NBC Prez on Olbermann-Scarborough Tiff: Don't Publicly Criticize Colle
The president of NBC has officially responded to Joe Scarborough criticizing Keith Olbermann for his attacks on Scott Brown.In a memo obtained by the Huffington Post, Phil Griffin told his on air staff: "We do not publicly criticize our colleagues. This kind of behavior is unprofessional and will not be tolerated."Griffin was addressing comments made by MSNBC's Scarborough about Olbermann. As…
NBC Trumpeted the Launch of Liberal 'Counterweight' Air America, Skips
When the liberal radio network Air America debuted on March 31, 2004, NBC trumpeted it as the “counterweight” to the "right-wing bent" of talk radio. Katie Couric enthused that Al Franken and his colleagues hoped “to break into what has been a conservative lock on the radio.” However, when the beleaguered Air America announced bankruptcy on Thursday, both the Nightly News and Friday's Today…
NewsBusters Interview: Tim Carney, Author of 'Obamanomics
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Americans were treated to a number of populist sermons on the "special interests" who would oppose "reform" at any cost to maintain the "status quo" from which they "profit financially or politically." The drug companies, the energy companies, the Wall Street bankers, and the health insurers were the corporate enemies of a just and harmonious America, or so…
NBC's O'Donnell Refuses to View Scott Brown Win as a Victory for GOP
NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, over the last three days on the Today show, has refused to acknowledge Scott Brown's success as something for the GOP to celebrate. On Tuesday she accused Brown of ducking the GOP label throughout his campaign, then on Wednesday's show she noted that in Brown's victory speech "Interestingly, Senator-Elect Brown did not talk about being a Republican, instead, he framed this…
Companies Donate $83 Million to Haiti, Get Less Than Three Minutes of
Americans are generous people, and they prove it every time a disaster strikes like last week's earthquake in Haiti. They have donated more than $275 million to relief efforts in the Caribbean nation in the week since the quake. Nearly one-third of that money came from U.S. companies, a point rarely mentioned on the broadcast news. According to the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC), 203…
NBC's David Gregory Realizes What Tea Parties Are All About
A small group of liberal talking heads may be realizing that opposition to Obama is not, in fact, wholly irrational. Though it would be a bit too hasty to proclaim it a trend among the mainstream media, it has been a refreshing break from the smears usually hurled at the right by the nation's pundits. First was Chris Matthews, who stunningly turned right and voiced his concern about an…
Vieira to Scott Brown: You're Derailing Cause of Teddy's Lifetime
NBC's Meredith Vieira, on Wednesday's Today show, rained on Scott Brown's parade as she wondered if the Senator-Elect's post-victory call to Ted Kennedy's widow Vicki was an awkward moment since, as the Today co-anchor pressed, "You plan to do whatever you can to derail...the cause of his lifetime?" [Audio available here]MEREDITH VIEIRA: You know on a personal note, you said last night the…
NBC Reporter Accuses Scott Brown of Ducking GOP Label
On Tuesday's Today show NBC's Kelly O'Donnell -- apparently reaching to find something negative to say about the surging Scott Brown -- accused the Republican Massachusetts Senate candidate of running away from his own party as she questioned: "You don't mention the Republican Party much in your campaign. Why is that?" To which Brown quickly asserted: "I think people know I'm a Republican. That'…
NBC’s Jenna Wolfe: Is ‘Unified Opposition’ from GOP Partly to Bl
On Sunday’s Today show on NBC – during which correspondent Savannah Guthrie filed a report which seemed to credit President Obama for "managing to avoid a depression," while also acknowledging that "the President's once sky-high approval rating slumped as unemployment stubbornly stayed in double digits" – after Guthrie’s report, anchor Jenna Wolfe wondered if Republicans were partly to blame for…
NBC: ‘Historic Upset’ in Bay State ‘Political Crisis’ for Obam
On Saturday’s Today show on NBC, anchor Amy Robach brought aboard MSNBC’s Joe Scarbarough to talk about President Obama’s handling of the relief effort in Haiti, and the President’s efforts to prevent Republican takeover of the Massachusetts Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. Robach introduced the segment referring to the possibility of a Democratic loss of the seat from Obama’s point-of-…
When Bush Plummets in Polls, It's News--Obama, Not So Much
It is a strange paradigm among much of the mainstream media that plummeting poll numbers are of far greater import for Republicans than they are for Democrats. That, at least, is the logical conclusion of the relative silence of major media outlets on the steep decline in President Obama's poll numbers compared with the decline in President Bush's.According to an Allstate/National Journal poll…
Scarborough: 'I Prefer My Dog To Leno
Ouch. Joe Scarborough on today's Morning Joe:JOE SCARBOROUGH: You understand what I'm saying. I prefer Conan to Leno. I prefer my dog to Leno. That's just me: well, my dog's very funny.The irony is that--his personal preference for canine comedy notwithstanding--Joe went on to argue that from a business perspective, it makes sense to replace O'Brien with Leno . . .
