CNN's Amanpour Again Denies That She's Political; Gets Mushy Over Cron
[Update, 7:30 pm Eastern: Audio and video clips added.] On CBS’s Late Late Show Tuesday night, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour again claimed that she was a nonpolitical entity: “I know it’s very fashionable and trendy to wear your politics on your sleeve right now, but I just don’t.” When host Craig Ferguson favorably compared her to the late Walter Cronkite, Amanpour gushed, “He was so special. I…
Following NBC’s Lead, CBS Touts White House ‘Beer Summit
After NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams fawned Tuesday over President Obama planning to have a beer with Sergeant Crowley and Professor Gates, on Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith similarly declared: "...it’s being called the ‘beer summit.’ Tomorrow’s meeting between the President, the professor, and the policeman. We’re going to tell you what’s on tap."Smith, along with co-…
Dan Rather Calls for White House to Save Journalism from Financial Har
As if the relationship between the Obama Administration and the news media weren't cozy enough already, former "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather is calling on President Obama to "make recommendations" for the media on how to survive the economic downturn. Rather spoke at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colo. on July 28 and addressed challenges to the news industry, which he described as…
CBS Early Show Details Obama Summer Vacation Plans
Taking a break from President Obama’s failing health care plan or the Henry Gates controversy, at the top of Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez focused on a more important story: "And move over, Martha. The First Family chooses a popular celebrity retreat for their vacation. We'll tell you where the President will tee off."Rodriguez later introduced the segment by declaring: "…
Obama's Health Care Plan Stalled, But Not Because Media Haven't Been P
Liberal hopes for a quick health care bill are in collapse, as Senate Democrats push any floor action off until the fall, a move House Democrats may match this week. But if the Obama White House is upset that their plans for a huge expansion of government health care have been delayed, they surely cannot complain about the media coverage.Last week, a new study by the Media Research Center’s…
CBS: Jesse Jackson Claims ‘Racial Profiling’ In Gates Case
Appearing on Tuesday’s CBS Early Show, Reverend Jesse Jackson continued to promote the idea that Harvard Professor Henry Gates was a victim of racial profiling, despite new evidence to the contrary: "This issue of Dr. Gates being a victim of excessive force and bad judgment is a much bigger subject...This one case could open up the issue of the pervasiveness of race profiling."Co-host Harry Smith…
CBS: David Frum Bashes Palin For Her ‘Divisiveness
Appearing on Monday’s CBS Early Show, former Bush speech writer David Frum remarked on Sarah Palin’s political future following her resignation as governor of Alaska: "She's a divisive force within the Republican Party...And many fear, as I do...that she represents a future that leads the party both to political defeat and then to ineffectiveness in government." Co-host Harry Smith moderated a…
The Media's Constant Palin Hyperbole
A recent CBS report by Scott Conroy and director of political coverage Steve Chaggaris is typical of the hyperbole to which the Old Media is prone when "reporting" (by that you can read dramatizing) Sarah Palin's political doings.
This report is not as chock full of it as some others that have utilized over-the-top phrases and rhetoric to beat down Palin, but there are a few here that ring…
Coulter, Frum and Bay Buchanan Debate Sarah Palin's Future
For your entertainment pleasure, Bay Buchanan, Ann Coulter, and David Frum debated Sarah Palin's future on the CBS "Early Show" Saturday (h/t Hot Air):
Gates-Gate: Morning Shows Exclude Non-African-American Guests
The networks might just as well have hung out a sign this morning: non-African-American experts on policing and racial profiling need not apply. Good Morning America, the Early Show and Today had a total of six guests on the subject . . . and every one was African-American.Among the highlights: a writer from Tina Brown's Daily Beast suggested that given our incarceration rate, the USA meets the…
High & Mighty Couric Scolds NYT's Errors, Forgetting Her Own Colossal
The TVNewser blog alerted me to Katie Couric’s “Notebook” item yesterday, in which she mocks the New York Times for making “not one, not two, but seven errors” in their remembrance of the late Walter Cronkite last week. TVNewser suggested Couric may have trying to get “payback” for an anti-Couric piece that the Times’s Alessandra Stanley wrote four years ago when Couric worked at NBC:Wow. This is…
CBS Early Show Finally Tells Other Side of the Story in Gates Case
After portraying Professor Henry Gates as a victim of racial profiling on Thursday, on Friday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith reported: "We are learning more about the arresting officer...this is the guy hand-picked to help teach recruits how not to racially profile. This is a guy who helped try to save the life of [late Boston Celtics basketball player] Reggie Lewis."A report by…
CBS Adds Fuel to the Racism Fire Stoked By Gates Arrest
Now that President Obama has weighed in on the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, it seems a metaphysical certitude news media will milk this story for all it's worth.On Thursday, the CBS "Evening News" did exactly that by first opening its program with the President's statement made during Wednesday's press conference, and then following it with a segment on how this incident "…
