Defensive Lauer Forced to Admit Palin Not An Idiot

February 23rd, 2009 4:08 PM
Confronted by Sarah Palin documentarian John Ziegler, on Monday's "Today" show, NBC's Matt Lauer was forced to admit that the media perception of the Alaska governor as an "idiot" was "a lie." However Lauer displayed some disbelief that the media heavily pushed that line during the campaign as he professed, "I don't think that everybody in the media ran out saying, 'Sarah Palin is an idiot.'"…

On 'Today': Rove Takes Obama to Task On Mortgage Mess

February 17th, 2009 11:11 AM
Karl Rove was invited on Tuesday's "Today" show to discuss Obama's stimulus plan and NBC's Matt Lauer pressed the former Bush senior adviser about the one-sidedness of the vote on the bill by the GOP as he pressed Rove: "219, if you add up the House and the Senate we have what, 219 Republicans. All but three of them voted against this plan...do those 216 Republicans run the risk of being on the…

NBC's Andrea Mitchell Recalls Hillary's Heroic, Yet Giggly China Trip

February 16th, 2009 4:33 PM

Network Morning Shows Downplay Burris Perjury Allegations

February 16th, 2009 1:52 PM
Monday morning show coverage of allegations that Illinois Senator Roland Burris may have perjured himself with respect to connections to impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich minimized calls for investigation or Burris’s resignation. On the CBS Early Show, correspondent Thailia Assuras explained: "State Republican lawmakers are calling for Senator Roland Burris to resign and be investigated…

NYT Editor Denies Reporters Fell 'In Love' With Obama

February 16th, 2009 1:33 PM
NBC's "Today" show invited, on Monday, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller to promote a new book featuring photos from the campaign called, Obama: The Historic Journey, and in his interview with Keller, substitute anchor David Gregory actually asked if the book adds to the, "criticism of the news media that we're somehow cheerleaders for Barack Obama," to which Keller admitted it was "a…

Ann Curry Lofts Softballs to Bill Clinton on 'Today

February 16th, 2009 10:49 AM
NBC's Ann Curry traveled down to Texas to speak with former President Bill Clinton, on Monday's "Today" show to talk to him about his Global Initiative but never asked Clinton about all the troubles his Initiative, and his foreign ties, caused and could potentially still cause his wife in her role as Secretary of State. Instead Curry asked Clinton mostly softball questions about how Barack Obama…

Network Morning Shows Mostly Ignore Gregg Withdrawal; Census Grab

February 13th, 2009 4:21 PM
CBS's "Early Show" and ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday almost entirely ignored the embarrassing departure of yet another of Barack Obama's cabinet nominees, with only NBC's "Today" providing any real information on the event. GMA devoted a scant 15 seconds to the withdrawal of Republican Senator Judd Gregg as the President's second nominee for Commerce Secretary. (Previous choice Bill…

CBS Praises Obama Tax Cuts, Slammed Bush’s

February 13th, 2009 1:41 PM
On Thursday’s CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric introduced a report on the Democrats’ so-called "stimulus" plan about to pass Congress: "And we'll tell you what's in it for you, including tax breaks...It's designed, in part, to get you spending again by giving you the money to do it." However, in July of 2001, when President Bush was trying to get tax cut legislation passed, then Evening News…

Lauer Fearmongers On Stimulus: 'Draconian Cuts' In 'Jobs, Teachers, Co

February 9th, 2009 11:52 AM
Matt Lauer invited on two Senate supporters and no opponents of Barack Obama's stimulus bill, on Monday's "Today" show and asked pro-stimulus bill questions to his guests, even chiding those who opposed it, when he asked Republican Senator Susan Collins about two of her GOP colleagues who are against it: "So what do you get that those two are not getting?" Lauer, also depicted a gloomy picture…

NBC Thrills Over 'Brand Obama': 'The Messiah of Madison Avenue

February 6th, 2009 4:33 PM
On a day when Barack Obama was struggling to push through a stimulus bill in Congress, journalists on Friday's "Today" show decided to fawn over the branding of the new President, even referring to the Commander in Chief as the "messiah of Madison Avenue." NBC correspondent Jamie Gangel highlighted a batch of new Obama merchandise and enthused, "And the whole world is apparently going Obama."…

‘Today Show’ Suggests Single Moms Only Need Dad’s Money

February 6th, 2009 4:26 PM
The morning show hosts reduce role of octuplets’ father to monetary supplier.It’s a battle of materialism vs. morality on NBC’s Today show, and materialism is the clear winner. Apparently, the single mother of octuplets only needs their father for financial support.In a February 6 preview of an exclusive interview with the Nadya Suleman, single mother of octuplets, the Today Show hosts mention…

'Today' Trumpets Obama's Wall Street Lecturing

February 5th, 2009 1:56 PM
On Thursday's "Today" show NBC reporters offered little skepticism of Barack Obama's dictations to corporate America, instead buttressing Obama soundbites with sloganeering as, Meredith Vieira declared, "President Obama lashing out at Wall Street and clamping down on corporate fat cats," and Savannah Guthrie underlined, "The President bashed Wall Street," and "took a shot across the bow." The "…

NBC's Ann Curry Gushes: 'Who Are We Going to Be' Because of Obamas

February 4th, 2009 12:15 PM
On last Friday's "Today" show, Ann Curry interviewed two magazine editors on the subject of Michelle and Barack Obama and rhapsodized over the effect the power couple could have on America. Speaking to the creative director of Ebony magazine, she fawned, "The question I think, really, ultimately, is who are we going to be because of them? Who are we going to be as a nation?" In a set-up piece to…

Vanity Fair's Maureen Orth Cheers Obama's Cabinet on 'Today

February 2nd, 2009 5:08 PM
NBC's Matt Lauer invited on Vanity Fair's Maureen Orth, on Monday's "Today" show, to promote her magazine's cover story on Barack Obama and the special correspondent celebrated the new President's incoming Cabinet as she cheered: "They have big plans to green the economy. The Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of Interior say, 'This is our moon shot.'" The easily impressed Orth then went on to…