Calculating Jobs a Muddled Mess – Press Presents it as Fact
January 31st, 2010 10:06 PM
The White House continues to throw out random numbers in their quest to convince the public that their behemoth stimulus bill is saving jobs at a massive rate. The confusion has even seeped into the President's biggest support group - the media. CNN recently announced how the stimulus plan funded nearly 600,000 jobs this past quarter. In their article, which parrots the numbers provided by the…
Salon's Joan Walsh Says Chris Matthews Roots For Obama
January 31st, 2010 6:19 PM
Salon editor Joan Walsh said Sunday that MSNBC's Chris Matthews roots for Barack Obama.Appearing on CNN's "Reliable Sources," Walsh was asked by host Howard Kurtz to comment on Matthews' remark that he had forgotten the President was black during Wednesday's State of the Union address. "There's no such thing as post-racial, and so I disagree with Chris about that," said Walsh."But on the other…
McConnell: Larry King Better Interrogator Than Feds Who Questioned Chr
January 31st, 2010 4:42 PM
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that CNN's Larry King does a better job interrogating his guests than Justice Department officials did with Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after his capture.Speaking with John King on CNN's "State of the Union" about whether terrorist trials should be held in civil courts, McConnell said, "What we need to do is deny these…
CNN Shocker: Hurricane Katrina Good For New Orleans Schools
January 30th, 2010 8:49 PM
Here's something you never would have heard from a mainstream media outlet when George W. Bush was President: Hurricane Katrina was a good thing for New Orleans.When it comes to the school system in the Louisiana city, that's exactly what CNN reported during Saturday's "Newsroom." After anchor T.J. Holmes read a statement from Education Secretary Arne Duncan -- "I think the best thing that…
Media React to 5.7 Percent GDP Growth: 'Great News for Consumers;' Eco
January 29th, 2010 1:18 PM
Fourth quarter GDP growth "beat expectations," exciting some journalists on Jan. 29. But a number of economists were downbeat. The 5.7 percent growth for the last quarter of 2009 sparked media reactions on both MSNBC and CNN. Savannah Guthrie declared on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" that "If they could do a jig at the White House, they would." Joining that discussion, NBC's Chuck Todd asked, "So is…
CNN's Liberal Panelists Run to Obama's Defense on Supreme Court Rebuke
January 28th, 2010 5:02 PM
During CNN’s post-State of Union coverage on Wednesday night, three liberal commentators- Paul Begala, James Carville, and Roland Martin- put up an energetic defense of President Obama’s rebuke of the Supreme Court during the address. Begala and Carville took issue with Republican panelist Alex Castellanos’s reproof of the President, while Martin rebuked Justice Samuel Alito’s reaction.Anchor…
Cafferty Blasts Pelosi Again: Her Arrogance Is 'Breathtaking
January 27th, 2010 4:37 PM
Two weeks after calling Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a horrible woman, CNN's Jack Cafferty said the House Speaker's arrogance was breathtaking.During Tuesday's "Situation Room," Cafferty addressed the report the CBS "Evening News" did the previous day on the out of control spending by members of Congress at last month's United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen. "Her arrogance on this subject:…
Bozell: Fox News Winning in Quantity and Now Quality
January 27th, 2010 3:01 PM
A poll conducted last week by Public Policy Polling found that among 1,151 registered voters surveyed, Fox News Channel crushed the other networks in trust, with 49 percent of respondents saying they trusted FNC. That's 10 percentage points more than CNN, and 14 points more than MSNBC, the home of Obama-boosting or leftist personalities such as Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews and…
Politico Reveals: Most CNNers Don’t ‘Respect’ Rick Sanchez
January 26th, 2010 8:35 PM
Writing at The Politico, Michael Calderone reports that “only a few” of CNN’s 200 Washington bureau staffers would say they “respect” 3pm to 5pm ET anchor Rick Sanchez as a journalist, compared to “almost everyone” who acknowledged respect for longtime CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. [Click here for a run-down of NewsBusters' coverage of Sanchez over the years.]“While that response could be taken as a…
CNN Exposes 'Inexcusable' Claim by IPCC on Himalayan Glaciers
January 26th, 2010 7:37 PM
CNN on Tuesday highlighted the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change use of a unsubstantiated claim about the Himalayan glaciers melting by 2035 to put pressure on politicians across the globe. Meteorologist Rob Marciano thought the “snafu” on the part of the IPCC was “inexcusable,” while anchor Rick Sanchez put the panel and its head on his “List You Don’t Want to Be On.”Marciano…
Fox Is The Most Trusted Name In News According To New Poll
January 26th, 2010 6:43 PM
CNN might call itself the most trusted name in news, but a new poll found Americans think the Fox News Channel is the organization deserving this honor.In fact, according to Public Policy Polling, FNC is the only national television news organization that more people trust than distrust.Kind of makes members of the Obama administration who regularly depict Fox as not being a real news…
CNN's Velshi: 'Very Few (Economists) Said There Is No Need for an Econ
January 25th, 2010 3:54 PM
On his segment of CNN Newroom today, anchor Ali Velshi cited a CNN/Opinion Research poll showing that only a quarter of Americans believe Obama's stimulus program has wasted little or no money. He then set up an interview with a pro-stimulus academic:Let's talk about this with Kenneth Rogoff, professor of public policy and economics at Harvard University. Ken, you have looked at this very, very…
Blatant vs. Balanced: CNN, MSNBC Played Faves With Mass. Election Nigh
January 25th, 2010 2:37 PM
Building on Brad Wilmouth's critique at NewsBusters of Keith Olbermann's disgraceful treatment of Scott Brown's U.S. Senate victory in Massachusetts, Johnny Dollar (HT Taxman Blog) measured the coverage of the victory/concession speeches of Brown and his opponent Martha (or is it Marcia?) Coakley. Imagine my non-surprise when I saw the results (graph follows the jump): During Tuesday night's…
Democrats Turn Letters to Editor into Talking Points Repository, Media
January 25th, 2010 2:09 PM
If Ellie Light is indeed a Democratic operative, she is only the proverbial tip of the party's astroturfing iceberg. Patterico's investigative work, which was also at the forefront of the blogosphere's efforts to expose Light, have revealed an even greater effort at manufacturing the appearance of public support for Democratic policies.Organizing for America and the Democratic Party each have…