NBC Spaces Out: Confuses Present-Day Rocket with 1960s-Era Booster

November 26th, 2011 9:39 PM
NBC's Tom Costello made a gaffe of planetary proportions on Saturday's Nightly News as he reported on the launch of NASA's latest Martian rover. The correspondent identified the rocket, which blasted the unmanned Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) probe into space for its eight month-plus journey to the fourth planet, as a "Saturn V." This is actually the name of the rocket that took Apollo…

Just in Time for Thanksgiving, Media Hypes BPA Scare in Canned Food

November 23rd, 2011 1:01 PM
The media are treating Thanksgiving like Halloween by whipping up one of their favorite bogeymen. ABC and NBC are now targeting canned food as potentially harmful to humans, because it contains a chemical that the media has long crusaded against: BPA, otherwise known as bisphenol-A, found in many plastics and packaging products. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that levels…

Brian Williams Lashes Out at CNBC Guest Who Dared Criticize Obama

November 23rd, 2011 12:01 PM
Assuming he even tried, Brian Williams could not suppress his smirk Tuesday night as he took a shot at a guest who had appeared earlier that day on CNBC. Businessman and Mitt Romney support Ken Langone said that President Obama's anti-business rhetoric and lack of leadership was preventing a true economic recovery from taking hold, exclaiming at one point that "businessmen and fat cats need to…

This Thanksgiving, Media Still Stuffed with Food Police Message

November 21st, 2011 2:03 PM
In just a few days, Americans will give thanks for their blessings and celebrate them by stuffing themselves with a bountiful feast. Despite this beloved tradition, many in the news media disapprove of overeating and continue to call for taxes on certain foods, and increased regulation. Time magazine's website, includes an "Ideas" section with what it calls "Essential Insights. Great Debates.…

CBS Highlights Chu's Solyndra Testimony in Congress, ABC Punts

November 18th, 2011 4:40 PM
On Friday, CBS's Early Show was the only Big Three morning show to cover Energy Secretary Steven Chu's testimony before a congressional hearing on the $528 million loan to the bankrupt solar panel company Solyndra. NBC previewed the hearing on Thursday's Today show, but avoided it the following morning. ABC's GMA completely ignored it both days. Fill-in news anchor Betty Nguyen gave a 44-…

NBC Food Police Ask: 'What Does Congress Have Against Healthier Lunche

November 18th, 2011 3:11 PM
At the top of Thursday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams scolded Congress for opposing new Obama administration regulations on school lunches: "And out to lunch. Does pizza really look like a vegetable to anybody? The better question may be what does Congress have against healthier lunches for kids?" Correspondent Anne Thompson later began a report on the supposed controversy by…

ABC Hypes ‘Massive’ OWS Protest and NBC Touts ‘Huge Crowds,’ B

November 17th, 2011 8:44 PM
Substitute ABC anchor David Muir opened Thursday’s World News by hyping “masses of people taking to the streets here in New York City,” before reporter Dan Harris referenced “this massive protest march tonight” and “this big protest.” Yet over on the CBS Evening News, Jim Axelrod noted how though “organizers promised tens of thousands demonstrators disrupting business as usual here in New…

Big Three Networks Devote a Scant 36 Seconds to Obama's 'Lazy' Gaffe

November 17th, 2011 4:45 PM
According to Politico, Barack Obama's "lazy" gaffe is "catching fire," but you wouldn't know that if you got your news from the major networks. The President's remark, made at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Hawaii on November 12, that "We've been a little bit lazy" in attracting "new business into America" received a grand total of just 36 seconds on the Big Three (ABC, CBS…

Nets Ignore Latest Solyndra News: Obama Administration Requested Postp

November 16th, 2011 12:05 PM
The Washington Post, no conservative paper it, gave front-page coverage today to the latest development in the Solyndra scandal: E-mail records show that the Obama White House urged the solar energy company to postpone layoffs until after the 2010 midterm elections. "The announcement could have been politically damaging because President Obama and others in the administration had held up…

Networks Ignore Calls For Kagan's Recusal as Supreme Court Takes on Ob

November 15th, 2011 4:18 PM
While NBC, ABC, and CBS all reported on the Supreme Court's decision Monday to rule on the constitutionality of ObamaCare, none of the coverage made any mention of calls for liberal Justice Elena Kagan to recuse herself from the case due to her advocacy for the legislation as Obama's solicitor general. Of the three networks, only ABC's World News even noted public opposition to the…

Big Three Networks Don't Care About OWS Crimes Until Democratic Mayors

November 15th, 2011 1:55 PM
Through the month of October, as this MRC study found, the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) networks completely ignored the numerous charges of sexual assaults at OWS protests on their evening and morning news shows. In fact, it wasn’t until this weekend that one and only one network, ABC reported on the rape of a woman in Philadelphia, and that was only after that city’s Democratic Mayor Michael…

Brian Williams Compares Chelsea Clinton to Tim Russert

November 15th, 2011 10:11 AM
She hasn't accomplished a darned thing on television yet, but Chelsea Clinton is already being compared to the late Meet the Press host Tim Russert. Such almost unthinkable praise emerged from NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight Monday (video follows with transcript and commentary):

ABC's John Berman Mocks FEMA-Like 'Disaster' Rick Perry

November 11th, 2011 12:05 PM
Good Morning America's John Berman on Friday made no effort to hide his derision of Rick Perry, noting that former FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh is running his campaign. Berman openly mocked, "...[Allbaugh] ran FEMA. So, he knows how to recover from disasters, Robin." Earlier in the segment, the reporter made another comparison, joking, "You know, there's no question that Rick Perry is in full…

Networks Curb Cain Obsession as They Pounce on Rick Perry's Forgetfuln

November 10th, 2011 4:53 PM
After 117 stories over ten days, what would it take for the big three networks to ease up on their unending obsession with the Herman Cain sexual harassment story? The opportunity to go after another Republican, this time Rick Perry. From Wednesday night's evening newscasts through the Thursday morning shows, there were only two Cain stories (bringing the total to 119). Good Morning America…