Cronkite's First 'CBS Evening News' Broadcast

July 18th, 2009 12:45 PM
In 1992, CBS "Up to the Minute" put together some clips of Walter Cronkite's first "CBS Evening News" broadcast on September 2, 1963 (h/t NBer Gary Hall, and don't miss hilarious Johnny Carson sketch about Cronkite in comments section):

Walter Cronkite Dead at Age

July 17th, 2009 9:03 PM

CBS And NBC Tout Continued Relevance of NAACP

July 17th, 2009 4:50 PM
Marking the 100th anniversary of the NAACP on CBS’s Sunday Morning, correspondent Bill Whitaker wondered: "A black president who addresses black issues unflinchingly...Attorney General Eric Holder dedicated to equal justice...some say begs the question, is the NAACP needed anymore? Is it even relevant? Is it time for the venerable organization to say ‘mission accomplished’?"Later in the segment,…

House Panel Votes Huge $500 Billion Tax Increase; Networks Couldn't Ca

July 17th, 2009 2:29 PM
The House Ways and Means committee approved a half-trillion dollar tax increase overnight, but the ABC and NBC morning news shows offered only a single sentence to the development, while CBS’s Early Show skipped it entirely.Neither NBC’s Today nor ABC’s Good Morning America mentioned the tax increases $544 billion price tag, as each newscast folded the development into larger pieces on President…

CBS Early Show Praises Obama’s ‘Sermon-like’ NAACP Speech

July 17th, 2009 12:44 PM
On Friday’s CBS Early Show, correspondent Randall Pinkston described President Obama’s Thursday address to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People: "The crowd responded to his soaring, almost sermon-like rhetoric." Obama’s speech was part of the NAACP’s annual convention and marked the 100th anniversary of the organization’s founding. Fill-in co-host Jeff Glor introduced…

CBS Remembers JFK Jr. As Both an ‘Icon’ and ‘A Regular Guy

July 16th, 2009 12:19 PM
At the top of Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith marked the ten-year anniversary of the death of JFK Jr. by declaring: "He was such an icon in the city [New York], and we're going to remember JFK Jr. a little bit later on this morning." In the later segment, Smith described Kennedy as "a paparazzi magnet" who was "crowned the sexiest man alive." Smith went on to exclaim: "Now ten…

Flashback: John John Was No 'Sun God,' Chappaquiddick Was a Kopechne T

July 16th, 2009 12:01 PM
As the media mark the tenth anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy Jr., it's worth recalling the overwrought coverage of ten years ago. Here is an op-ed by MRC's Brent Baker, originally published in Human Events on August 6, 1999 detailing the media elite's reaction to Kennedy's demise. The sudden death at too early an age of the only son of an assassinated President is certainly a major…

CBS Early Show Hosts Discuss Obama’s ‘Wicked Sinker’ Pitch

July 15th, 2009 5:50 PM
On Wednesday’s CBS Early Show co-host Russ Mitchell described President Obama’s lackluster first pitch at Tuesday night’s All-Star game in St. Louis: "And it appears President Obama has a wicked sinker." Mitchell referred to his colleagues in studio: "Somebody’s laughing over there, I’m not going to mention any names."At the top of the show, even Obama fan co-host Harry Smith acknowledged the…

Networks Sidestep Sotomayor’s Repudiation of Obama’s ‘Empathy

July 15th, 2009 2:11 PM
Two months ago, as President Obama was contemplating a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter, many in the media elite — particularly NBC News reporters and anchors — sycophantically touted Obama’s credentials as a constitutional law professor as evidence of his deep experience when it came to the judiciary.Yesterday, however, Obama’s pick for the Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor…

All Three Nets To Interview Obama About Healthcare Wednesday

July 14th, 2009 8:06 PM
President Obama's healthcare initiative is currently in a lot of trouble on Capitol Hill as legislators grapple with finding money -- amidst staggering budget deficits and a declining economy -- to fund the new program.As a result, on Wednesday, the news divisions of all three broadcast networks have decided to come to Obama's rescue, and on the very same evening, air interviews with the…

Maggie Rodriguez Brings La Raza Perspective to CBS

July 14th, 2009 4:53 PM
A cover story in the June edition of Latino Magazine, discussed CBS Early Show co-host Maggie Rodriguez’s efforts to "...educate her peers on how to be cognizant of Latino viewers, by pushing stories about Latinos that are of interest to all Americans, as well as informing them of more humane and respectful labels – such as undocumented immigrant instead of illegal alien."The story, written by…

Networks Barely Cover 'Jane Roe's' Arrest

July 14th, 2009 1:32 PM

CBS’s Smith: Is Sotomayor Confirmation ‘All Theater

July 14th, 2009 12:47 PM
While discussing the Sotomayor confirmation hearings with former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, CBS Early Show co-host Harry Smith wondered: "Senator Lindsey Graham said, ‘unless you have a meltdown, you're going to get confirmed.’ So is this all theater then, or is this a process that should literally be paid attention to?"Gonzales responded by describing the importance of a Supreme Court…

CBS’ Rodriguez ‘Proud’ of Jackson Coverage

July 14th, 2009 8:15 AM
Maggie Rodriguez wants us to know that she's a real journalist. "If I were to program a show for my viewing pleasure, I would make it all news," she told Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post in a July 13 article. But the host of CBS's "Early Show" also insisted, "I'm not a journalistic snob." Good thing too, because when you work for a network that dedicated 37 percent of its nightly news…