Down Steeply Since Late Jan., Big 3 Evening Newscasts Stuck at Low Sum
September 17th, 2009 5:16 PM
After a summer swoon, you would think that the evening newscasts of the Big 3 networks would start to recover a bit now that many Americans are back from vacations, kids are back in school, and fall routines are getting established or re-established. So far, you would be wrong. It's early, and there's still plenty of time this fall to recover, but during the time period after Labor Day, the…
CBS and NBC Finally Catch Up to ACORN Scandal; Express Sympathy for th
September 16th, 2009 12:48 PM
In the first story on CBS since the scandal broke last week, on Tuesday’s Evening News, anchor Katie Couric reported: "The grassroots community organization called ACORN helps low-income Americans find affordable housing and gets tens of millions of dollars in government funding. But as Cynthia Bowers reports, that may be coming to an end after a scandal caught on tape."After showing undercover…
CBS Skips Killing of Pro-Life Activist; ABC Sees ‘Flip Side’ to Ki
September 12th, 2009 3:08 PM
Katie Couric’s CBS Evening News on Friday omitted any mention of the murder of pro-life activist Jim Pouillon in Michigan, despite having discussed the murder of abortionist George Tiller on the June 1, June 2 and June 9 newscasts (and then referencing the killing as a recent “hate crime” in a June 10 report on the shooting at Washington, D.C.’s Holocaust Museum).Both ABC’s World News and the NBC…
CBS Touts 12-Point Health Approval Jump for Obama; NBC: Wilson 'Contin
September 11th, 2009 9:14 PM
President Obama's address before a joint session of Congress “to rescue health care reform” caused “a 12-point improvement from last week” so “52 percent now approve of the way he's handling health care,” Katie Couric announced at the top of Friday's CBS Evening News in touting how a new CBS News poll discovered that “among those who say they watched the speech” -- a group she failed to point out…
CBS Finds Less Govt Regulation Means Fewer Traffic Accidents in Dutch
September 11th, 2009 12:26 AM
On Saturday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Mark Phillips filed a report that lends credibility to the conservative or libertarian theory that too much regulation can be counterproductive and even lead to results opposite to those intended, as he highlighted a town in the Netherlands that took the seemingly radical step of removing all its traffic lights and road signs. Rather than resulting in…
Network Echo Chamber: Appalled by Ugly 'Shout Heard 'Round the World
September 10th, 2009 9:41 PM
Media minds think alike. ABC: “It was the shout heard 'round the world.” CBS: “It was the shout heard 'round the world.” NBC, slightly creative: “The outburst heard 'round the world” and the “heckle heard 'round the world.” Congressman Joe Wilson's “you lie” shout during President Obama's Wednesday address to Congress on health care animated the Thursday evening newscasts, though it at least…
Flashback: CBS Had No Difficulty Finding Van Jones for 2003 Anti-Iraq
September 10th, 2009 12:27 PM
If you rely only on the three major broadcast networks or one of the top major national papers as your news sources, the name "Van Jones" might prompt you to say,"Who?" But, while the media had difficulty reporting on Van Jones the embattled member of the Obama Administration, it had no such trouble covering Van Jones the anti-Iraq War protestor. Jones, who was President Barack Obama's so-…
CBS: ‘Dangerous Precedent’ to Make Obama Speech Optional for Stude
September 9th, 2009 6:15 PM
While reporting on President Obama’s Tuesday nationwide address to students on Tuesday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Dean Reynolds highlighted one school that made it mandatory viewing: "At Betsy Ross Elementary in Forest Park, Illinois, today, they did not think the children were at risk....Opting out would set a dangerous precedent according to officials here." Louis Cavallo, the…
Reliable Sources Gushes Over Sawyer, No Mention of GMA's Ratings
September 6th, 2009 12:08 PM
Howard Kurtz opened Sunday's "Reliable Sources" with a lovefest for the promotion of ABC's Diane Sawyer to replace Charles Gibson on "World News Tonight."Mysteriously, there was absolutely no discussion about how Sawyer's "Good Morning America" is constantly second in the ratings to NBC's "Today" show, nor was there mention of how Katie Couric regularly bested Sawyer in the morning but has been a…
Media's Coverage of 'Birthers' Greatly Outweighs Van Jones Coverage
September 5th, 2009 12:12 PM
The contrast between the virtual silence of major news outlets on Green Jobs Czar Van Jones’s belief in the Bush Administration’s complicity in the 9/11 attacks and the hubbub made about those who believe the President is not an American citizen casts light on the politicized attitudes of the mainstream media. NewsBusters has noted how the story has been ignored by the television media. Byron…
ABC & NBC Continue Van Jones Blackout, Instead Tout Obama's 'Transpare
September 4th, 2009 9:51 PM
ABC and NBC on Friday night, even after White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was forced to address the topic, continued their blackout of the radical and America-hating conspiracy views of Van Jones, the “Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation” on the White House's Council on Environmental Quality. Instead of taking up how five years ago Jones signed the 911truth.org…
