PBS

Leave it to a writer at Mother Jones to dispense condescending healthy eating advice while serving up a side dish of alleged historical racism with a tincture of capitalism bashing. Kiera Butler, a senior editor there, didn't have to engage in either exercise to make her nutritional points, which may have some validity. She must have felt that her primary headline ("Why You Should Stop Eating…

On Friday’s PBS NewsHour, New York Times columnists David Brooks and Mark Shields used their weekly appearance to trash the attendees of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) as representing the extreme far right of the Republican Party. 

Anyone who thinks the PBS NewsHour is a calm, rather nonpartisan forum on politics where no one does any trash-talking hasn’t seen Mark Shields on Fridays. On Friday, Shields trashed Jeb Bush as a bumbler, and then just insulted governors Scott Walker and Chris Christie as “total novices” on foreign policy, like he’s a standup comedian. But eight years ago, Shields said only "serious candidates…

When it came to the major broadcast networks covering the full congressional passage of the Keystone XL oil pipeline on their Wednesday night newscasts, ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir and the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley chose to ignore the story completely and left their viewers in the dark on this issue. Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News made it the second topic covered on its…

On Friday’s PBS NewsHour, New York Times columnist David Brooks and PBS commentator Mark Shields teamed up to praise President Obama’s controversial remarks about Christianity at the National Prayer Breakfast as well as to shame the GOP over two potential presidential candidates' recent vaccine gaffes. Speaking to co-host Judy Woodruff, Brooks slammed Senator Rand Paul and Governor Chris Christie…

The U.S. Senate took the step Thursday of approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline in a bipartisan fashion by a margin of 62-to-36, with nine Democrats joining 53 Republicans to pass it for the first time after failing to do so under the previous Congress.  When the major English and Spanish language networks aired their Thursday evening newscasts, however, the news of the bill’s passage was…

The State of the Union coverage on PBS last night had a slightly bizarre analysis as the speech ended. PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill jumped in over the applause and said Obama “talked about this being a breakthrough year for America and he seems to be taking on a victory lap.” Later, David Brooks said it was a "very liberal speech" and professed amazement that Obama pretended he hadn't been…

Appearing on PBS's Charlie Rose Tuesday night following President Obama's State of the Union address, Bloomberg View columnist Al Hunt praised it as "one of the best speeches of his presidency" and "remarkably effective," before admitting: "I don't think he's going to get much done....This is not a cycle where you get much done. He may get a little stuff on trade and infrastructure."

New York Times columnist David Brooks shows up every Friday on NPR and PBS to sound very moderate in the microphones, which usually means taking an immoderate swipe at conservatives. On both All Things Considered and the NewsHour on Friday, he slammed House conservatives by associating them with Fox News and their fans. On PBS, Brooks compared to the House vote to block funding for Obama’s…

In an interview with newly elected Colorado Senator Cory Gardner for PBS's Charlie Rose, Bloomberg View columnist Al Hunt grilled the Republican on conservatives in Congress being obstructionist: "Some of your Republican colleagues, Ted Cruz in the Senate, those twenty-four House members who voted against Speaker Boehner, they're not interested in getting things done as much as they are in…

During an interview with Senator Marco Rubio on Tuesday, PBS host Charlie Rose urged the Florida Republican to say something positive about ObamaCare: "What's the best thing you can say about the Affordable Care Act?" Rubio replied: "That it's forced us to have a debate about health insurance in America." Rose fretted: "That's it?"

"Klansville U.S.A." is a PBS American Experience production by WPBS in Boston based on a book of that title by David Cunningham. It is an interesting look at the rise and fall of the North Carolina Ku Klux Klan in the 1960s. A very good historical documentary marred by the jarring flaw of taking a cheap shot at Republicans.

On Monday, ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir and the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley did their best to move on from the Obama administration’s decision to not have President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, or Attorney General Eric Holder attend the march against Islamic terrorism in Paris on Sunday that drew well over one million people.  All told, ABC ran…

On Tuesday night, PBS aired its latest Frontline documentary aimed at attacking the NRA entitled "Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA." On multiple occasions, the program did its best to promote the activities of anti-gun activists while discrediting the efforts of the NRA to protect the Second Amendment. Throughout the hour long special, Frontline reporter Jim Gilmore highlighted several mass…