NBC's Lauer Claims Breitbart Violated Conservative Principles by Break

June 7th, 2011 11:30 AM
In an interview with Andrew Breitbart on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer suggested the conservative blogger should not have broken news of the scandal involving Congressman Anthony Weiner: "Did you worry that – you know, as a conservative, you don't want government in people's bedrooms. And so did you stop and have a debate with yourself about that?" Moments earlier, Breitbart had…

Press Ignores Sunstein's 'Young Man' Claim, But in 1998 Jumped on Hyde

June 6th, 2011 10:30 PM
On Friday, Cass Sunstein, the White House's 56 year-old Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (pictured at right), attempted to disavow a 42-page paper he wrote called "Lives, Life-Years, and Willingness to Pay," which recommended that the government reduce resources directed at benefitting the elderly in favor of increasing what goes to young people, because young…

NBC: 'Critics Blast' 'Bad Case' Against John Edwards, 'Did Government

June 6th, 2011 12:12 PM
At the top of Monday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer touted objections to the indictment of former Democratic Senator John Edwards: "Some critics blast the government's case against the former presidential candidate. Why they say what he did may not have been against the law." Introducing a later report on the scandal, fellow co-host Meredith Vieira similarly proclaimed: "There are growing…

Fox News Accidentally Shows Picture of Tina Fey in Story About Palin

June 6th, 2011 1:15 AM
Someone at Fox News has some serious 'splaining to do. During a Sunday segment about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's interview with Chris Wallace earlier in the day, a picture of Tina Fey impersonating her nemesis was accidentally placed in the upper-right corner of the screen:

Networks Skipping the Blago Retrial...As If It Were Irrelevant to Obam

June 5th, 2011 6:04 PM
Let’s not imagine Anthony Weiner was the only Democratic embarrassment of the last week. Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was back on trial in Chicago last week “offering an enthralling and self-immolating primer on American government,” wrote former Chicago Tribune editor James Warren.  “In talking about his mulling appointing himself to Obama's senate seat, Blagojevich even said that it…

NBC’s Williams Smugly Swats at Sarah Palin’s Botched History; Neve

June 4th, 2011 1:00 PM
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams seemed to take smug delight Friday night in pointing out how Sarah Palin’s off-the-cuff recounting of Paul Revere’s ride was at odds with the correct history, smirking that Palin’s version “already has tongues wagging.” Williams interest was unique — neither the CBS Evening News, anchored by Harry Smith, nor ABC’s World News, with ex-Democratic spin…

In Friday Morning Coverage of John Edwards Scandal, CBS Only Major Net

June 3rd, 2011 6:29 PM
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

June 3rd, 2011 2:54 PM
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

June 2nd, 2011 4:25 PM
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

June 2nd, 2011 12:53 PM
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

June 1st, 2011 6:39 PM
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

June 1st, 2011 6:00 PM
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

June 1st, 2011 3:08 PM
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

May 31st, 2011 12:41 PM
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…