Nearly a half-hour into Saturday’s Democratic presidential debate on CBS, Salon writer Joan Walsh and former Democratic Vermont Governor Howard Dean took to Twitter to blast moderator John Dickerson for merely asking legitimate questions of the candidates on foreign policy and whether or not the United States (and by extension, the West) is at war with “radical Islam.”
Middle East
By Curtis Houck | November 14, 2015 | 9:29 PM EST
A special Saturday edition of Fox News Channel’s Special Report aired due to the terror attacks 24 hours earlier in Paris with a panel of The Weekly Standard’s Steve Hayes, U.S. News & World Report’s David Catanese, and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer. Collectively, the panel had a variety of takes, ranging from slamming the Democratic presidential candidates for seeming “very small” after the attacks to observing that the U.S. has not “done whatever it takes” to stop ISIS.
By Curtis Houck | November 14, 2015 | 6:58 PM EST
Opining on HBO’s Real Time on Friday’s Islamic terror attacks in Paris, former MSNBC host and liberal activist Dylan Ratigan explained that the reason Islamist extremists despise the United States and Western Civilization (and thus carry out attacks) is due to U.S. “financ[ing] the capital flow into Saudi Arabia” that cause poor Muslims to commit such atrocities against innocent people in the West.
By Brad Wilmouth | November 14, 2015 | 2:40 PM EST
During Saturday morning's live MSNBC coverage of the Paris terror attacks, Daily Beast Foreign Editor Christopher Dickey worried that "the right wing politicians" in France "are going to do their best to take advantage of it and probably successfully to further divide this country," leading host Tamron Hall to recall concerns that a "tsunami of hatred may await Muslims."
CBS Spotlights Plight of Iraqi Christians Under Threat from ISIS; ‘Their Way of Life Is Disappearing’
By Curtis Houck | November 4, 2015 | 3:15 AM EST Tuesday’s CBS Evening News provided viewers with a rare look at an issue that’s often been ignored by the media in its coverage of ISIS gaining ground in the Middle East: Christians facing persecution. Fill-in anchor Charlie Rose set the scene by stating the obvious that “Iraq today is a fractured nation” with “[m]uch of the north” now “controlled by ISIS.” Rose then tossed to foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata to report on “a town where people fear their way of life is disappearing.”
By Matthew Balan | November 2, 2015 | 3:34 PM EST
CNN's Alisyn Camerota spotlighted Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday's New Day over his supposedly good performance at the earlier CNBC debate for the lower-tier Republican presidential candidates: "You being on that early debate has allowed you to bust out some great zingers and jokes. I mean, a lot of people thought that you stole the show...it gave you more air time that you wouldn't actually get on the main stage...It also distinguished you in terms of substance."
By Mark Finkelstein | October 23, 2015 | 10:06 AM EDT
Say, Tom, maybe you could lead a movement to retroactively impeach George W. Bush . . . On today's Morning Joe, Tom Brokaw, downplayed the significance of Benghazi, suggesting instead that what we really needed was "a big congressional investigation about the decision to go to war in the first place in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist."
Brokaw also underlined that more lives were lost in terrorist attacks on the US Marine barracks in Lebanon, the USS Cole and Khobar Towers than in Benghazi. Brokaw made a point to mention that the attack on the Marine barracks happened during Ronald Reagan's presidency, but failed to disclose that the USS Cole and Khobar Towers attacks happened during the presidency of Hillary Clinton's husband. Simple slip by Brokaw, no doubt.
By Brad Wilmouth | October 22, 2015 | 10:47 PM EDT
On Wednesday's The Lead with Jake Tapper, CNN host Jake Tapper devoted attention to Palestinian incitement of violence against Israelis in a way rarely seen in the dominant media as he pressed PLO official Maen Rashid Areikat about recent stabbing attacks against Jews.
By Mark Finkelstein | October 20, 2015 | 8:53 AM EDT
This could be the worst whitewashing since Tom Sawyer suckered people into helping him with that fence... On today's Morning Joe, Joe Klein cleared Hillary of responsibility for American deaths in Benghazi, and blamed the CIA.
According to Klein, "this really was a CIA station there, not so much a consulate, and those guys should be able to protect themselves in most circumstances." Klein doesn't think Hillary should even be called to testify: "this is something that does not rise to the level of the Secretary of State." He suggested instead that David Petraeus be hauled before the committee.
By Brad Wilmouth | October 19, 2015 | 1:45 AM EDT
As NBC's Martin Fletcher made a couple of appearances on MSNBC on Sunday, he made an acknowledgement rarely seen in the dominant media of Palestinian Authority incitement of violence against Israel as he recalled for viewers -- although with apparent reluctance -- that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had recently called for the prevention of Jews entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque with their "filthy feet."
By Brad Wilmouth | October 16, 2015 | 10:47 PM EDT
On Friday's Wolf show on CNN, during an interview with Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, substitute host Jim Sciutto cited a quote from State Department Spokesman John Kirby accusing Israeli security forces of using "excessive force" against Palestinians as he charged that Israelis have been using "live fire" to shoot at "unarmed protesters."
By Matthew Balan | October 16, 2015 | 5:32 PM EDT
Thursday's CBS Evening News was the sole Big Three network morning and evening newscast to report on the death of Ken Taylor, the former Canadian ambassador to Iran who helped six Americans escape during the 1979 hostage crisis in Tehran. As of Friday morning, ABC's Good Morning America and World News Tonight, along with NBC's Today and NBC Nightly News, have yet to cover Taylor's death.