Stocks Soar and Plunge, But Couric Always Upbeat About Obama's Efforts
March 23rd, 2009 10:16 PM
On Monday night, Katie Couric teased the CBS Evening News by trumpeting how “the stock market soars as the Treasury rolls out a new plan to rescue America's banks,” and then leading: “The Treasury put out the details today of a plan to rescue America's banks and Wall Street responded with two thumbs up and a triple-digit rally.” Six weeks ago, however, when the Dow plunged 382 points in reaction…
CBS Touts ‘Fan-in-Chief’ Barack Obama’s NCAA Picks
March 19th, 2009 11:28 AM
On Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Russ Mitchell shared President Obama’s bracket picks for the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four: "And it appears March Madness has reached the White House. The fan-in-chief President Obama tells ESPN his NCAA Final Four bracket includes Louisville, Memphis, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina. And he predicts a Tar Heels victory over Louisville in the final. There…
No Party ID for Murtha, But CBS Tags Critic Flake as '(R
March 17th, 2009 8:27 PM
Tuesday's CBS Evening News highlighted an ethics investigation of a long-serving House Democrat, but viewers were not clued in to his party affiliation verbally or with any an on-screen notation. Yet CBS slapped a party name on screen as a Murtha critic spoke: “Rep. Jeff Flake (R) Arizona.” Fill-in anchor Maggie Rodriguez avoided Murtha's party as she asserted “there are few politicians as…
Katie Couric Wins Award for Sarah Palin Interviews
March 14th, 2009 1:14 PM
Just how liberal is the mainstream media?Well, if you do a highly contentious and hostile interview with a Republican political candidate that ends up assisting in that persons defeat at the polls you'll get an award from your colleagues.Such was obviously the case when CBS "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric was given a "Special Achievement" award earlier this week for her highly-publicized…
CBS Report On Obama Earmark Hypocrisy Mentions Larry Craig
March 12th, 2009 4:09 PM
In what was an otherwise critical story about President Obama signing an earmark-laden spending bill despite promising an end to such pork barrel projects, on Wednesday’s CBS Evening News correspondent Chip Reid decided to mention a modest earmark by former Idaho Senator Larry Craig: "And it's not just Democrats, about 40% of the earmarks were inserted by Republicans. Even retired lawmakers.…
Pulling Heartstrings and Straining Credibility: The Media Promote Embr
March 11th, 2009 11:26 AM
Media outlets preyed upon people's emotions this week in its reporting of President Barack Obama's decision to overturn the Bush Administration ban on federally-funded embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic stem cell research is a hot topic among pro-life advocates because it involves the destruction of human embryos in order to obtain the stem cells needed. CBS' Chip Reid said of…
Nets Celebrate Obama's 'Whirlwind' and 'Whirling Dervish of Activity
March 10th, 2009 9:46 PM
NBC and ABC on Tuesday night marked President Barack Obama's first 50 days -- not by pointing out all his unfilled executive positions, failed nominations or the long wait for the stimulus spending in the “stimulus” bill -- but by heralding his “whirlwind” of action and “whirling dervish of activity,” though both noted criticism that the administration is trying to do too much. “The President's…
CBS Suggests Lax Gun Laws in U.S. to Blame for Crime in Mexico
March 10th, 2009 1:27 PM
On Monday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Ben Tracy filed a report documenting the thousands of guns that are illegally smuggled to Mexican drug cartels which they use in battle with the Mexican army, and suggested that lax gun laws in America are to blame. Without delving into the possibility that greater availability of guns in Mexico might help the country’s citizens to reduce that country’s…
CBS's Stem Cell Expert: Doctor Who Yearned to Shape Obama's Health Pol
March 9th, 2009 9:04 PM
Four days after Sanjay Gupta, in the wake of Tom Daschle's withdrawal as HHS Secretary-designate, decided to turn down the Obama administration's offer to become Surgeon General, CBS went to the CNN medical correspondent for expert analysis on the benefits of Obama's decision to allow federal funding of research on embryonic stem cells. (Monday afternoon following Obama's announcement, CNN…
Couric Uses Bad News to Tout How 'Stimulus' Bill 'Is Creating' Jobs
March 6th, 2009 8:52 PM
CBS anchor Katie Couric on Friday night used the jump in the unemployment rate to 8.1 percent to cheerlead for how the “stimulus” bill is “creating” jobs, an impact her newscast illustrated with two full stories after reporter Anthony Mason declared: “It's the government that's going to have to pull us out of this recession.” (On ABC's World News, Betsy Stark similarly saw salvation in the…
CBS ‘Evening News’: Obama’s Gray Hair ‘Equals Gravitas
March 6th, 2009 12:35 PM
At the end of Thursday’s CBS Evening News correspondent Chip Reid reported important breaking news about President Obama's graying hair: "...the rate at which President Obama is adding salt to his pepper is what’s surprising, even if his inner circle says ‘no big deal.’" Axelrod observed: "The gray seemed to be on him from the moment he took the oath. There was talk during the campaign that maybe…
Friendly TV Reception for Obama's Health Care 'Fix
March 6th, 2009 10:43 AM
President Obama's health care summit at the White House played into receptive television news hands Thursday night as NBC displayed “Fixing Health Care” on screen before reporter Chuck Todd appropriated the coach who inspired “win one for the Gipper” by touting how “the President's drive to pass health care got a Knute Rockne-like boost with a surprise appearance” by Senator Ted Kennedy, while…
Obama Names Abortion Extremist to HHS; Media Silent
March 4th, 2009 4:23 PM
Back during confirmation hearings in 2001 for former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson Dan Rather reminded Evening News viewers of Thompson's "hardline anti-abortion stand." Eight years later, there's a whitewash of President Barack Obama's HHS' nominee abortion record. As a Democratic governor in red-state Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed several bills that would…
CBS: Obama Repairing U.S.-Russia Relations Wrecked By Bush
March 4th, 2009 1:03 PM
On Tuesday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Lara Logan reported on the Obama administration’s effort to improve relations between the United States and Russia by abandoning a missile defense system proposed under the Bush administration: "It's become one of the most contentious issues dividing the U.S. and Russia. American plans to deploy a missile defense system on Russia's doorstep...The Obama…