ABC and NBC Jump to Herald Obama's Presidential Medal of Freedom Picks
July 30th, 2009 9:08 PM
When Obama does it, it's news. ABC and NBC on Thursday night made time to highlight who President Barack Obama will bestow with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in two weeks -- on Wednesday, August 12. Both started with Senator Ted Kennedy. On ABC's World News, which never touted President George W. Bush's picks in advance, fill-in anchor Elizabeth Vargas trumpeted: The White House announced that…
Way Too Early Williams Jokes: 'A Bit of Meth' To Get Going
July 30th, 2009 7:52 AM
Overcompensation: (psychiatry) an attempt to overcome a real or imagined defect or unwanted trait by overly exaggerating its opposite.Today brings a prime example of the phenomenon in the person of Brian Williams, overcompensating for his image as a pampered straight arrow by joking about having a vast staff of servants, looking forward to the prospect of watching some nude male swimming, and,…
Bad Polls for Obama; CBS Finds Bright Spots, NBC Skates Over Devastati
July 29th, 2009 10:36 PM
CBS and NBC released new polls Wednesday night which illustrated how the public is moving against President Barack Obama on health care as his overall approval, at least in the NBC survey, fell to its lowest-ever level. But while both networks conveyed the bad news for Obama, NBC's Chuck Todd failed to point out how more now disapprove than approve of Obama's handling of health care, a…
Following NBC’s Lead, CBS Touts White House ‘Beer Summit
July 29th, 2009 5:26 PM
After NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams fawned Tuesday over President Obama planning to have a beer with Sergeant Crowley and Professor Gates, on Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith similarly declared: "...it’s being called the ‘beer summit.’ Tomorrow’s meeting between the President, the professor, and the policeman. We’re going to tell you what’s on tap."Smith, along with co-…
Williams Gets Cute Over 'Beer Summit' at the White House
July 28th, 2009 8:51 PM
Extending the auspices of NBC News to provide some damage control help to President Obama's damage control-inspired meeting at the White House with Henry Louis Gates and the police sergeant who arrested him -- so Obama can repair the mess he made in taking sides and insulting the police -- Brian Williams on Tuesday night didn't mention any gaffe by Obama and instead innocuously described how the…
Nets Fail to ID Party of Pols Arrested in NJ; CNN Misleads Its Viewers
July 23rd, 2009 11:13 PM
Continuing a well-established pattern, the broadcast network evening newscasts all failed to point out the party affiliation of the major New Jersey office-holders amongst the 44 people the FBI arrested Thursday for corruption. As the AP pointed out, all but one are Democrats: “Among the 44 people arrested were the mayors of Hoboken, Ridgefield and Secaucus, Jersey City's deputy mayor, and two…
NBC Wades Into 'Spreading Lies about President Obama's...U.S. Citizens
July 22nd, 2009 8:39 PM
Daring to go where only cable has gone so far, Wednesday's NBC Nightly News waded into the rampant claims that President Barack Obama -- though he was born in a U.S. state and to a mother who was a U.S. citizen, so even if he were born in Kenya he'd still be a U.S. citizen -- is somehow really not one. Anchor Brian Williams didn't hide his disdain, teasing the newscast: “Spreading lies about…
NBC News: California Offshore Drilling Possible; CNBC Says Not Likely
July 22nd, 2009 11:01 AM
It's one of the few times one can wish the reporting by NBC News was right and CNBC was wrong. A segment on the July 21 "NBC Nightly News" pointed out some of the key points of a budget deal reached between California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and leaders of the state legislature. The deal means some service cuts - but also includes the possibility of exploration and drilling for oil off the…
Night After Slamming DeMint as 'Incendiary,' Couric Makes Same Point t
July 21st, 2009 8:47 PM
A night after CBS slammed as “incendiary” Senator Jim DeMint's observation that if Republicans are able to block Obama's health care push, “it will be his Waterloo, it will break him,” CBS anchor Katie Couric adopted the same assumption as she expressed worry to the President: “Are you concerned at all that if health care reform fails it will be a huge and devastating setback to your presidency…
Nets Plug Kennedy's 'Dramatic' and 'Emotional Pitch for Health Care Re
July 19th, 2009 8:50 PM
Newsweek engaged itself deeper in the battle for nationalized health care by turning over its cover story -- “We're Almost There” -- to Senator Ted Kennedy for his lengthy personal recitation of “the cause of my life.” ABC and NBC on Sunday night dutifully championed his cause as World News anchor Dan Harris highlighted how “Kennedy is using his own battle against brain cancer to make an…
CBS Spins Setback for Obama on Health Into 'Warning from the President
July 18th, 2009 3:06 PM
A night after CBS and NBC skipped the assessment from the chief of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that the Senate and House health plans won't meet President Obama's pledge to not increase deficit spending, the two networks caught up only when Obama, reacting to “anxiety” even from Democrats, addressed the setback to his quest late Friday. CBS anchor Katie Couric spun the bad news for…
CBS And NBC Tout Continued Relevance of NAACP
July 17th, 2009 4:50 PM
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,…
