Bill Whitaker
Networks Ignore Violence at 'Peaceful' Occupy L.A., Play Up 'Party' Vi
November 28th, 2011 5:39 PM
The Big Three network morning shows on Monday all reported on the possible showdown between Occupy L.A. protesters and the LAPD. NBC's Today and CBS's Early Show highlighted that the left-leaning demonstrators held a "block party" as they defied law enforcement. All three media outlets also played up the supposedly "peaceful" nature of the protest, while ignoring other media reports of violence…
Williams Hypes Protests ‘Still Growing, Changing and Spreading,’ C
October 14th, 2011 8:51 PM
The broadcast networks continued their enthusiastic coverage Friday night on behalf of the far-left Wall Street protesters, with NBC’s Brian Williams, again, the most excited while CBS anchor Scott Pelley, who has until now refrained from the hype delivered by ABC and NBC, jumped in by promising “a series of reports on the growing protests around the country.”
Williams led by touting how the…
Bozell Column: The Zero-Blame Game
July 5th, 2011 10:16 PM
The media pandering on behalf of the Obama Re-election camp already is astonishing. During the George W. Bush years, everything bad that happened in America somehow was connected to the malignant reign of “The Decider.” Last year, CBS even sought out journalist Sally Quinn to claim that Bush’s victory in 2000 could be blamed for unraveling Al Gore’s marriage ten years later.
God knows, and…
CBS Reporter Invokes 'Long, Hot Summer' Cliche in Covering Teen Unempl
June 6th, 2011 1:14 AM
For those too young to remember, invoking a "long, hot summer" was a favorite pastime of the establishment press and so-called "civil rights leaders" after the race riots of the 1960s (example here). The message: Get that federal money flowing to us, or there will be violence in the streets.
At CBS News, reporter Bill Whitaker wrapped his coverage of the teen unemployment situation as follows…
As AZ Immigration Law Looms, ABC Touts Harm to Small Businesses
July 26th, 2010 3:41 PM
ABC's "World News" on Sunday caught up to CBS and NBC in fretting about the potential problems caused by illegal immigrants who may be leaving Arizona before the state's new law takes effect on Thursday. Correspondent Barbara Pinto devoted her entire piece to lamenting the possible damage to small businesses whose customers are presumably now leaving the state, but offered less than a sentence to…
NBC and CBS Repeatedly Touted Liberals' 'Boycott' of Arizona; Silent o
May 20th, 2010 6:16 PM
All three broadcast evening newscasts have repeatedly touted, as if it is a valid representation of national sentiment, the “boycott” of Arizona by liberal municipalities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. But when the Arizona Corporation Commissioner on Tuesday made a tongue-in-cheek offer to help Los Angeles out in its boycott by shutting off the electricity flow, CBS and NBC were silent.…
As Polls Show Overwhelming Support for Arizona's Law, Nets Focus on 'U
May 13th, 2010 9:34 PM
The night after two major national polls confirmed overwhelming majorities support Arizona's impending immigration enforcement statute (59 percent per Pew and 64 percent per NBC/WSJ), CBS and ABC promoted the cause of activists in the minority. Both devoted full stories to the “uproar” and “emotional civil war” over the law and moves by a few liberal local government bodies to enact boycotts,…
Networks Fail to Distinguish Between Xenophobia and Law Enforcement
May 5th, 2010 11:42 AM
Liberal political pundits frequently remind Americans that words matter, which makes broadcast network reporters' coverage of Arizona's new crack down on illegal immigrants so appalling. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a law on April 23 that would make it a misdemeanor for immigrants to not carry documentation proving they are in the country legally. The bill gave state law enforcement the…
Nets Celebrate May Day Pro-Illegal Immigrant Protests, Barely Mention
May 1st, 2010 10:51 PM
“Angry backlash from coast to coast,” ABC’s David Muir teased Saturday’s World News, “huge rallies across this country tonight against that new controversial immigration law.” On CBS, Jeff Glor teased: “May Day Message. Immigrant right groups rally from coast to coast against Arizona's controversial new law.”ABC reporter Eric Horng touted how “this is the fifth year in a row that nationwide…
NBC Promotes May Day Anti-Arizona Protests While CBS Finally Notices C
May 1st, 2010 3:03 PM
On Friday night, NBC promoted leftist May Day protests against Arizona’s new immigration enforcement law while CBS, after a full week of coverage focused on outrage against it, finally bothered to get around to how murder and crime got the public behind it. Declaring Arizona is “at the center of a growing storm over its tough new immigration law,” NBC anchor Brian Williams touted: “Activists…
Unlike CBS 'Evening News,' 'Early Show' Report Fails to Cite Any Suppo
April 30th, 2010 11:31 AM
On Friday's CBS Early Show, correspondent Bill Whitaker reported on protests against Arizona's new immigration law, citing several opponents of the new measure, but failing to feature a single supporter. On Thursday's Evening News, Whitaker filed a nearly identical report that included a clip of at least one proponent of the legislation.In the Early Show report, footage was show of an immigration…
CBS Trumpets Opposition to ‘Notorious’ Arizona Law from One Cop an
April 29th, 2010 11:36 PM
CBS won’t let go of liberal efforts against the new immigration enforcement law in Arizona. A night after Katie Couric focused on “the backlash against Arizona's new immigration law. San Francisco bans official travel to that state,” she teased Thursday’s CBS Evening News by trumpeting a lawsuit against it from a lone police officer: “The latest response to Arizona's new immigration law? Sue the…
Bozell Column: Arizona's 21-Bottle Salute
April 27th, 2010 11:01 PM
Arizona officially joined the South this month. In other words, it became for our Northeastern media elitists a state dominated by backward, slack-jawed racists. The Associated Press marked the passage of a tough new anti-immigration law with the leftist version of a Welcome Wagon: “The furor over Arizona's new law cracking down on illegal immigrants grew Monday as opponents used refried beans to…
CBS Frames Arizona’s Anti-Illegal Alien Law Through Eyes of Opponent
April 24th, 2010 2:58 PM
Arizona’s new law hardly earned a friendly reception Friday night from any of the network newscasts, but CBS went the furthest in presenting it from the perspective of its “victims” as anchor Katie Couric, over video of “Veto Racism” and “Stop the Hate” signs, teased: “Tonight, Arizona's controversial new immigration law. Police will now be able to make anyone they choose prove they're here…