 stories in that month. However, when that movement proved to be an embarrassment to the left and Democratic Party with its acts of violence, most recently on May Day, the Big Three breezed past the ugly actions of this leftist movement with just one full story.

From May 1 through the morning of May 3 ABC, CBS and NBC, in their morning and evening newscasts, devoted a total of just 4 minutes combined to the Occupy Wall Street movement’s day of disruption that included blocking traffic, vandalism and sending simulated anthrax letters to banks full of white powder.