Media Diversity

 From time to time, we at NewsBusters like to highlight things the media actually do right, and so, on this Flag Day, we tip our hats to the CBS Evening News, which two days ago closed its newscasts with a story on the 200th anniversary of Francis Scott Key's writing of the “Star-Spangled Banner." Reporter Jim Axelrod narrated a fitting tribute to the “flag and song together, forming the…

The panelists of MSNBC’s Morning Joe got a little more than they were bargaining for when they brought Sen. John McCain on their June 13 program. With the Arizona Republican making the case that the Obama administration was leaving Iraq in a hostile situation in which all of America’s past sacrifices “will have been made in vain,” both host Mika Brzezinksi and Sam Stein of the Huffington…

Both of Comedy Central’s favorite comedians took the time on their shows on June 11 to make fun of upstart conservative congressional nominee David Brat for his Christian faith while subtly hinting at a strain of anti-Semitism in either the Virginia Republican himself or the GOP voters of the 7th District which chose him over Majority Leader Eric Cantor. In fact, both Jon Stewart and Stephen…

Don’t look now, but there may be pigs flying around outside your window. On the June 11 episode of Ronan Farrow Daily, Hardball host Chris Matthews defended conservative Republican congressional nominee David Brat – who surprised all of Washington with his unexpected defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) – and the Tea Party movement against fellow liberals who are “looking down…

It seems that with the Virginia Republican primary victory of Tea Party candidate Dave Brat over House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has proven to the liberal media that despite their exaggerated reporting, the Tea Party isn’t actually dead. When Chris Jansing asked if “the demise of the Tea Party was overstated,” McKay Coppins of Buzzfeed replied: "I think so." Two weeks ago after the last…

It seems the hosts of MSNBC’s daytime programs for June 10 have been sharing the same, predictable anti-conservative talking points concerning the Las Vegas shooting earlier this week. While Andrea Mitchell asked her guest if the increase in violence had anything to do with having an “African American president,” Joy Reid claimed that these events proved the rise of “right-wing extremism…

Chris Jansing spent more than 5 minutes of the June 10 edition of Jansing & Co. showing a live stream of fans waiting for Hillary’s book signing at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York and airing the pro-Hillary spin of Tracy Sefl, a senior advisor in the super PAC Ready For Hillary. Sefl, who lauded Clinton as “fantastic” for shedding light on “the pervasive sexism of the 2008…

On the June 3 edition of Real Time with Bill Maher, author Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition held his own against the aggressively atheist HBO host. While most guests either cannot get a word in edgewise or are so baffled by Maher’s illogical liberalism they are unable to reply his radical rhetoric, Reed was able to make an argument for the importance of traditional family units and…

Jon Stewart began his June 5 Daily Show with a 10-minute-long rant against Open Carry Texas, a pro-gun rights organization that recently received media attention for its members openly carrying guns into various chain restaurants throughout the Lone Star State. Doing so is perfectly legal in Texas, albeit rather rare in practice. While the National Rifle Association (NRA) first condemned the…

Doing his best to keep the Obama administration’s front line from falling into retreat, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz sprayed rhetorical cover fire all over the place on his June 5 program, defending Team Obama’s much-criticized deal to release Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five deadly Taliban leaders. Within the first two minutes of Thursday’s The Ed Show, Schultz called Republicans “ruthless and…

In an unsurprising display of ignorance, Jon Stewart felt it necessary to interrupt his guest, Egyptian Revolutionary Socialist Gigi Ibrahim, to crack a lame joke comparing the human rights abuses occurring under military rule in Egypt today to the American government’s restriction of “civil rights under the guise of fighting terrorism.” Stewart’s claim that “we’re not so different after all…

It did not take long for MSNBC to begin blaming the right-wing “anti-Obama machine” for the backlash against the Bergdahl prisoner swap. Intent on ignoring their own poll in which 65%  of respondents didn’t support Obama’s decision to make the exchange, the June 3 edition of The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell went above and beyond in criticizing Republicans for “swiftboating” Bergdahl…

While Stephen Colbert has no problem harping on any controversy involving the GOP, the liberal comedian and Comedy Central host seems unwilling to confront the Bergdahl prisoner swap controversy on the June 2 edition of The Colbert Report. Colbert mocked Guantanamo: "We can't release these guys! We were this close to charging them with something!"He cracked that celebrating Bergdahl’s…

In MSNBC’s view of the world, Twitter hashtag appeals are apparently only acceptable for liberal or politically-correct causes. On the May 30 edition of Ronan Farrow Daily, the MSNBC host invited Deadspin columnist and GQ contributor Drew Magary onto the show to discuss how the Washington Redskins are pushing back against the incessant pressure campaign for the NFL team to drop its name for…