PBS’s Ifill: Can GOP Be Viable When Tea Party Is ‘Party of Opposit

January 31st, 2014 2:32 PM
On Thursday’s PBS NewsHour, anchor Gwen Ifill fed the tired old stereotype that the Tea Party ruins everything. [Video below the break. MP3 audio here.] During a discussion about the nation’s political outlook for the coming year, Ifill posed this question to The Washington Post’s Michael Gerson:

PBS’s Ifill Tries to Shame Dick Cheney for Having Good Health Care

November 13th, 2013 6:00 PM
On Tuesday’s PBS NewsHour, anchor Gwen Ifill interviewed former Vice President Dick Cheney about his notorious heart troubles as documented in his new book, Heart: An American Medical Odyssey. Apparently unwilling to let a good conversation about healthcare go to waste, Ifill spent the latter half of the interview trying to use Cheney’s experience as an infomercial for why America needs…

Gwen Ifill and the Decline and Fall of ‘PBS NewsHour

November 2nd, 2013 7:00 AM
Over the years, we’ve written a lot about long, slow ratings collapse of broadcast news. But ABC, CBS, and NBC aren’t the only ones experiencing this decline. As reported by David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun, the ratings for PBS NewsHour show are almost in a freefall, even compared to their commercial competitors. By its own count, NewsHour had 2.5 million viewers in 2005. This year the show…

WashPost, PBS Boost Obama Faith Director's Book Without Asking About H

October 26th, 2013 9:56 PM
When George W. Bush's faith-based initiative staffer David Kuo came out with a book whacking away at Bush, the media were enthralled (excerpted lovingly by Time magazine and interviewed on 60 Minutes). Now under Obama, they're helping former faith-based initiatives director Joshua Dubois sell his new book "The President's Devotional." In Saturday's Washington Post, religion reporter Elizabeth…

Obama Admits Conservative Criticism ‘Doesn’t Have to Do With My Ra

August 29th, 2013 6:48 PM
In remarks that are sure to dismay the race-baiting crew at MSNBC, President Obama admitted in an interview yesterday that he does not think that his conservative critics are racially motivated. Obama made those remarks in a very flattering discussion with PBS NewsHour hosts Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff after he gave an address commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I…

PBS’s Gwen Ifill Bemoans Obama’s Scandals as Second-Term ‘Distra

July 8th, 2013 5:38 PM
We’re halfway through 2013, and PBS’s Washington Week used last Friday’s episode to reflect on the past six months of D.C. politics. During the course of the reflections, moderator Gwen Ifill trotted out the oft-uttered liberal complaint about “distractions” that have impeded President Obama’s second-term agenda so far. She lamented, “You know, the one thing that's been a common theme…

PBS's Gwen Ifill Defends Eric Holder, IRS Despite Online Backlash

June 4th, 2013 1:57 PM
Here's an interesting example of your tax dollars at work: Gwen Ifill, a newscaster for the Public Broadcasting System, uses her television programs to staunchly defend Eric Holder, the scandal-ridden U.S. attorney general, and the Internal Revenue System, which has been accused of targeting conservative organizations that apply for a tax-exempt status. Not content with using her roles as…

On Taxpayer-subsidized PBS, Liberal Reporters Lament Benghazi Won't Go

May 23rd, 2013 4:58 PM
On last Friday’s Washington Week, PBS moderator Gwen Ifill brought in a panel of four liberal journalists to dissect the three scandals that have plagued the Obama administration the past couple of weeks. Predictably, most of the panelists attempted to downplay the seriousness of the Benghazi fiasco. Midway through the Benghazi discussion, Ifill turned to The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe and…

Ifill Doesn't Ask Democrat If Gun Control Bill Would've Stopped Newtow

April 18th, 2013 6:15 PM
With the monumental collapse of the president’s anti-gun agenda, many are wondering if both sides will “go back into their corners” on gun control.  Every single measure in this new bill failed, which elicited the wrath of the president yesterday in the Rose Garden.  During the April 17 broadcast of the PBS NewsHour, Gwen Ifill asked why these measures failed to pass, mentioned the popularity…

PBS Anchor Celebrates Growing Acceptance of Same-sex Marriage

March 21st, 2013 5:52 PM
Support for same-sex marriage is on the rise in America, and PBS couldn’t be happier about it. On Tuesday’s NewsHour, the taxpayer-subsidized network ran a story that betrayed more than a hint of elation at the growing acceptance of gay marriage among both politicians and the public. Leading the cheers was co-anchor Gwen Ifill, who narrated the story and moderated the discussion that followed…

PBS NewsHour Notes Concerns Over Drone Killings; Fails to Mention Libe

February 6th, 2013 6:33 PM
In the wake of the leaked Department of Justice memo detailing the legality of targeted killings by drones on American citizens, the PBS NewsHour found it fitting to have the ACLU defend its position in why these strikes are troubling, and why American-born al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki should’ve been kept alive to plan acts of terror against the United States. Of course, this is maddening…

PBS Panelists Call Obama’s Inaugural Address ‘Communitarian’ Rat

January 22nd, 2013 6:27 PM
During PBS’ coverage of the 2013 Inauguration, syndicated columnist Mark Shields, Gwen Ifill, and Yale University’s Beverly Gage seemed to have forgotten what the definition of liberal is within the context of Obama’s second inaugural address.  In fact, Gage said that this wasn’t an “endorsement of collective liberalism,” and Shields called it more “humanitarian.”  The non-taxpayer subsidized…

PBS to Air Newtown Series in February; Fresh Push for Gun Control

January 14th, 2013 6:43 PM
In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, PBS has decided to air a series of special programming in response to the tragedy in mid-February.  We'll review the specials when they air, but early indications are that it will be heavily skewed towards more onerous gun restrictions. The PBS specials, according to Diane Haithman of Deadline Hollywood, will be broadcasted between February 18-22.…

NewsHour's Ifill Fails to Challenge California Senator's Omissions on

December 18th, 2012 6:23 PM
Liberals politicians and journalists are on a full-blown assault on the Second Amendment ever since Friday's horrific shooting in Newtown, Conn. Gun ban-pushers like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are making the rounds in the media, including taxpayer-funded PBS. On December 17, NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill gave Feinstein the floor to push her agenda. Naturally, Ifill failed to bring on an…