Networks Ignore Successful Missile Test

Update/Correction: Cross-referencing my results with that of the MRC's internal database, I found a news mention on the June 26 "Today" of the previous day's missile test, which aired at the 9:00 a.m. news brief. I know that missile defense is hardly a major political issue right now, but successes in the program are worth at least passing mention in broadcast media, particularly given tensions…
Ken Shepherd

CBS ‘Early Show’ Declares Recession

On Monday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith talked to economic analyst Mark Zandi about the state of the economy and asked: "Oil's up, gasoline's up, food prices up, stocks, way, way, way, way down. Home owner -- home values are down. Is there an end in sight to all of this bad news?" Zandi replied: "You just made me depressed. No. It's just bad news. It really is...It's just a really tough…
Kyle Drennen

ABC News: Fear and Loathing in the Arctic

On Saturday’s "Good Morning America," ABC News managed to set a new gold standard for biased reporting on global warming when they aired a tendentious report on the "sensitive and emotional and loving" polar bear that "has become the iconic face of climate change". The report, by reporter Bill Blakemore failed to include any critics of global warming and neglected to highlight a recent study…
Peter Sasso

CBS Warns of Dental 'Death Spiral,' Ignores Problems with Public Denta

'Evening News' excludes free market solutions for tooth problems in favor of universal health insurance.
Julia A. Seymour

NYT Promotes 'We Are All Hussein' Obama Campaign

While many newspapers ride the blurred lines between campaigning for Barack Obama and reporting news about him the New York Times is making it clear that they have no desire to hide behind such pretense. Their "in the bag" effort on behalf of Barack Obama has become so blatant and transparent that they are now printing stories to convince Obama supporters to take on Hussein as a middle name in a…
Terry Trippany

MSM Obsesses with Republican 'Attack Machine,' While Lefties Smear McC

Justin McCarthy

Inconvenient Truth for MSM: Black Ministers March Against Planned Pare

Exit poll after exit poll in election after election shows the Democratic Party is staunchly supported by an overwhelming majority of African-American voters, many of whom are much more socially conservative on issues like abortion than their party leadership. The Democratic Party is also staunchly supported in primary battles and in fundraising drives by hard-core pro-choice liberals -- we're…
Ken Shepherd

NYT's Attack on Verb 'Swift Boat' Ignores Facts and Media's Role

The New York Times published an article Monday about the anger some Vietnam veterans feel over the vessel they used to serve on, Swift Boat, now being synonymous with "the nastiest of campaign smears."In dredging up this issue, Times' writer Kate Zernike not only misrepresented many of the facts surrounding the claims made by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, but also completely ignored the…
Noel Sheppard

Newsweek CW Praises Obama, Clinton 'Unity' Rally, Ignores Obama Flip-f

Newsweek's Conventional Wisdom for its July 7 dead tree edition gives an approving up arrow for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), noting that he is "[s]urging in national polls" before adding the cautionary note to "beware looking like just another politician." But the real CW in DC this past week, which saw the Supreme Court affirm the individual's right to keep and bear arms, is that Obama has flip-…
Ken Shepherd

Open Thread

NB Staff

How Will Media Report Lowest-Ever 2-Month US Troop Death Toll in Iraq

With less than 10 hours remaining until the end of June in Iraq at the time of this post, it is clear, barring heavy last-minute casuaties, that May and June will show the lowest two-month total for US troop deaths in the five-year history of our involvement there. How with the media handle the news? Here is the detail (source: icasualties.org):
Tom Blumer

Stephanopoulos Forwards Anti-McCain Tax Cut Analysis from Left

Here we go again. Just as with 2001-2003 coverage of Bush's tax cuts which gave the greatest percent cut to those in the lowest income tax bracket (going from 15 down to 10 percent, a 33 percent reduction), ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Sunday chose to undermine the fairness of John McCain's proposed tax plan (and illustrate the media hostility sure to greet McCain whenever he takes a…
Brent Baker

Can Andrea Mitchell Really Believe Clark Was Freelancing on McCain

Andrea Mitchell depicts Wesley Clark's cracks about John McCain's heroism as a gaffe.  Bloopers that will cost him any chance of being picked for the Obama veep slot.  But surely the seasoned MSM hand knows better than to imagine that Clark was freelancing.  Clark's were anything but impromptu remarks, made, say, late at night to a foreign reporter in a hotel cocktail lounge in some far-flung…
Mark Finkelstein

The WaPo Boat Sails Against Bush

Tim Graham