Networks Applaud GOP Caving on Debt Ceiling: 'America One Step Closer
February 12th, 2014 10:45 AM
All three network morning shows on Wednesday cheered House Republicans giving up on trying to attach conditions to raising the nation's borrowing limit. On NBC's Today, news reader Natalie Morales proclaimed: "America is one step closer to being able to pay its bills next month." None of the coverage acknowledged that the move actually meant adding to the nation's massive $17 trillion debt…
'BOW DOWN:' NBC's White House Producer Goes Gaga Over Michelle Obama's
February 12th, 2014 12:12 AM
Fifty years to the day after The Beatles' first concert in the United States, NBC's Shawna Thomas could have been mistaken for one of the screaming fan girls at the Washington Coliseum. But instead of idolizing the rock and roll band, the network's White House producer shouted for joy over Michelle Obama's gown, which the First Lady wore to Tuesday's state dinner for French President Francois…
Networks Give Little Coverage to 'Another Hiccup' for ObamaCare
February 11th, 2014 10:20 AM
Between Monday's network evening newscasts and Tuesday's morning shows, NBC, ABC and CBS failed to provide a single full report on President Obama unilaterally issuing another ObamaCare mandate delay for businesses. In addition, only a single sentence on Tuesday's CBS This Morning described the controversial move as the President "rewriting the law."
On Tuesday's NBC Today, Natalie Morales…
NBC Frets Over 'Brutal' Attack on Hillary From 'Anti-Clinton' Website
February 10th, 2014 8:54 PM
Instead of treating Hillary Clinton as a possible presidential candidate who must be vetted, NBC framed her as a sympathetic victim of a "brutal" and personal attack on Monday's Nightly News.
Andrea Mitchell bemoaned that "inflammatory excerpts" of "once-private papers" of Clinton's close friend were published an "anti-Clinton website" -- the conservative news site Washington Free Beacon.…
NBCNews.com Pits 'Grieving Mom' Against Abortion Absolutists Regarding
February 10th, 2014 7:25 PM
From the teaser headline, it sounds like a promising, positive story about a Colorado woman's crusade for justice for her unborn son, whose life was taken by a drunken driver. [see screen capture below page break]
But being an NBCNews.com story, apologists for the abortion industry had to be given significant room for rebuttal.
Awww! NBC's Meredith Vieira Laments Demise of Soviet Union as 'a Bitte
February 10th, 2014 1:16 PM
(Update: a video initially included in this post was blocked immediately by the International Olympic Committee on "copyright grounds." An audio clip has been added.)
Gee, where would anyone ever get the impression that high-profile liberals working in American media have a deathless soft spot for Soviet Russia?
True, one does come away with that impression in only a specific, narrow…
NBC Skips AOL Executive's Slam of ObamaCare Costs, CBS Highlights
February 10th, 2014 12:21 PM
AOL executive Tim Armstrong last week publicly worried about how ObamaCare is impacting his company, but only CBS highlighted this complaint. NBC, instead, focused solely on his "outrageous" comments about how seriously ill babies have impacted AOL's 401k plan. ObamaCare went unmentioned.
In a CNBC interview on Friday, Armstrong explained why the company would cut retirement benefits: "As…
Networks Hail Gay Football Player Coming Out as 'Watershed Moment in A
February 10th, 2014 11:29 AM
After University of Missouri football player and NFL draft prospect Michael Sam came out as gay in interviews over the weekend, all three network morning shows on Monday veered into gay rights activism as they celebrated the announcement. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
On CBS This Morning, co-host Norah O'Donnell described the development as "a potential watershed…
Report: NBC Sliced Out Olympic Official's Anti-Russia Slam in Opening
February 9th, 2014 1:17 PM
For any media critic keeping score on whether NBC is cutting corners to be kind to help their Russian hosts, the sports-journalism blog Deadspin reports that International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach made a statement during the Opening Ceremonies that included a not-so-veiled punch at the Russians and their speech-squashing “gay propaganda” law, telling the athletes it’s possible to…
NBC's Bob Costas Describes Putin as Better Statesman Than Obama
February 8th, 2014 10:57 PM
What was the best way for NBC to begin that network's coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia? Have sports anchor Bob Costas host a brief profile on Vladmir Putin in which the Russian president is hailed as a global statesman superior to U.S. president Barack Obama. '
During a video portion of the profile, Costas said that Putin is an accomplished peacemaker, crediting him with…
NBC Glorifies Russia's Soviet Past as 'One of Modern History's Pivotal
February 7th, 2014 9:53 PM
NBC whitewashed Russia's communist legacy in the lead segment of its Friday broadcast of the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage narrated the network's lionization of the largest country by land mass: "Russia overwhelms. Russia mystifies. Russia transcends. Through every stage of its story, it's resisted any notion of limitation. Through…
CNN Touts Obama's 'Very Moving' Religious Liberty Speech; Omits ObamaC
February 7th, 2014 7:50 PM
Thursday's CNN Newsroom spotlighted how President Obama "called for promoting religious freedom – quote, 'a key part of U.S. foreign policy," at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, but glossed over his administration's controversial birth control/abortifacient mandate under ObamaCare, which is being challenged in an ongoing Supreme Court case. The cable network still stood out, however, as…
Security Expert: NBC Deceptively Edited Story to Make Sochi Hacking Th
February 7th, 2014 6:34 PM
A cyber security expert featured on the February 4 NBC Nightly News is alleging that producers edited the story in such a way as to sensationalize the threat that tourists at the Olympic Games in Sochi face from hackers.
Hadas Gold of Politico has the story in a piece at the paper's On Media blog:
The Media's Most Outrageous Olympic Outbursts: Ashamed of the U.S.A
February 7th, 2014 9:48 AM
Sports fans checking in on coverage of Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia might want to brace themselves for unexpected outbursts of liberal preaching from reporters covering the games. Over the years the MRC has documented lefty reporters and writers using the games to celebrate socialist policies, bash expressions of patriotism and even work in jabs against Republicans.
In…