CBS’s Smith to Daughter of Henry Gates: ‘Was His Heart Broken
While interviewing the daughter of arrested Harvard Professor Henry Gates on Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith wondered: "Is there something in this that says, ‘I'm not going to take this’?...In speaking with your father, was he hurt by this?...Was his heart broken by it?" [audio available here]Elizabeth Gates, a writer for the DailyBeast.com, declared that: "I think for anybody, you…
CBS Sees Defensive Obama on Offense Over Health Care
While President Obama’s health care plan seemed to be floundering, Tuesday’s CBS Early Show spun it as an opportunity for him to fight back, as co-host Julie Chen declared: "President Obama pushes back hard against critics of his health care plan as hopes fade it could be passed by August." Co-host Harry Smith kept up the theme of Obama fighting back in the later segment: "First, though, the…
O'Reilly: Cronkite 'Had No Use for' Dan Rather, Said He 'Shouldn't Suc
On Monday’s The O’Reilly Factor, FNC host Bill O’Reilly asserted that former CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite "had no use for" his successor, and was "bitter about being replaced by [Dan] Rather." Citing an interview from a few years after Rather raplaced Cronkite on the Evening News, O’Reilly recounted that Cronkite expressed his view that Rather "shouldn’t succeed." O’Reilly: "He didn't…
Networks Ignore Chappaquiddick Anniversary; NPR’s Rudin Gets 'Ugly
While the big liberal media usually find it hard to skip any news related to the Kennedy family, ABC, CBS and NBC breathed not a word about Saturday’s 40th anniversary of Chappaquiddick. On the night of July 18, 1969, Senator Edward Kennedy left a party with 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne and later drove off a bridge. Kennedy left the scene with Kopechne still in the submerged vehicle; he did not…
CBS Analyst: Taliban Treats Prisoners Better Than U.S
In reaction to a propaganda video of the Taliban holding an American soldier hostage in Afghanistan, on Monday’s CBS Early Show, terrorism analyst Jere Van Dyk argued: “What they [the Taliban] are saying is that ‘we can treat American soldiers, we can treat prisoners, better than Americans are treating them.’”Speaking to co-host Maggie Rodriguez about the capture of Private First Class Bowe…
Couric: Like Cronkite, I Get 'Grief From Both Sides Of Aisle
Katie Couric provided some comic relief on this morning's Early Show, preaching the importance of objectivity in reporting. As evidence of her impartiality, the CBS Evening News anchor cited the fact that, as did Cronkite, she has gotten "grief from both sides of the aisle."Now I suppose some of the more radical elements of the Red Army Faction might have found something to quibble with in…
Walter Cronkite Review: 'Gawd Almighty,' Shout 'the Truths' of Liberal
In 2006 the MRC put together a compilation outlining how, since his retirement in 1981 after nineteen years as anchor of the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite had made clear his liberal views on a range of issues. For the full collection of Cronkite's liberal pronouncements, and denunciations of conservatives, since the late 1980s check the MRC's “Walter Cronkite: Liberal Media Icon.” Categories…
Cronkite's First 'CBS Evening News' Broadcast
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):
CBS And NBC Tout Continued Relevance of NAACP
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
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
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…
