Jonathan Karl

ABC, NBC Tout 'Star-Studded' Obama Fund-Raisers for 'Prez in the City
June 15th, 2012 12:37 PM
ABC and NBC on Friday both excitedly touted Barack Obama's "star-studded" celebrity fund-raisers in New York City, gushing over the "Prez in the City." Neither network wondered if $40,000 per plate dinners with millionaire celebrities might make the President seem out of touch, a charge often leveled at Republican Mitt Romney.
On Good Morning America, reporter Jon Karl enthused, "Call it…

ABC Highlights Dems Charging Obama Admin Leaked National Security Secr
June 8th, 2012 8:36 AM
Uniquely among the broadcast network evening newscasts, ABC's World News on Thursday ran a report which informed viewers that Democrats in Congress have joined Republicans in accusing the Obama administration of leaking classified information, jeopardizing the country's ability to recruit spies in other countries to help the U.S. in the future.
Host Diane Sawyer introduced the report by…

Miley Cyrus, Miss USA Get More Time Than Wisconsin Recall on Big Three
June 6th, 2012 2:11 PM
The Big Three networks certainly have their priorities straight. ABC, CBS, and NBC's morning shows on Wednesday dedicated more time to entertainment news than the results of the Wisconsin recall election. On CBS This Morning, Disney's new ban on junk food ads from its kids programming received a minute and a half more than the political story. The same gap occurred on ABC's Good Morning America…

ABC Ignores Its Own Revelation That Obama Was 'Wealthy' While Paying O
April 26th, 2012 11:52 AM
ABC News has, thus far, ignored its own revelation that, contrary to insinuations made by Barack Obama, the then-private citizen and his wife "were making enough to be considered 'wealthy' by the president’s own definition in the years before his loans were paid off." ABC relegated this story to a posting on its website, not mentioning it on Wednesday's World News or Nightline.
The story was…

NBC Touted Romney's Dog on a Car Roof Story, But Only ABC Notes: Obama
April 18th, 2012 12:31 PM
Of the three major networks, only ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday covered the "dog wars" counterattack by Mitt Romney's operatives. Co-anchor George Stephanopoulos highlighted that the campaign is "tweeting around a picture of the President and trying to focus on a revelation he made in his memoir, that he actually tried dog when he was a young boy in Indonesia."
CBS This Morning…

Lou Dobbs: 'It’s Awfully Nice' of the Media 'To Help Everyone Unders
February 19th, 2012 12:51 PM
Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs issued a truly delicious smack down to America's press Sunday.
In the midst of a lengthy discussion about the so-called “Contraception Controversy” on ABC's This Week, Dobbs said, "It’s awfully nice of the national media and the Democratic Party to help everyone understand the dangers of Rick Santorum" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary…

Santorum Fires Back at CBS's 'Gotcha'; Raises Rev. Wright Double Stand
February 17th, 2012 2:03 PM
On Friday's CBS This Morning, Rick Santorum pushed back against Charlie Rose's interrogation about supporter Foster Friess's recent "bad off-color joke" on contraception, all but name-dropping former Obama pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright as an example of the media's double standard on playing "gotcha" politics with Republicans, but not Democrats.
Rose initially countered, "This is not gotcha;…

ABC: Romney is Looking to 'Drive a Stake' Through Gingrich's Heart
January 30th, 2012 1:00 PM
So, Newt Gingrich is a vampire? Over the course of two segments on Monday's Good Morning America, ABC's journalists goaded Gingrich to repeat his attacks on the "dishonest" Mitt Romney, while suggesting that the former Massachusetts governor is getting ready to "drive a stake" through the ex-Speaker's heart.
Playing up the fight between the two candidates, George Stephanopoulos pushed…
ABC's Talking Point: Karl Demands to Know How Romney 'Got Away With Pa
January 18th, 2012 12:41 PM
Actual reporting is hard, isn't it? Snarky sound effects are so much more fun. Good Morning America's Jon Karl on Wednesday parroted DNC and White House talking points about Mitt Romney. Karl demanded to know just how Romney "get[s] away with paying so little" capital gains taxes. The segment was punctuated by dollar sign and coin audio clips. [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Romney's…

ABC’s Karl Despairs GOP Has ‘Lost Only Candidate... Concerned Abou
January 16th, 2012 8:12 PM
“With Huntsman gone,” ABC’s Jonathan Karl despaired Monday night, “the field of Republican candidates has lost the only candidate who favored civil unions for gay couples and said he was concerned about climate change.” In his World News report, Karl recalled how Hunstman once “tweeted: ‘To be clear, I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.’”
Over on the…

ABC's Karl Jeers 'Disturbing' Gingrich Campaign Video
December 28th, 2011 2:15 PM
While reporting on candidate Newt Gingrich "taking a pummeling" from "brutal" attack ads, ABC's Jonathan Karl noted Gingrich's positive response – a "bizarre" Gingrich campaign Christmas video that Karl laughed off as "disturbing." Karl's report aired during the 7 a.m. hour of Good Morning America.
"Uh, it's a little disturbing, let me tell you," Karl scoffed at the festive video. A clip…
ABC's Karl Sees 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Campaign' by GOP Candidates
December 28th, 2011 9:54 AM
On Tuesday's World News on ABC, correspondent Jonathan Karl used the phrase "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" to label the tendency of Republicans presidential candidates to restrain negative attacks from their own campaigns, while independent groups that support the candidates are running more negative ads. While showing negative ads by supporters of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, Karl declared:

ABC's Misleading Headline: "Gingrich ’06 Memo: 'Agree Entirely With
December 27th, 2011 8:54 AM
ABC's Jonathan Karl Tuesday published a piece now prominently featured at the Drudge Report with a headline guaranteed to be the Obama-loving media's lead story concerning something Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich wrote over five years ago: "Gingrich ’06 Memo: 'Agree Entirely With Gov. Romney' on Health Care."
Inside the actual document uncovered by BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski…

CBS Team Laughs at House GOP 'Cave,' ABC Plays Up Republican Defeat
December 23rd, 2011 9:24 AM
As the broadcast network morning newscasts on Friday all reported on House Republicans backing down on a temporary extension of the payroll tax cut without extracting additional concessions from Democrats, the CBS team on The Early Show saw humor in the House Republican move as substitute co-anchor Jim Axelrod quipped that "the word of the day in Washington will be 'cave,'" evoking laughter. (…