Only NBC Notes Fewest Ever Monthly Deaths in Wars
December 5th, 2008 8:44 AM
Of the broadcast network newscasts Thursday evening, only the NBC Nightly News took a few seconds to note some more good news from the war front as fill-in anchor Lester Holt reported “combined deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan in November” stood at eleven, “the lowest total since the U.S. invaded Iraq.” ABC's World News devoted more than two minutes to LBJ tapes, which showed him “anguished about…
Brian Williams: 'Could We Use a Little FDR Right About Now
November 29th, 2008 6:30 PM
Working on the day after Thanksgiving, Brian Williams used Friday's NBC Nightly News to promote a new book from FDR's grandson, providing Williams with an opportunity to propose: “In your estimation, could we use a little FDR right about now?” Though Franklin Delano Roosevelt's policies failed to end the Depression, Williams hailed him as “the man who led this nation out of financial disaster.”…
Mitchell Impressed by Obama's 'All-Star Cabinet' of 'Smartest People
November 21st, 2008 8:37 PM
While ABC, CBS and NBC on Friday night all touted how news that New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner will be nominated for Secretary of the Treasury fueled a market rebound, NBC was the most excited with Andrea Mitchell, sounding completely in the tank, hailing President-elect Obama's “all-star cabinet” as she maintained “Obama is determined to pick the strongest, smartest people he…
Ann Curry Cites Gross 'Mis-Example' of Climate Change
November 20th, 2008 1:46 PM
The glacier on Mt. Kilimanjaro is melting. If you were watching NBC "Nightly News" Nov. 19 you probably would think that ice is declining because of "climate change."After all, "Today's" Ann Curry said it: "Mt. Kilimanjaro has become a kind of poster-child for climate change. Eighty-four percent of the ice has disappeared in less than 100 years and by 2020, scientists expect as early as that it…
Holder Hailed, But in 2000 Ashcroft Marked as Sop to 'Far Right
November 18th, 2008 9:12 PM
Eight years ago when incoming President George W. Bush named Senator John Ashcroft as his choice for Attorney General, the broadcast network evening newscasts applied ideological labels and highlighted opposition to him from liberals, but Tuesday night with President-elect Barack Obama's pick of Eric Holder for the same position, the anchors avoided any ideological tags or controversies and…
Can't Afford Health or Heat...in Liberal Hub of Boston
November 13th, 2008 9:06 AM
There's economic trouble in the land with people unable to afford proper health care or heat for their homes ABC and NBC contended on Wednesday night. And where did the network journalists travel to find the heart-rending anecdotes of people in pain thanks to the awful Bush economy? Some Republican area with harsh conservative politicians who have slashed government funding to the poor? No, to…
ABC and NBC Fail to Correct Obama's 'Seance' Gaffe
November 7th, 2008 8:47 PM
Friday night stories on ABC's World News and the NBC Nightly News ran a clip of President-elect Barack Obama's gaffe at his press conference in which he related he had talked to all of the “living” former Presidents, as “I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances.” But both newscasts failed to note it was Hillary Clinton, not Nancy Reagan, who reportedly had…
Bozell Column: Media Defeats McCain
November 7th, 2008 3:35 PM
The election of Barack Obama was certainly historic, and the great attraction of that historic moment led to more history: an Obama-smitten news media that completely avoided their responsibility to test the nominee with hard questions. It made the gooey 1992 Clinton campaign look like a fistfight by comparison.Obama faced none of the withering scrutiny applied to even the Republican vice…
'America Matured by Choosing Obama,' Makes 'A More Perfect Union
November 5th, 2008 10:11 PM
The broadcast network evening newscasts on Wednesday night all marked Barack Obama's victory with stories on celebrations around the world, the joy expressed by African-Americans and how newspapers sold out as people cheered in the streets. NBC anchor Brian Williams hailed: “As one columnist put it, America matured in 2008 by choosing Barack Obama.” CBS, however, aired the most triumphant story…
NBC's Williams Empathizes with the 'Human' in Obama
October 31st, 2008 9:22 PM
Just as he did in two earlier interviews with Barack Obama when he held up magazine covers and asked Obama to glow in the moment, in an excerpt from this week's session with Obama aired on Friday's NBC Nightly News, Williams cued up Obama with another visual image -- this time holding up a photograph of Obama in sandals in Honolulu when he went for a walk after visiting his dying grandmother --…
After Discrediting McCain, Williams Again Cozies Up to Obama
October 30th, 2008 9:40 PM
A week after NBC's Brian Williams spent his time with John McCain and Sarah Palin in Ohio discrediting the accuracy of their claims and pushing for assurance their campaign wouldn't mention Jeremiah Wright, Williams on Thursday night in Florida returned to the same cozy approach with Barack Obama, though without the memories of mom, he employed in earlier interviews with the Democratic candidate…
NBC Frets Obviously Fake Flyer Will Confuse Its Dumb Viewers
October 29th, 2008 8:57 PM
Suggesting Brian Williams and the producers of NBC Nightly News assume a significant portion of their viewership is pretty dumb, the newscast began a story about how, as Williams fretted, “number of rumors and myths and threats that might keep some people away from the polls this year,” by highlighting a flyer, riddled with glaring misspellings and non-words, which made a false announcement about…
