In Friday Morning Coverage of John Edwards Scandal, CBS Only Major Net
In the Friday morning coverage of former Sen. John Edwards' indictment by a federal grand jury, only one of the three major networks, CBS, reported that he was a Democrat. Neither ABC nor NBC reported Edwards' party affiliation, simply calling him a "former presidential candidate."
ABC's Good Morning America sympathetically called the morning "a difficult one" for Edwards as he faced…
NBC Promotes Obama: Stimulus Started Economic 'Healing,' Auto Bailout
An otherwise straightforward report on bad economic news on Friday's NBC Today cited economist Diane Swonk, who argued government stimulus prevented things from getting worse: "We basically had a massive coronary during the financial crisis....Financial stimulus and monetary stimulus, you know, got us to the stage where we're healing but we're in still in a lot of rehab."
Correspondent Tom…
NBC's Chuck Todd: Palin Stop in New Hampshire 'A Slap in Mitt Romney's
Trying to play up the idea of chaos in the Republican 2012 field, on Thursday's NBC Today, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd argued Sarah Palin's bus tour making a stop in New Hampshire on Thursday was "a little bit of a slap in Mitt Romney's face" on the day he was planning to announce his candidacy.
Co-host Meredith Vieira had asked Todd about Romney's upcoming announcement and…
NBC Wonders How 'Rising Star' Weiner Can Get Pic Scandal 'Behind Him
At the top of Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Meredith Vieira worried about the impact of the Twitter photo scandal on Congressman Anthony Weiner's career: "Will the scandal and his response to it derail his political ambitions?"
Talking to chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd later, Vieira pointed out how "the people who write the headlines in New York City are obviously having a heyday…
ABC, NBC Spotlight Growing Weiner Photo Scandal; CBS Punts
ABC's GMA and NBC's Today on Wednesday both did due diligence on the Rep. Anthony Weiner brouhaha surrounding a lewd photo posted on his Twitter site. ABC's Jonathan Karl noted how Weiner didn't give "the most convincing press conference" in response to the controversy. NBC's Meredith Vieira highlighted how "people are wondering why he is being so defensive." But CBS's Early Show didn't even…
NBC News to Hire Embattled Former NPR Chief Vivian Schiller
Former National Public Radio president Vivian Schiller, who was at the center of a pair of controversies that roiled NPR in recent months, has reportedly taken a position with NBC News.
Schiller resigned from her post at NPR after footage surfaced showing two of NPR's senior fundraising executives making offensive comments towards conservatives. Though Schiller was not in the video, she…
NBC's Curry Whines About Palin's 'Bad Relationship' With Media, 'Not P
Updated with video
On Wednesday's NBC Today, fill-in co-host Ann Curry fretted over Sarah Palin not sucking up to the press, complaining "[she] seems to delight in having a bad relationship with what she calls the 'lamestream media.'" Curry added that Palin was "angering some Republicans as well, about this tour, by not notifying them ahead of time." [Audio available here]
Curry discussed…
NBC Falsely Paints Palin as Uninvited 'Distraction' at Rolling Thunder
On her Friday 1 p.m. ET MSNBC show, NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell characterized Sarah Palin participating in the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally in Washington as a "distraction," with the headline on-screen wondering if the former Alaska Governor was "stealing their thunder."
After declaring that Palin was "once again showing that she sure knows how to seize the political…
NBC’s Harwood: Palin ‘Next to Zero Chance of Being Elected Preside
As broadcast news programs over the weekend gave attention to Sarah Palin’s bus tour which was viewed as a possible prelude to a presidential run, NBC correspondent John Harwood had one of the most negative views of the former Alaska governor’s chances of being elected President as he appeared on Sunday’s NBC Nightly News and predicted that she "has next to zero chance of being elected…
MRC’s Notable Quotables: We Need the ‘Courage’ to Raise Taxes
It’s Memorial Day, but the MRC is out with its latest edition of Notable Quotables, a re-cap of the most outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes from the liberal media over the past two weeks.
This edition: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell insists that Republicans just lack the “guts” to raise taxes; David Gregory suggests it’s “racially-tinged” for Newt Gingrich to try and spotlight President Obama’s…
Gregory Tells McConnell 'You Haven't Said Publicly Whether You're For
NBC's David Gregory on Sunday accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of not having said publicly if he's for Congressman Paul Ryan's (R-Wisc.) Medicare plan.
This oddly came four days after McConnell and 39 other Republicans voted for the proposal on the floor of the Senate (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Nets Yawn at Obama's Patriot Act Renewal; Hyped Bush's 'Broad Powers
On Friday, the morning shows of the Big Three networks barely touched on President Obama approving the renewal of key provisions in the Patriot Act, avoiding the kind of criticism they launched during the terms of former President George W. Bush. During that time, the networks often expressed "concern...that civil liberties are threatened as never before" by the law, as CBS Evening News put it…
MSNBC's Mitchell Shills for Obama: 'What More Could Be Done to Get Gad
Anchoring her eponymous MSNBC program today, Andrea Mitchell defended President Barack Obama's position on Libya against criticism from Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty.
"I'm not sure what Tim Pawlenty would like the president to do," snickered NBC's chief foreign affairs correspondent, immediately after playing a clip of the former Minnesota governor saying exactly what he…
Morning Shows Tout White House Claim that 'Distraction' Sarah Palin Is
Covering the growing buzz that Sarah Palin might mount a 2012 presidential campaign, the morning shows on Friday repeated liberal talking points proclaiming that it would be a disaster. Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos insisted that the White House looks "at Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann as, basically, re-election insurance." CBS's Chris Wragge hinted that Palin…
