Liberal Diane Sawyer Swears Neutrality: 'People Will Know What the Tru

July 8th, 2011 4:10 PM
World News host Diane Sawyer swears she simply "brings the facts" and makes sure people "know what the truth is." The anchor appeared on Thursday's O'Reilly Factor to promote her new special on kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard. O'Reilly pointed out that such stories of brutality infuriate him and are the reason he's a commentator and not a straight journalist. Asked if she ever shows anger as…

ABC Touts Teachers Blaming Standardized Tests for Atlanta Cheating Sca

July 7th, 2011 2:10 AM
 As the broadcast network evening newscasts filed reports this week on the teacher cheating scandal in Atlanta, Georgia, ABC’s World News on its Wednesday show went furthest in seeming to sympathize with the teachers who cheated as correspondent Steve Osunami highlighted complaints about No Child Left Behind’s emphasis on standardized tests to judge teacher performance. After recounting details…

ABC Highlights Study Linking July 4 Parade Attendance to Voting Republ

July 3rd, 2011 9:38 PM

 On Friday's World News on ABC, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi detailed findings of a Harvard study which claims a correlation between attending July 4 parades and voting for Republicans. Substitute host David Muir introduced the story: "And tonight, a provocative new study suggests the simple act of taking your child to see the parade shapes not only their patriotism but their politics. Who…

ABC Highlights Bachmann’s Miscarriage and Its Effect on Her Pro-Life

July 1st, 2011 2:15 AM

 On Thursday evening, uniquely among the broadcast network evening newscasts, ABC’s World News featured a report on GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s recent revelation that her pro-life views were influenced by a miscarriage she once endured. ABC correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi also informed viewers of the Minnesota Congresswoman’s history of giving care to foster children with her…

ABC Touts Liberal Mayors Demanding Less Defense Spending, More Money f

June 29th, 2011 8:19 AM
 On ABC’s World News on Sunday, a report by correspondent Jim Avila highlighted the complaints of left-wing mayors who expressed wishes that more defense spending would be redirected at projects in their cities. The NBC correspondent speculated about what other items could be paid for using the money used by the Pentagon in Afghanistan and Iraq, and concluded the report seeming to suggest…

Networks Omit Blagojevich's Democratic Affiliation After Conviction

June 28th, 2011 5:42 PM
ABC, CBS, and NBC all failed to mention former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's affiliation with the Democratic Party on their Monday evening news broadcasts and the Tuesday morning shows. Blagojevich was convicted by a jury on Monday on 17 out of 20 charges, mainly related to the attempt to sell the Senate seat of President Obama. Only CBS's Early Show noted his party with a "D" on-screen…

With Chris Wallace’s Help, ABC and NBC Paint Bachmann as Fact-Challe

June 28th, 2011 9:29 AM
All three broadcast network evening newscasts awarded full stories Monday night to Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign announcement, with ABC and NBC unable to resist pouncing on Chris Wallace’s “are you a flake?” question to frame their stories. ABC’s Jonathan Karl highlighted how she’s “been accused of being loose with the facts, saying, for example, that the President's last trip to…

ABC and NBC Refuse to ID Party of Mobster’s Brother, ‘Celebrated S

June 25th, 2011 2:54 PM
The ABC and NBC evening newscasts have focused stories on Billy Bulger, the long-time Massachusetts Democratic political hack who is the younger brother of just-captured reputed mass-murdering Mobster Whitey Bulger, but both refused to identify Billy Bulger’s party affiliation. (The CBS Evening News has, so far, not even mentioned Billy.) “While Whitey Bulger was running a gang, his brother…

ABC, NBC Kowtow to Michelle Obama, but Took Shots at Laura Bush

June 24th, 2011 5:35 PM
When ABC and NBC interview First Ladies, both the tone and substance of the discussion tend to hinge on whether the husband is an Obama or a Bush. On Wednesday's ABC "World News" and NBC "Nightly News," network correspondents sat down with Michelle Obama in South Africa for exclusive interviews in which they lobbed softball questions and avoided her husband's policies. But in interviews with…

ABC Only Big Three Net to Fully Cover Seattle Islamist Terror Plot; NB

June 24th, 2011 3:47 PM
NBC barely covered the Thursday arrests of two Islamists in a planned terrorist attack on a military facility in Seattle. The network didn't cover the breaking news at all on Thursday's Nightly News, and devoted only 17 seconds to it on Friday's Today Show. Thursday's CBS Evening News had a minute-long report on the arrests, while ABC had full reports on the arrests on World News and GMA.…

Big Three Networks Ignore Obama's Medal of Honor Screw-Up

June 24th, 2011 3:04 PM
Barack Obama's confusing one living American war hero with a fallen one he honored in 2009, has been completely ignored by the Big Three Networks shows, including the same NBC Nightly News that threw a fit over Sarah Palin's recent recounting of an event over 200 years ago, Paul Revere's ride.

ABC, NBC Starstruck by 'Patented Michelle (Obama) Power

June 22nd, 2011 12:43 PM
ABC and NBC have delivered fawning coverage of First Lady Michelle Obama's visit this week to South Africa and Botswana, oozing over the "celebrity" and "excitement" of the "patented Michelle power" on display. To its credit, CBS has largely taken a pass on the idolatry. Video follows break

Nets Ignore Emissions Decision, Politico Carries EPA's Water

June 21st, 2011 1:10 PM
The Supreme Court on Monday unequivocally rejected the notion that courts should force power companies to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, but none of the major broadcast networks covered the unanimous decision on their evening newscasts or morning shows. The New York Times teased the ruling on the front page of Tuesday's paper, directing readers to a thorough analysis of the 8-0 decision,…

ABC on Terror Suspect, Everything But a Muslim: ‘Marine Lance Corpor

June 17th, 2011 9:07 PM
Add ABC’s World News and the NBC Nightly News to James Taranto’s list of news outlets (“Losing His Religion: A Pentagon terror scare and a media taboo”) which refuse to identify Yonathan Melaku, who was caught in Arlington Cemetery with suspicious material and a notebook praising the Taliban, as a Muslim. Instead, on Friday night ABC offered a bunch of ways to describe Melaku , who caused a…