Christmas-is-Cancelled Media Skip Own Role in Making 'Nation of Whiner
Various media outlets have jumped on the comments of Phil Gramm, an advisor to John McCain's presidential campaign, that when it comes to the economy, "we've sort of become a nation of whiners." However, these same organizations, such as ABC News, have done their part to promote such things as fretting over no more Christmas presents. For instance, on the November 12, 2007 "Good Morning America…
BMI Warned of Billion-Dollar Fannie Mae Bailout in
I hate to say I told you so, but what the heck. We did. The Business & Media Institute warned that Fannie Mae was a looming taxpayer-backed disaster - in 2005. Only the network news shows didn't like to tell you about it. An op-ed I wrote appeared in The New York Post under the headline: "The $30B Scandal That TV Forgot." I think $30 billion is small potatoes now. $100 billion is the number…
ABC Tries to Understand Jackson's 'Colorful,' 'Cut His Nuts Off' Obama
Over the course of three segments, various "Good Morning America" reporters and hosts attempted to understand and explain away Reverend Jesse Jackson's vulgar assertion that he would like "to cut [Senator Barack Obama's] nuts off." During the show open, co-host Diane Sawyer referred to the comments, made while Jackson was prepping to do an interview on Sunday and not aware his mic was on, as "…
The Biz Flog – Blaming Oil Speculators for High Gas Prices
Forget the basics of supply and demand, just find someone to blame. As Congress takes new aim at speculators for the high price of gasoline, some media reports seem to be following suit. But as The Biz Flog explains this week, there is considerable debate over whether speculators should be blamed for the high cost of oil. June 23, the same day Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce…
Starbucks Burned by Media Criticism of Calories and Caffeine
Whether you are a Starbucks patron or not, no doubt you've heard that the Seattle-based coffee chain plans to close 600 "underperforming" stores and cut about seven percent of its workforce.Job loss is certainly not something to cheer about, yet Reuters found a unique story to tell on July 6, 2008. No, this wasn't the sad tale of roughly 12,000 soon-to-be unemployed baristas. It was a morbid…
MSM Yawn at Stunning 9 Percent Approval Rating for Congress
If Speaker Newt Gingrich's Republican majority had faced a 9 percent approval rating at any point in the 1996 presidential election year, the media would have not let anyone forget it. So given that and the media's frequently reminding Americans of President Bush's low approval numbers, why are the broadcast media ignoring the latest Rasmussen poll on the approval rating for Congress under the…
ABC's Diane Sawyer Hits Obama From Left: Still Pulling Out of Iraq
On Wednesday's "Good Morning America," co-host Diane Sawyer interviewed Barack Obama and seemed most concerned with whether or not the senator was hedging on his promise to pull U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months. Approaching from the left, she wondered, "This is the question this morning: You have said previously, we will be out-- we will be out of Iraq in 16 months. Are you now saying it's…
GMA: Daughter of 'Pregnant Man' Will Have Normal Life
Mixed in with stories on cooking for the Fourth of July and how soldiers deployed in Iraq were spending their Independence Day, the July 4 "Good Morning America" managed to give nearly two full minutes to a story on Thomas Beatie, more commonly known as the "pregnant man," and "his" newly born daughter on Friday. Unsurprisingly, the segment featured only a positive take on the situation…
Barbara Walters: Syrian Dictator 'Charming,' 'Intelligent
Surprise! Barbara Walters visits an anti-American dictator and returns with very nice remarks about him. Returning from the week long break on "The View" July 7, Barbara Walters described how she spent America’s birthday, and the celebration of a document denouncing tyranny, with an anti-American tyrant.While most Americans celebrated Independence Day with fireworks and barbeques, Barbara Walters…
Rosie O'Donnell: Being on 'The View' Like Getting Raped in Prison
Wow, that Rosie O'Donnell is one classy gal, isn't she?On Wednesday, the "comedienne" did a guest stint at a Cyndi Lauper concert in Vancouver, Canada, during which she called Ann Coulter a bitch, and rather indelicately compared her experience on "The View" to the scene in the movie "Born Innocent" when Linda Blair was raped in the shower at a girls' reformatory.I kid you not.What follows is a…
