Morning Shows Binge on Tabloid Criminal Trials: 56 Minutes vs. 7 for B
The network morning shows on Thursday went into tabloid overdrive for the Jodi Arias verdict and an abduction case in Ohio, offering a staggering 56 minutes of coverage. In contrast, NBC, CBS and ABC allowed just under seven minutes combined to hearings on the 2012 terrorist murder of a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya. This is a disparity of eight-to-one.
Good Morning…
Letterman: ‘I’ve Always Enjoyed Lesbians
CBS Late Show host David Letterman made a comment Wednesday that would almost certainly evoke criticism from the LGBT community if he weren’t a liberal.
In a discussion with morning talk show host and former football player Michael Strahan about the recent self-outing of NBA player Jason Collins, Letterman said, “I fancy myself a big supporter of the gay community, and I've always enjoyed…
Sharyl 'Benghazi Campaign' Attkisson Hadn't Reported About the Attack
CBS's Sharyl Attkisson is apparently viewed by network executives as "wading dangerously close to advocacy" in her coverage of the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, as Politico's Dylan Byers asserted in a Wednesday item. Byers reported that "Attkisson can't get some of her stories on the air, and is thus left feeling marginalized and underutilized."…
NBC and CBS Promote Michelle Obama's Year-Old Book With Softball Inter
On Wednesday's NBC Today, news reader Natalie Morales touted a "Today exclusive" with Michelle Obama, playing a clip of a "wide-ranging conversation" between the First Lady and Kelly Wallace of the NBC-owned iVillage website that amounted to little more than a friendly chat about current events and Obama's 2012 book, American Grown.
On CBS's Sunday Morning, correspondent Lee Cowan conducted…
Politico: CBS News Execs See Attkisson As ‘Dangerously Close to Advo
Politico media writer Dylan Byers sought to add context to Paul Farhi’s “glowing profile” of CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson in Wednesday’s Washington Post.
Byers suggested Farhi painted it as a David and Goliath story with Team Obama as Goliath. But there’s another Goliath, he wrote: CBS News executives who aren’t happy with Attkisson’s “Benghazi campaign” that’s “wading…
The Power of Media Bias: Most Americans Wrongly Believe Gun Violence H
The extent of the media's influence to shape public opinion was on full display in a new Pew Research Center poll that shows, even though gun crime has dropped by half since its peak in the mid '90s, most Americans (56 percent) wrongly think gun violence has increased.
In an L.A. Times article that highlighted the poll, Emily Alpert posited "It's unclear whether media coverage is driving the…
CBS Helps Democrat Boost Gun Control Bill; Asks Republican About Obama
On Tuesday's CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell pressed Senator Joe Manchin about a possible new push for gun control in Congress. Rose wondered how Manchin and his allies could make legislation "more palatable to those people who may be afraid of it", while O'Donnell bluntly asked the Democrat, "Are you frustrated with the NRA?"
Manchin was their only guest on the gun issue…
CBS Devotes Two Straight Days of Coverage to 'Possible Cover-Up' on Be
CBS used its Sunday evening and Monday morning newscasts to keep the spotlight on the question of a "possible cover-up" surrounding the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Jeff Glor led CBS Evening News with the scoop from earlier in the day on Face the Nation – that a "career U.S. diplomat is raising new questions" about the Obama administration's claim that the attack…
Inhofe Strikes Back at Letterman: When People Like Him Attack You It M
As NewsBusters previously reported, CBS Late Show host David Letterman spent a week last month attacking Senators as stooges - mostly Republicans, of course - for opposing recent gun control legislation.
One such Senator, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, told WABC radio's Aaron Klein Sunday, “That’s kind of a badge of honor. Any time you get Rachel Maddow or Letterman or those people to call you…
CBS Sinks Cinco de Mayo With a Story of American Imperialism Ruining
CBS Sunday Morning decided to slip in a rather egregious Cinco de Mayo segment about the Mexican-American War (1846-48), in which most of the Western part of the United States was acquired under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Apparently, the occasion requires a seminar on how Cinco de Mayo is ruined by American imperialism.
CBS reported this was a “wicked” and “forgotten war,” built on…
'Face the Nation' Spends 30 Minutes on Gay NBA Player, Still No Mentio
Does the outing of a previously almost unknown basketball player really deserve a half hour's coverage on a broadcast television Sunday political talk show?
The folks at CBS certainly felt it does as Face the Nation actually devoted the entire second half of its program Sunday to Jason Collins and gay issues.
CBS Notices Senate Dem's 'Train Wreck' Label of ObamaCare; ABC, NBC Ig
Jan Crawford touted how ObamaCare going into full effect in early 2014 is "causing all kinds of concern and anxiety, especially with...small business owners" on Friday's CBS This Morning. Crawford also pointed out Senator Max Baucus' April 17, 2013 "train wreck" label of the upcoming implementation of the health care law. This was the first time that a Big Three morning or evening newscast…
CBS Highlights FBI's Latest Benghazi Development; NBC Yawns
Thursday's CBS This Morning singled out the FBI's pursuit of three persons of interest who could provide information on the September 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Margaret Brennan touted how "what happened that night is still the topic of debate in Washington", and noted that members of Congress "want to speak to those Americans evacuated from Benghazi, but…
Bozell Statement: NBC Protests Gosnell Trial Too Gruesome; Yet They Co
Last night, NBC Nightly News deliberately censored the grisly details of abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s alleged crimes. Claiming that they’re "too gruesome" to be discussed on television is absolute nonsense. NBC News covered the Casey Anthony child murder trial 12 times on Nightly News in 2011, including multiple graphic descriptions of that crime. If they can talk about Caylee Anthony’s body…
