CNN Revives Three-Week-Old Story to Cast Pope in Bad Light
[Update, 6:06 pm Eastern: CNN ran a slanted commercial promoting Tuchman's report on Anderson Cooper 360 on Monday afternoon, touting how then-Cardinal Ratzinger apparently "resisted" Bishop Cummins's requests to expel the abuser from the priesthood. (see video at right).] CNN's Gary Tuchman revisited a three-week-old story on a priest abuse case in California during a segment on Monday's AC360,…
N.Y. Times Obit Illustrates How Media See Religion Through Political L
The media don't get religion, often portraying intra-denominational struggles within American Protestant churches through a purely political lens, rather than as substantial debates touching on the core tenets of Christian doctrine or ecclesial discipline. What's more, in this political narrative, conservative defenders of Christian orthodoxy are invariably the bullies. A recent example of this…
MSNBC Suggests Guns in Church 'Crossing the Line'; Omits Fact Armed Ch
Updated with audio and video (18:25 EDT)Picking up on a story from Louisiana about a bill to allow concealed carry for firearms in houses of worship, MSNBC's Tamron Hall asked viewers of the network's live coverage shortly before 3 p.m. EDT today if the legislation was "Crossing the Line."True to the segment's formula, only one side of the controversy was represented in the form of a guest to…
Joy Behar on Prayer: What's the 'Difference Between' Bush and Terroris
When it comes to matters of prayer, Joy Behar doesn’t know the difference between terrorists and former President George W. Bush.The National Day of Prayer is coming up on May 6, but on “The Joy Behar Show” April 29, she was discussing the diversity of religion in America with former talk show host Phil Donahue.In a discussion about the separation of church and state, Behar absurdly compared Bush…
CBS Ignores, NBC Reports and ABC Frets Over Supreme Court Ruling of Mo
Given the contentious debate over the proper role of religion in American public life, you'd think an important Supreme Court ruling on the issue would be a big story to the network news. But the Court's April 28 finding regarding a cross on a World War I memorial in the Mojave Desert elicited a yawn from CBS's "Evening News," a 78-word report from NBC's "Nightly News," and a one-sided segment…
Irony Deficient: WaPo 'On Faith' Frets About Climate Change
“A warming planet is just the tip of the iceberg, the warning light on the dashboard,” according to the Washington Post’s On Faith Guest Voices, Katharine Hayhoe. In her April 27 article, “Not Red, Not Blue, Just Green,” Hayhoe fretted about supposed climate change and attempted to use religion as a means to take action against global warming. Hayhoe, a professor at Texas Tech and climate…
Rick Sanchez Forwards CAIR's Nazi License Plate Speculation
On Tuesday's Rick List, CNN's Rick Sanchez unquestioningly forwarded Islamic advocacy group CAIR's admitted speculation about a Virginia license plate containing a supposed coded message of white supremacy/neo-Naziism, which they found on a pickup truck that also had an anti-Islamic message on it [audio clip available here].Sanchez devoted a brief to the controversy over the Virginia license…
WaPo Rehashes Old Democrat Gripe of 'Anti-Catholic Bias' in Story on H
As Father Daniel Coughlin marks 10 years of ministry as the chaplain to the U.S. House of Representatives, the Washington Post found an occasion to suggest to readers that Republicans who now praise the priest's service as the first-ever Catholic to hold the post have overcome a prejudice against the Catholic Church."In the beginning, there was partisanship," staff writer Ben Pershing began his…
In New Ft. Hood Report, Old Double Standard: Hypothetical Holy War Wor
With the release of the Department of Defense's report on the November Fort Hood massacre, two trends are becoming increasingly clear: the administration does not want to talk about Islam's violent elements, and the mainstream media is more than willing to play along.The administration's position clear to anyone examining official documentation. The Fort Hood report, the FBI's counterterrorism…
NFL Discovers Character Matters
The 2010 NFL draft showed that it's not enough to be a star football player anymore. Character counts now too. Tim Tebow, and the Denver Bronco's drafting him as first-round pick, was the big story out of the NFL draft. Despite a phenomenal college career in which he won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore, led the Florida Gators to two national championships, and lived out his Christian…
Hitchens Boasts About Anti-Papal Stunt in Newsweek; Hints Vatican is F
Newsweek continued its campaign against the Catholic Church on Friday by letting one of the leading atheist (not to leave out anti-Catholic) voices internationally, Christopher Hitchens, spout half-truths and smears about Pope Benedict XVI and the Church. Most egregiously, Hitchens inaccurately stated that Vatican City "was created by Benito Mussolini," thus trying to tie Catholicism to fascism.…
ABC Highlights British Apology for ‘Abortion & Condoms’ Crack Abou
On World News Sunday, ABC anchor Dan Harris gave attention to the latest example of disrespect that one has come to expect to see aimed at the Catholic Church as he recounted that a British foreign ministry official had made a crack about Pope Benedict opening an abortion clinic or marketing condoms, prompting an apology from the British government. On the April 25 show, Harris relayed the…
Larry King Goes on Attack for Homosexuality: Asks Pastor Why He Didn
Whatever your view on homosexuality might be as it pertains to Christianity, there's probably one place one wouldn't go to seek clarity on the issue - a Jewish TV host that's in his seventh marriage. However, CNN, the so-called most trusted name in news, had "Larry King Live" host Larry King tackle this issue on his April 23 program in a special broadcast entitled "Can You Be Christian and Gay…
Jon Stewart Notes Blatant Double Standard on 'South Park' Mohammed Cen
On last night's "Daily Show," Jon Stewart noted the blatant censorship his employer Comedy Central exercised against its popular show "South Park" by banning it from showing, and even uttering the word "Mohammed" in this week's episode after a threat came forward from an Islamic group."The censorship was a decision Comedy Central made I think as a way to protect their employees from what they…
