USAT Reax to Debunked Rolling Stone Rape Story: 'Didn't Quite Hold Up'

The press's reluctance to let go of a popular but debunked meme — in this case, the nonexistent "epidemic" of college campus sexual assaults — is sometimes inadvertently humorous, though still intensely annoying. Take how John Bacon and Marisol Bello at USA Today characterized the news that "Police in Charlottesville were unable to verify that an alleged sexual assault detailed in a…
Tom Blumer

Halperin: Hillary 'Running Against Herself' And 'Kind of Losing'

Appearing on Monday's NBC Today, Bloomberg Politics managing editor Mark Halperin saw problems for Hillary Clinton running unopposed for the 2016 Democratic nomination: "...the Republicans are running in a field of thirteen or fourteen, she's running against herself and right now she's kind of losing."  
Kyle Drennen

CBS Surprisingly Spotlights ISIS's 'Cleansing of Iraq's Christians'

CBS's Lara Logan refreshingly brought new attention to the plight of the ancient Christian communities in Iraq on Sunday's 60 Minutes, as they face annihilation by ISIS. Logan pointed out how ISIS, "just like the Nazis marked the property of Jews, Christian homes...have been marked with this red symbol....When ISIS puts it on your home, you either convert to Islam, pay an extortion tax, or face…
Matthew Balan

Yahoo Reporter: Cruz Talking About God-Given Rights Is 'Bizarre'

Meredith Shiner is currently a Yahoo News political reporter. Before spending three years at Roll Call, where she was considered "a leader in the newsroom," she toiled at the Politico for two years. Shiner is a graduate of Duke University, and "grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago." I have provided these resume-level details to emphasize how utterly incomprehensible it is, as well as…
Tom Blumer

View Guest Co-Host Declares Herself a 'Ted Cruz Birther’

On Monday, the co-hosts of The View had a vigorous debate surrounding Ted Cruz’s presidential bid and guest host Michelle Collins took the discussion one step further by declaring to be a “Ted Cruz birther” and asked to “see the birth certificate.” 
Jeffrey Meyer

How Did The Ferguson 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' Mantra Start? Blame Media

Even Eric Holder’s Justice Department was forced to admit that it was untrue that Michael Brown stood innocently and said “Hands up, don’t shoot” when police officer Darren Wilson shot him dead. “It remains not only valid — but essential — to question how such a strong alternative version of events was able to take hold so swiftly, and be accepted so readily,” Holder said.
NB Staff

USA Today: 'Hundreds of Thousands' Could Lose Their Vote In Wisconsin

Today the U.S. Supreme Court, as the Associated Press's Scott Bauer reported, "turned away a challenge to Wisconsin's voter identification law," meaning that "the state is free to impose the voter ID requirement in future elections." Bauer then focused on the impact of the state's off-year primary elections on April 7. Bauer's relatively tolerable (for him) report tagged the law as "a political…
Tom Blumer

MSNBC's Alter Spins Cruz's Message: 'Extremism Is Good'

MSNBC journalists on Monday reacted predictably to Ted Cruz's announcement that he is running for President. Former Newsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter summed up the Republican's vision by comparing Cruz to Barry Goldwater's 1964 campaign. Connecting the two, Alter concluded, "So, that's the Ted Cruz message, 'extremism is good.'"  
Scott Whitlock

Actress Zoe Saldana: Dolce & Gabbana Boycott Is 'Stupidest Thing'

When you think of free speech, the GLAAD Media Awards probably don’t leap to mind. After all, GLAAD is the self-appointed pro-LGBT speech police, and it gives awards to media outlets and figures that toe the line. But nobody told actress Zoe Saldana. After Dolce & Gabbana made comments critical of in vitro fertilization and affirming the concept of the traditional family, celebrities…
Jordan Ecarma

NBC: Ted Cruz a 'Conservative Firebrand' Who Throws 'Rhetorical Bombs'

On Monday's NBC Today, while discussing Senator Ted Cruz's announcement of his presidential candidacy, co-host Savannah Guthrie described the Texas Republican as "whip smart, a real conservative firebrand, knows how to throw those rhetorical bombs that the base loves."
Kyle Drennen

Sense: Actress Zoe Saldana says Dolce & Gabbana ‘Allowed to Their Ow

And at the GLAAD Media Awards, no less!
Jordan Ecarma

Thanks, Hillary! Morning Joe's Middle East a Smoking Ruin

Warning: readers are advised to hide the sharp objects before viewing the clip of Morning Joe's review of the Middle East today.  The picture painted is one of the utter failure of US foreign policy, leaving a devastated, deadly region in its woeful wake. We open with President Obama's "mission accomplished" moment from last year in which he called US policy in Yemen "successful." Cut to Jim…
Mark Finkelstein

ABC: Cruz Enters 2016 Field 'to the Right of Just About Everybody'

ABC's Jon Karl announced Ted Cruz's entry on Monday into the 2016 presidential field by warning that the Republican is "trying to be the man to the right of just about everybody." According to Karl, "Cruz jumps into this race as the conservative's conservative, somebody who delights not just in fighting liberals but mainstream Republicans, too." 
Scott Whitlock

CBS Previews Ted Cruz's 2016 Bid: ‘Shut Down Much of the Government’

On Monday, CBS This Morning previewed Senator Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential bid by proclaiming that he “first grabbed the national spotlight in 2013 when he held the Senate floor for more than 21 hours and helped shut down much of the government all in protest of President Obama's health care law.” 
Jeffrey Meyer