MSNBC's Guthrie: Seeing Obama Like ‘A Dream Sequence
May 1st, 2009 4:42 PM
During the 3PM EST hour of live coverage on MSNBC, anchor Norah O’Donnell turned to White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie for reaction to President Obama’s surprise appearance at the daily press briefing to discuss the retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter: "Savannah, let me just start with you, the shock factor. I mean, you've got that seat right there by where the President…
Contessa Brewer: GOP Obstructionism Slowing Response to Swine Flu
April 28th, 2009 12:45 PM
"MSNBC News Live" anchor Contessa Brewer on Tuesday speculated as to whether supposed obstructionism by congressional Republicans may end up hampering the response to the swine flu outbreak. Talking to Republican strategist Tucker Bounds and Democratic strategist Peter Mirijanian, she asserted, "Let me ask you, Health and Human Services secretary has not been confirmed. You have a missing…
Shuster Gets Emotionally Animated Over Credit Card Interest Rates
April 24th, 2009 7:55 PM
Separating personal feelings from straight-up journalism is something MSNBC anchors have had trouble with in the past, and David Shuster is no exception. During MSNBC's daytime news coverage on April 24, Shuster interviewed Bill Himpler of the American Financial Services Association. The discussion was nominally about the legislation sponsored by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N…
GOP Strategist Complains About MSNBC Coverage of Tea Parties
April 22nd, 2009 3:28 PM
"MSNBC News Live" host Norah O'Donnell on Wednesday dismissed the tea party rallies that took place across the country last week as "top down" and not organic, prompting a complaint from a Republican strategist over the network's coverage. The discussion arose during an interview with GOP strategist Karen Hanretty and a Democratic operative over the leadership of the Republican Party. After…
Media Helps Activists in Aggressive Push to Embrace Homosexuality
April 22nd, 2009 11:27 AM
April 17 marked the 13th annual "Day of Silence," a gay rights protest event sponsored by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) that takes place in schools across the nation. Of course, gay groups can afford to be silent for a day, because they have the mainstream news media to speak for them. "Day of Silence" is, according to the event's Web site, "a student-led national event…
Contessa Brewer: Will Liberal Meghan McCain Be the 'Voice' of the GOP
April 20th, 2009 3:10 PM
"MSNBC News Live" host Contessa Brewer on Monday speculated as to whether the liberal-leaning Meghan McCain could become "the voice of the Republican Party." Brewer, who was talking to Washington Times reporter Christina Bellantoni about the daughter of the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, ignored the fact that Ms. McCain has admitted she supported Democrats John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000…
MSNBC Again Touts Right-Wing Threat of Violence; Features GOP Logo
April 15th, 2009 4:15 PM
"MSNBC News Live" host Contessa Brewer on Wednesday reported four times on the possible threat of right-wing violence against the government. And for several of those segments there was a graphic in the background that featured the elephant logo of the GOP and the words, "New Right-Wing Threat?" Speaking to Democratic strategist Bob Shrum, Brewer asked about a Department of Homeland Security (…
MSNBC Features GOP Logo in Segment on Violence and the 'Radical Right
April 15th, 2009 12:22 PM
MSNBC featured the Republican Party's elephant logo in a segment on Wednesday's "MSNBC News Live" about the possible rise of right-wing hate groups. Anchor Contessa Brewer introduced the piece by asserting, "The White House is warning that a bad economy, combined with the election of the nation's first black President, could draw new extremist right-wing members, especially war veterans, to a…
MSNBC Host: 'We’re Not Liberal!'; 'Do We Have Some Progressive Voice
April 14th, 2009 8:36 PM
Everything you thought you knew about MSNBC political slant - throw it out the window, because one MSNBC host says you're probably wrong. MSNBC's Contessa Brewer, appearing on "The Mark Reardon Show" on St. Louis KMOX 1120 AM radio on April 13. Brewer defended her network against the perception that it is a liberal cable news channel. "No, but we're not liberal," Brewer said. "No, we're not…
MSNBC's Brewer Still Agitated Over ASU Decision Not to Award Obama Hon
April 13th, 2009 3:53 PM
Last Friday, MSNBC's Contessa Brewer expressed her shock and disbelief that Arizona State University would not award President Barack Obama an honorary degree since he was their commencement speaker. However, over the weekend, the University announced it would instead name "their most important scholarship" after Obama - instead of awarding the president an honorary degree. "Here's the…
MSNBC Hosts Visibly Upset Arizona State Not Awarding Honorary Degree t
April 10th, 2009 4:50 PM
It's not often during midday cable news broadcasting you get to see raw emotion from one or two of the hosts. However, when President Barack Obama gets snubbed, there are exceptions to the rule. On MSNBC on April 10, co-hosts Contessa Brewer and Carlos Watson put their disapproval on display for viewers to see while reporting a decision by Arizona State University not to award Obama an honorary…
Media Irked by Congressman’s 'Socialist' Label; Ignores Double Stand
April 10th, 2009 2:13 PM
You could almost hear "How dare he!" being uttered by the left-wing establishment when Politico reported April 9 that a Republican congressman identified a specific number of "socialists" in the U.S. House of Representatives. In a speech he gave at his home district, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., the ranking Republican, Rep. Barney Frank's (D-Mass.) counterpart, on the House Banking Committee,…
MSNBC’s O’Donnell and Politico’s VandeHei Praise Obama the ‘Ro
April 2nd, 2009 6:01 PM
At the top of the 3:00PM EST hour of live coverage on MSNBC, anchor Norah O’Donnell and Politico executive editor Jim VandeHei were practically tripping over themselves declaring Barack Obama the "rock star" of Europe in the wake of the G-20 summit. O’Donnell began by asking: "Can we gauge this meeting as a success?" VandeHei replied: "I think early indications are it probably was a big success…
MSNBC Photo on Rush: Courtesy of the DNC
March 31st, 2009 4:23 PM
In a rather amusing moment that one might say was symptomatic of MSNBC, "News Live" host Contessa Brewer on Tuesday featured a segment on a truck that the Democratic National Committee would be bringing to different parts of the country. On the vehicle's side was a illustration of radio host Rush Limbaugh smoking a cigar with the words "Americans didn't vote for a Rush to failure" in big letters…