CBS Commiserates Over Higher Bank Credit Card Fees; Ignores Gov't Take
April 21st, 2009 10:57 AM
It was either an effort to avoid blaming individuals for ill-advised borrowing or an effort to vilify the banking system, but a segment on the April 20 "CBS Evening News" took a very one-sided view of credit-card lending. On a day bank stocks struggled and dragged the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) down nearly 300 points, "Evening News" scrutinized the current state of the banking system's…
Trouble Brewing In Caucasus, But Media Silent
April 20th, 2009 4:24 PM
Here’s a quick informal poll: Who has heard news of Russia’s recent troop buildup in the South Ossetia region of Georgia? Most of our readers would immediately think of the Russian invasion of that region last summer, during the presidential contest, but the Russians are arguably saber rattling again with a fresh buildup of boots on-the-ground ahead of planned NATO exercises. Last August, the…
CBS’s Smith: Critics of Obama-Chavez Meeting Making ‘Mountain Out
April 20th, 2009 12:18 PM
On Monday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith discussed President Obama’s brief meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the Summit of the Americas with former Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino and former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers, wondering: "Have the critics of this photo-op made a mountain out of a molehill?" In a prior report on the meeting, correspondent Bill Plante…
ABC's Diane Sawyer Presses on Guns; Skips Story of Right-wing Violence
April 16th, 2009 12:34 PM
"Good Morning America" co-host Diane Sawyer interviewed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday and skipped any mention of a controversial report by the agency warning of right-wing extremist activity and disgruntled returning war veterans. In separate interviews, both the CBS "Early Show" and NBC's "Today" discussed the hot-topic issue with the top government…
CBS’s Rodriguez Urges Assault Weapons Ban to DHS Chief
April 16th, 2009 11:53 AM
While discussing the ongoing drug war in Mexico with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez wondered: "President Obama will meet with the Mexican president today, who has said that the money, the guns, and the appetite for drugs that fuel this war come from our country. My question is, how much blame do we accept?...Is one of the other…
Networks Ignore Jamie Foxx’s Verbal Attack on Miley Cyrus
April 16th, 2009 10:03 AM
The 41-year-old Oscar winner Jamie Foxx dished out some disgusting advice for Disney teen sensation Miley Cyrus, telling her to, among other things, “make a sex tape and grow up.” This tasteless “advice” coming from the father of a teen to a sixteen year-old girl didn’t seem to outrage anyone at ABC, CBS, or NBC.“The Foxxhole,” Jamie Foxx’s weekend radio show was the forum for a discussion of…
CBS Fears ‘Right Wing Extremism May Increase’ After Obama Election
April 15th, 2009 11:35 AM
On Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith highlighted a recent report by the liberal Southern Poverty Law Center claiming a recent surge in hate groups in the United States: "The Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report found 926 active hate groups in the country. That's up more than 50% from just 2000...And they say part of it is because of the election of President Obama.…
Just When You Think the Big 3 Evening Newscasts Can't Sink Any Lower
April 14th, 2009 11:56 PM
I could of course be commenting on the poor quality of the alleged journalism. But in this case I'm talking about their ratings, which is of course largely caused by said poor journalism. Three weeks ago (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), I noted that the Big 3 networks' evening newscasts' combined ratings had dropped about 17% since the collective high they achieved during the week of January 26,…
CBS's Harry Smith Snarks to O'Reilly, 'Couldn't Hold a Job at Any Othe
April 14th, 2009 3:59 PM
CBS anchor Harry Smith and Bill O’Reilly traded light blows with each other on Tuesday’s Early Show, as the Fox News Channel host marked his 100th consecutive month at the top of cable news ratings. Smith jabbed his guest about his 12 years on the same network: “Couldn’t hold a job at any other place?...Is this the longest continuous employment you have ever had?” O’Reilly didn’t take it lying…
A Whopper of a Problem: CBS Anchor Makes Light of Raunchy Fast Food Ad
April 10th, 2009 3:46 PM
“I’ll take an order of fries, a kid’s meal, and some sexy women with square butts, please.”CBS “Early Show” hosts Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith giggled at the new commercial for the Burger King kid’s meal featuring sexual images inappropriate for children, including sexy women in tight outfits dancing to a parody of the notoriously raunchy tune, “Baby Got Back.”Aimed to promote the new 99 cent…
Couric Campaigns For Gun Control, Tosses Softballs To A.G. Holder
April 9th, 2009 2:54 PM
Katie Couric is on the warpath, so to speak.In her "Evening News" interview with Attorney General Eric Holder last night, Couric pushed Holder several times to commit to heightened restrictions on access to firearms. This comes in light of her recent biased blog post on Couric and Co., which NewsBusters noted yesterday.First, Couric pressed Holder on reinstating the assault weapons ban, noting…
CBS's Rodriguez Sympathizes With Levi Johnston: 'Did You Get Your Hear
April 8th, 2009 4:15 PM
Wednesday’s Early Show picked up where The Tyra Banks Show left off in interviewing Levi Johnston, the ex-fiancé of Bristol Palin, as well as his sister and mother, and continued the media’s coverage of the “family feud” between the Palins and the Johnstons. Anchor Maggie Rodriguez asked Levi’s sister Mercede if the Palin family was “snobby.” She also asked the young man if the Palin family was “…
CBS Says Palin Popular 'Despite Latest News,' But Not One Substantive
April 8th, 2009 5:35 AM
This is just the sort of bias against Sarah Palin and her family that is de rigeur in the Old Media. CBS seemed taken aback in an April 6 report that Governor Sarah Palin could possibly still be relatively popular "despite the negative news" that she has been confronted with of late. But all the "negative news" that CBS is so sure should torpedo Palin is little else but the soap opera of family…
Is The CBS/N.Y. Times Poll Believable -- or Too Tilted
April 7th, 2009 1:48 PM
Conservatives have debates over whether they should cite Rasmussen poll data because it is too divergent from other surveys. If that's the case, then why accept the new CBS/New York Times poll, which is out of step with other recent polls? Keep in mind, Rasmussen polls "likely voters," where CBS/NYT interviewed "adults." The distinction is critical. The latest CBS/NYT numbers show a very wide 42-…