Networks Ignore 'Audit the IRS' Rally; Minimize Coverage of $70 Millio

The Big Three all punted on covering the Capitol Hill "Audit the IRS" rally on their Wednesday evening and Thursday morning newscasts. CBS This Morning played a four-second soundbite of Senator Ted Cruz addressing the thousands of Tea Party activists in attendance, but CBS, along with ABC and NBC, didn't air a full report or news brief on the protest. The CBS morning show also stood out for…
Matthew Balan
June 20th, 2013 12:04 PM

Obama Confuses British Chancellor 'George' Osborne With R&B Singer 'Je

Barack Obama at Thursday's G8 summit three times called British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne "Jeffrey." According to London's Financial Times, the President eventually apologized and said that he was confusing him with "his favorite R&B singer" Jeffrey Osborne:
Noel Sheppard
June 20th, 2013 11:22 AM

Open Thread Thursday

Today's starter topic: In light of the NSA spying scandal, a new search engine called DuckDuckGo which gives users complete anonymity by never storing data on them has exploded in popularity. Have you ever tried it?
NB Staff
June 20th, 2013 11:21 AM

CNN's Amanpour, No Stranger to (Alleged) 'Irony,' Rips Turkish Paper F

File this under: "She can dish it out but can't take it." Tuesday, the Turkish newspaper Takvim published a fictional interview of CNN's Christiane Amanpour said to have taken place in Atlanta. As seen in a Google (less than perfect) Translate screen grab, it is clearly identified as sarcasm at its end. That didn't stop Amanpour from tweeting her anger at the fake interview while implicitly…
Tom Blumer
June 20th, 2013 11:06 AM

NY Times Fawns Over Bill Nye: ‘Warrior for Science

Bill Nye got the “rock star” treatment from The New York Times on June 17. John Schwartz’s glowing 1,512-word profile of “The Science Guy” described Nye as a “warrior for science,” and “Springsteen of the nerds.” At the same time Schwartz lauded Nye, he trashed his opponents on the issue of climate change and clearly sided with climate change alarmism.
Julia A. Seymour
June 20th, 2013 10:07 AM

PBS's Tavis Smiley Rips MSNBC: ‘They Do Spin…If I Don’t Like You

Count PBS’s Tavis Smiley amongst those in the media finally beginning to realize what an absolute joke MSNBC is. During an interview with new CNNer Morgan Spurlock Wednesday, Smiley mentioned MSNBC chief Phil Griffin’s recent comments about his network not being the place for breaking news and concluded, “They do spin. They spin… If I don’t like your spin, I’ll go to Fox News” (video follows…
Noel Sheppard
June 20th, 2013 10:06 AM

‘Daily Show’ Scoffs at Idea of Pro-Gay Bullying

Those paranoid Christians. Always thinking someone is persecuting them. Pro-gay violence? Christians bullied for supporting traditional marriage? Puh-leeze. Just grow up already. That stuff never happens. Only gays get bullied. That was the sarcastic approach of comedian Samantha Bee in a fake reporting segment she filmed for “The Daily Show.” Interviewing (controversial) right-wing…
Lauren Enk
June 20th, 2013 9:01 AM

Mika Moved By Manchin's Ad Responding To NRA

To say that Mika Brzezinski was "moved" by Joe Manchin's ad, responding to one by the NRA criticizing the Dem senator from West Virginia for supporting new gun-control measures, is a decided understatement. Have a look at the ad, which Manchin debuted on Morning Joe today, then have a go at describing Mika's emotional reaction.  View the video after the jump.
Mark Finkelstein
June 20th, 2013 8:29 AM

HBO Pays Liberal MSNBC Vets to Add 'Realism' to Second Season of 'The

As HBO’s preachy leftist drama “The Newsroom” about an Olbermann-type “news” show heads into its second season, Lacey Rose at The Hollywood Reporter revealed a raft of MSNBC personalities were part of 13 paid consultants series creator Aaron Sorkin hired to provide “realism” to the program. Chris Matthews, Lawrence O’Donnell, Alex Wagner, and S.E. Cupp were all brought on board, as well as “…
Tim Graham
June 20th, 2013 7:02 AM

CNN Calls Obama's Brandenburg Speech 'Historic

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux called President Obama's Brandenburg Gate speech "historic" on Wednesday afternoon, while a CNN headline later proclaimed that he "speaks to the history books." This despite the President speaking to a crowd of less than 5,000 at the same location where he addressed 200,000 Germans five years before. "President Obama calls for freedom, equal opportunity and a reduction…
Matt Hadro
June 19th, 2013 7:56 PM

Playboy Hits Sean Hannity With...Rachel Maddow's Plummeting Ratings

Conservative commentator Sean Hannity was interviewed in the most recent issue of Playboy magazine, and not surprisingly, he was hit hard and hit often from the left. Yet of all the questions asked by contributing editor David Hochman, potentially the most absurd was when he tried to beat Hannity up with - wait for it! - Rachel Maddow's plummeting ratings:
Noel Sheppard
June 19th, 2013 7:28 PM

NYTimes Hypes Sen. McCaskill's Endorsement of Hillary Clinton

It turns out MSNBC isn't the only liberal news outlet giddy about Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill's early endorsement of Hillary Clinton for a 2016 presidential bid. This morning, the New York Times's Jonathan Weisman treated readers to a puffy 16-paragraph story headlined, "A Pro-Clinton PAC Receives the Support of a Key Obama Backer." Apparently when one thinks Democratic power…
Ken Shepherd
June 19th, 2013 7:06 PM

Updated | MSNBC’s Finney, Capehart Hype Liberal 'Conspiracy' Theory

Updated at bottom of post: Finney responds via Twitter | Former DNC communications director Karen Finney haughtily claims she wants to “disrupt” the conversation on her new MSNBC weekend show, Disrupt. It’s quickly become apparent that all Finney wants to do on the Lean Forward network is distort conservative claims – and distract viewers from the scandals plaguing the Obama administration.…
Andrew Lautz
June 19th, 2013 6:28 PM

MSNBC: Obama and Merkel Are the New 'Ronnie and Maggie'; Matthews Sees

MSNBC's Chris Matthews and his liberal guest on Wednesday thrilled over the relationship between Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Washington Post writer Eugene Robinson even compared them to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: "I think in a way, you know, Barack and Angela are the new Ronnie and Maggie...They can be kind of a dynamic duo." (Of course, Reagan and Thatcher…
Scott Whitlock
June 19th, 2013 6:11 PM