CBS Points Out Obama's Odd 'Red Line' Denial; NBC Spins It As 'Redefin

September 5th, 2013 1:39 PM
Wednesday's CBS Evening News twice underlined President Obama's 2012 "red line" remark before playing a soundbite of the Democrat's "I didn't set a red line" reversal earlier in the day. Scott Pelley noted that "a year ago, he [Obama] warned the Syrian dictator that a red line would be crossed if the dictator used chemical weapons against his rebellious citizens." Major Garrett soon added that…

On CBS, Brinkley Marvels At 'Very Beautifully Written' Obama Speech

August 28th, 2013 6:10 PM
Douglas Brinkley predictably fawned over President Obama's apparently "very beautifully written" address marking the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, mere moments after he finished delivering it: "I think it's one of the great speeches that Barack Obama's ever delivered." [audio available here; video below the jump] Scott Pelley turned to Brinkley during CBS'…

ObamaCare Suffers Another Setback, ABC and NBC Ignore

August 14th, 2013 12:38 PM
On Tuesday morning, The New York Times reported the Obama administration had delayed a “significant consumer protection” in the Affordable Care Act, a provision that limits how much individuals and families can pay out-of-pocket for health care, until 2015. Under ObamaCare, the limit on out-of-pocket health care costs was set at $6,350 per year for individuals and $12,700 per year for families…

CBS Mentions IRS Scandal For First Time in A Month; Drops It The Next

July 25th, 2013 12:38 PM
Scott Pelley devoted a minute and a half segment to the IRS scandal on Wednesday's CBS Evening News, the first time that the Big Three newscast had mentioned the issue in a month. Pelley asked Treasury Secretary Jack Lew if "any political appointee had oversight of the decisions that were made around the Tea Party applications", and reported on some of the recent developments in the scandal…

Rainbow Rapture: Networks Cheer Gay Marriage Rulings with 86 Percent F

June 27th, 2013 1:54 PM
It’s hard to know where yesterday’s Supreme Court decisions on gay marriage met with the most jubilation: West Hollywood, the Castro District, Greenwich Village? Or the newsrooms of ABC, CBS and NBC? Combined, the three broadcast networks devoted an astounding 25 minutes, 54 seconds of their evening news shows to the Supreme Court’s decisions striking down the Defense of Marriage Act and…

Two of Three Evening Newscasts Downplay Obama’s Global Warming Speec

June 26th, 2013 5:34 PM
On a big day for news, two of the three major networks downplayed President Obama’s global warming speech on yesterday’s evening newscasts. ABC and CBS reduced the story to a brief anchor-read blurb, while NBC included a sound bite and a full in-studio report from a correspondent. The speech, delivered at Georgetown University, was notable for Obama’s threat to bypass Congress by directing…

CBS, NBC Ballyhoo 'Military-Style Surge' Proposal in Immigration Bill

June 21st, 2013 1:04 PM
Thursday's CBS Evening News all but hinted that the border security measures included in a new compromise attached to the immigration reform bill in Congress was overkill. Scott Pelley emphasized, "To win over Republicans, negotiators today added a military-style surge for the southern border." NBC's Tamron Hall echoed Pelley on Friday's Today: "It [the bill] would involve fortifying the U.S.-…

Fox's Kelly Smacks Down CBS's Pelley: ‘We Beat You in All the Debate

June 17th, 2013 6:39 PM
As NewsBusters reported Sunday, CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley commented in a Deadline Hollywood interview that Fox News only has 200,000 to 300,000 viewers. Fox’s Megyn Kelly marvelously responded on Monday’s America Live, “We beat you in all the debates and on election night, Scott” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CBS's Scott Pelley: Fox News Only Has 200,000 to 300,000 Viewers

June 16th, 2013 10:28 AM
A key to success in business is knowing your competition. CBS Evening News host Scott Pelley apparently doesn't subscribe to this doctrine, for in an interview with Deadline Hollywood published Saturday, Pelley claimed that Fox News only has 200,000 to 300,000 viewers:

NBC, CBS Criticize Banks for Overdraft Fees That Customers Request

June 13th, 2013 10:50 AM
Banks are bad because they make a profit on things requested by their customers, according to both NBC and CBS. The two networks highlighted a study released June 11 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [CFPB] that said banks made $12.6 billion in overdraft fees and non-sufficient funds from bounced checks in 2011. Though only 20 percent of customers actually opt-in for overdraft…

CBS Anchor Scott Pelley Has 'Meltdown' at N.Y. Post After He Skipped N

June 12th, 2013 7:33 AM
It looked bizarre. After CBS broke the State Department scandal on Monday’s “CBS This Morning,” there was nothing on “CBS Evening News.” The New York Post “Page Six” gossips suggested it was “because Pelley and his EP, Pat Shevlin, were peeved” it broke in the morning, not on their show. “Pelley called Page Six last night to vehemently deny he had a meltdown — then promptly went into a…

How Odd: Media Bistro Says ABC Evening News Had Year-Over-Year Gains

June 9th, 2013 10:14 PM
For the week of May 27, the Big Three networks' evening news broadcasts declined, both compared to the previous week and the same week last year, and garnered an average combined daily audience of just under 20 million. Somehow, Chris Ariens at Media Bistro apparently wasn't looking at the same numbers his readers were when he did his post, and wrote the following while linking back to the…

NBC Plays Up Turkish P.M. 'Trying to Impose More Conservative Values

June 4th, 2013 3:04 PM
On Monday's NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams failed to mention Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan's traditional Islamic orientation as he reported on the "anti-government protests" in the Mediterranean country. Williams merely described the demonstrations as a "display of frustration with the prime minister...who has been trying to impose more conservative values on that mostly secular…

Only CBS Notes IRS Official’s Leave, Yet ABC and NBC Have Time to Sh

May 24th, 2013 7:40 AM
Already moving on from the IRS scandal? On Thursday night, only the CBS Evening News of the broadcast network evening newscasts bothered to note how Lois Lerner, the IRS official in charge of the division which processes tax-exempt applications, was put on administrative leave after she took the Fifth and refused to answer questions at a House hearing the day before. Anchor Scott Pelley…