CBS's Chip Reid Rails Against Failure to Extend Unemployment Benefits

July 2nd, 2010 12:23 PM
CBS's Chip Reid on Thursday railed against the Senate for failing to extend unemployment benefits. The Evening News reporter opined, "So who's fault is that? On the surface, it appears Senate Republicans are to blame. Led by Mitch McConnell, they killed the bill with a filibuster." At no point did Reid or fill-in anchor Scott Pelley discuss whether unemployment benefits should be extended yet…

CBS 'Early Show' Follows ABC's Lead, Touts Kagan's SNL-Worthy Humor

July 2nd, 2010 11:58 AM
During the 'Early Wrap' segment on Friday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith discussed the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan with a panel of media pundits: "The almost unknown, practically under the radar, the Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, before committees this week being funny. She was downright funny."GQ Magazine's Washington correspondent Ana Marie Cox…

Saving Us from Ourselves: 'Evening News' Justifies Federal Tanning Tax

July 1st, 2010 4:31 PM
So you want to crawl under a high-powered lamp and bake your skin so that it has a brownish-orangish glow to it, even though there are potential health consequences. Well, the federal government is here to save you and, according to "CBS Evening News," that's not a bad thing.The new federal 10 percent tax on indoor tanning has provoked odd alliances - such as when Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,…

ABCBSNBC Continue to Lose Audience

July 1st, 2010 12:50 PM
The big three nightly news broadcasts, NBC Nightly, CBS Evening and ABC World, lost a combined one million viewers in the second quarter of 2010, according to TVNewser.These numbers are comparable to the first quarter, which saw Evening News and World News get their lowest average viewers ever, while NBC's Winter Olympics coverage helped it get their highest average viewers since 2005. In the…

Kagan Hearings, Day #3: ABC and NBC Skip Nominee's Partial Birth Abort

July 1st, 2010 11:39 AM
Wednesday's evening news shows and Thursday's morning programs continued to minimize or leave out important moments of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings. ABC's Good Morning America, for instance, has offered only 67 seconds of coverage over three days. Today and The Early Show each provided a single ten second news brief on Thursday. It's not as though the second day of…

Media Defend Obama's Call for More Spending, Despite G-20 'Rift

July 1st, 2010 9:27 AM
In the wake of a European debt crisis, the recent G-20 meeting in Toronto revealed the intention of many European nations to begin dramatically tightening their fiscal belts. The world leaders agreed to cut deficits in half by 2013 and "start to stabilize their debt-to-output ratios by 2016," according to Bloomberg Businessweek. That goal conflicted with President Barack Obama's wishes.…

Network Morning Shows Unanimously Gush Over Larry King

June 30th, 2010 4:59 PM
The morning programs of the Big Three networks all sang the praises of CNN host Larry King after he announced on Tuesday his upcoming retirement from his program, while overlooking his liberal bent at times. Both Willie Geist on NBC's Today show and CBS's Harry Smith labeled King "legendary," while ABC's George Stephanopoulos heralded how he was "on top of his game" for most of his career.NBC…

Network Morning Shows Laud the Comedy of 'Lively,' SNL-worthy Kagan

June 30th, 2010 11:57 AM
All three morning shows on Wednesday made sure to tout the "lively" sense of humor of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, this as ABC continued to ignore the hearings. Over two days, Good Morning America has devoted a scant 67 seconds to Barack Obama's nominee. After a news brief featuring Kagan cracking jokes at her hearings, former Democratic operative George Stephanopoulos gushed, "...If this…

Morning Shows Spare a Scant Two and a Half Minutes for 'Landmark' Gun

June 29th, 2010 12:16 PM
Despite referring to it as "landmark" and "huge," the network morning shows on Tuesday mostly ignored Monday's Supreme Court ruling, which declared the Second Amendment a fundamental right that cannot be violated by state governments. Good Morning America, The Early Show and Today devoted just two minutes and 34 seconds to discussing the important decision. ABC's GMA offered 21 seconds with a…

NBC and ABC Barely Touch Kagan Hearings, CBS Promotes Her As 'Very Agi

June 29th, 2010 12:01 PM
While ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today spent little time on the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on Tuesday, the CBS Early Show featured a report from legal correspondent Jan Crawford, who cheered Kagan finally being able respond to Republican "attacks" in a "very agile" way. Good Morning America devoted only a single news brief early in the 7AM ET hour to the…

Kagan Hearings, Day 1: Evening Newscasts Downplay; NBC Offers Just

June 29th, 2010 11:18 AM
All three network evening newscasts on Monday downplayed the start of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings, with NBC Nightly News squeezing in just 24 seconds for Kagan at the tail end of a story about the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor the 2nd Amendment. For their part, CBS and ABC offered full stories outlining Kagan’s first day before the Judiciary committee after…

CBS: Robert Byrd 'One of the Hardest Working Senators in Modern Histor

June 28th, 2010 5:39 PM
On Monday's CBS Early Show, correspondent Whit Johnson reported breaking news of the death of West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd and proclaimed: "By all accounts, he was one of the hardest working senators in modern history." Johnson touted Byrd's "four volume history of the Senate" and described him as the "unequaled master of the Senate rules." Part of the "hard work" Johnson cited was the…

Networks Defend 'Consensus Builder' Kagan; Downplay Military Recruiter

June 28th, 2010 12:38 PM
The Monday morning shows on CBS, ABC, and NBC all worked to portray President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan as a moderate and open-minded legal scholar, downplaying her liberal views. All three network programs also minimized her controversial decision to ban military recruiters on campus while Dean of Harvard Law School.On CBS's Early Show, legal correspondent Jan Crawford touted…

VIDEO: Media Routinely Used 'Conservative' Label on Bush Nominees to S

June 28th, 2010 11:13 AM
When President Bush nominated John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in 2005, the media did not hesitate to describe both men as "very conservative," but when President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan this year many in the press couldn't seem to identify any liberal ideology. The Media Research Center has produced a video compilation of examples to further…