ABC and CBS Lead with Powell v Cheney & Limbaugh, GOP Too Conservative
May 25th, 2009 12:39 AM
ABC and CBS, which two weeks ago gave short-shrift to Dick Cheney choosing Rush Limbaugh over Colin Powell as the better representative of the Republican Party (brief anchor-read items), both led Sunday night with Powell push back against Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. “Colin Powell hitting back at Dick Cheney and other Republican critics, saying he's still a member of the party, a party he says has…
CBS News Exec Kaplan Advances Palin Distortion
May 22nd, 2009 2:09 AM
Weeks ago, Rick Kaplan, executive producer of the "CBS Evening News," claimed that "Everybody, including Republicans, would have to say that (Obama's) first 100 days have been great." This week, Kaplan perpetuated a myth concerning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.The event was a Katie Couric Roast & Toast held Wednesday evening as part of the American News Women's Club 15th gala. MediaBistro's blog…
NBC and CBS Use Cheney and Obama Speeches to Jab at Cheney
May 21st, 2009 9:38 PM
Thursday's NBC Nightly News featured Andrea Mitchell chastising and correcting former Vice President Dick Cheney for his speech on fighting terrorism, but the network saw no need to correct anything asserted by President Obama in his address on the same topic while anchor Brian Williams asked if Republicans are “happy” to have Cheney as “their messenger?” CBS delivered contrasting conclusions in…
CBS Highlights New York Terror Plot, Downplayed Similar Plots Under Bu
May 21st, 2009 11:48 AM
At the top of Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez reported breaking news of a terror plot in New York foiled by the FBI: "The FBI busts a home-grown terror plot, arresting four men who planned to bomb synagogues and shoot down aircraft." Later, Rodriguez spoke with terrorism expert and former Bush aide, Juan Zarate, about the failed attack: "There's no question these guys were…
Big 3 Nets' Evening Newscast Audiences Continue HIstoric Current-Year
May 20th, 2009 1:53 PM
Each of the Big 3 networks' evening news broadcasts is pulling an historically low audience, or close to it -- and it isn't even summertime yet. While they continue to pretend that Obamamania is as alive and well as it allegedly was in January, they have seen 25% of their viewers go elsewhere, including one-third of the 25-54 demographic. Year over year, they're down a collective 6% overall, and…
'Evening News' Lauds the Government Growth as 'Economic Bright Spot
May 19th, 2009 10:32 AM
You know the era of big government is alive and well when you see a mainstream news outlet praise the growth of the public sector as a "bright spot." Leading up to and throughout the 2008 national election cycle, CBS News was generally downbeat on the economy, even when times were much better than they are currently. However, now that government has taken a much larger role in the private…
Dire Couric Recalls Great Depression, Warns Our Kids Will Be the 'Lost
May 18th, 2009 9:25 PM
Katie Couric sees America through a very dark prism. On Monday, she launched a new “Children of the Recession” series, in collaboration with USA Today, with an op-ed in “the nation's newspaper” in which she speculated today's kids may become the “Recession Generation” since “in some ways, I think they already are,” or the “innocent victims could become the Lost Generation.” Then, on Monday's CBS…
Networks Lead the Cheer for Obama’s Notre Dame Address
May 18th, 2009 5:02 PM
Since its announcement in March, the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite President Barack Obama to give this year's commencement address and receive an honorary doctorate in law has been a big story for American Catholics. Pro-life Catholics were outraged and more than 366,000 people signed a petition urging Notre Dame to rescind the invitation. Somehow, though, the controversy didn't…
CBS Anchor on Pelosi: 'Is This Over?'; ABC Hails Obama's 'Masterstroke
May 16th, 2009 10:21 PM
A night after the CBS Evening News ignored CIA Director Leon Panetta's rebuke of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Saturday's newscast continued the blackout as anchor Jeff Glor only mentioned Pelosi in setting up a question by explaining she “put herself in a very awkward position” when “she said the CIA lied to her or misled her about water-boarding,” before he asked Time magazine veteran John…
CBS and NBC Spike Panetta's Rejection of Pelosi's Smear of the CIA
May 15th, 2009 9:21 PM
After ignoring for three weeks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's denial she was briefed by the CIA about how water-boarding was being used, only to decide it was news on Thursday when Pelosi at a press conference accused the CIA of “lying” and of “misleading” the Congress, on Friday the CBS and NBC evening newscasts fell silent again despite the backlash from CIA Director Leon Panetta, a former…
After Three Weeks, Pelosi’s Anti-CIA Rant Finally Pushes Nets to Act
May 15th, 2009 6:23 PM
After three weeks of virtual silence, all three broadcast networks provided full reports last night (Thursday) about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s shifting story about what she knew about the interrogation methods used against al Qaeda terrorists, methods that liberals have decried as criminal torture. This morning (Friday), NBC and CBS also provided full reports, but ABC’s Good Morning America…
Chrysler Closes 789 Dealerships, Yet ABC, CBS and NBC All Feature Same
May 15th, 2009 10:54 AM
File under: “Insular world of the news media.”
Chrysler announced plans to eliminate 789 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealerships across the nation, yet on Thursday night ABC, CBS and NBC all showcased the very same upset Long Island dealer, Jim Anderer of Island Jeep in Lindenhurst, New York, while two other dealers also on the closing list were each featured on two of the three evening newscasts…
CBS ‘Early Show’ Ignores Obama Reversal on Abuse Photos
May 14th, 2009 12:13 PM
While both ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today on Thursday covered President Obama’s decision to block the public release of photos depicting prisoner abuse under U.S. custody, CBS’s Early Show failed to make any mention of the dramatic reversal by the White House. On Wednesday, CBS senior White House correspondent Bill Plante asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the President’s…
MRC Study: TV Networks Cheer for Barack Obama's Revolution
May 11th, 2009 3:04 PM
During his first 100 days as President, Barack Obama has pushed an audaciously liberal agenda which, if enacted, would have radical consequences for America for decades. With Democrats enjoying monopoly control of the House and Senate, the news media have a professional duty to scrutinize those policies, and give audiences both sides of the story — not just the perspective of a powerful…