On Thursday night, ABC and NBC cheered the “historic” agreement of an outline for continued talks with Iran and declared that “the United States could be entering a new era in its relationship” with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reflected on the “18 months of tough negotiations” that “end[ed] with an all-nighter” with the possibility that “the United States could be entering a new era in its relationship with Iran and President Obama is telling critics this will make our world safer.”
Ann Curry
By Curtis Houck | March 30, 2015 | 11:52 PM EDT
While reporting on Monday’s NBC Nightly News with the latest from the Iranian side of the international talks in Switzerland over their nuclear program, Ann Curry smeared U.S. conservatives by likening them to radical hardliners in Iran’s Islamic regime: “As in the U.S., Iran has conservatives who don't trust the other side and they are ready to pounce if they believe negotiators give up too much.”
By Matthew Balan | November 17, 2014 | 2:45 PM EST
CBS and NBC's morning and evening newscasts on Saturday and Sunday ignored Pope Francis's condemnation of abortion and euthanasia during a Saturday meeting with Catholic doctors in Italy. Their omission is glaring when compared to their hype over a supposed "seismic shift towards gays and divorcees" in a proposed document from a bishops' meeting. Surprisingly, ABC's fluff-filled Good Morning America devoted nine seconds to the pontiff's speech, but only mentioned his targeting of euthanasia.
By Randy Hall | September 4, 2014 | 9:37 PM EDT
Have you ever been stuck in “rush hour” traffic and wished you could fly to and from work in a helicopter? If so, you have something in common with Matt Lauer because NBC executives are so anxious to keep the host of its Today morning program happy that they're willing to do just that.
In an article on the Page Six website, reporter Emily Smith stated that Lauer -- who in June extended his $20-million-per-year contract through 2016 -- gets a chopper ride to and from the NBC set to his 40-acre horse farm and nearby mansion in the Hamptons a number of times per week but insists that he and his family live "a painfully normal existence."
By Rich Noyes | August 18, 2014 | 7:51 AM EDT
What’s the difference between a political scandal involving a Republican and one involving a Democrat? When it comes to news coverage, reporters almost always identify the political party of a Republican caught in a scandal, but when the culprit is a Democrat, the party label is usually left out of the story.
There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but not many. To prove the point, here’s how ABC, CBS and NBC have identified (or failed to identify) the figures in 16 political scandals — 8 Democrats, 8 Republicans — as documented by NewsBusters during the past few years:
By Matthew Balan | June 4, 2014 | 9:36 PM EDT
Ann Curry trumpeted that Hillary Clinton supposedly gave a "uncharacteristically revealing interview" to People magazine on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News. Kelly O'Donnell filed a gushing report about how Mrs. Clinton apparently "has plenty to say," and spotlighted the former secretary of state's new book.
O'Donnell later zeroed-in on the upcoming arrival of Clinton's grandchild and asserted that this would give a "new dimension to her already well-known, often-scrutinized political identity." She also turned to a Washington Post editor, who played up that the former Democratic senator might gain a political advantage from the baby: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]
By Jeffrey Meyer | May 5, 2014 | 9:11 AM EDT
Once again, NBC was out to scare its viewers about the threat of man-made climate change. Appearing on the Sunday, May 4 NBC Nightly News, Ann Curry narrated a 2 minute 30 second piece that attempted to instill panic in its viewers about the supposed dire state of the world’s climate.
Curry began her report by showing video of cars falling off of a street in Baltimore, Maryland after a heavy rainstorm before bemoaning that this “is one example of extreme weather events that may be more common in the future.” [See video below.]
By Tim Graham | April 18, 2014 | 7:46 PM EDT
Weasel Zippers has the latest superiority dance from Al Gore, in a speech at the University of Hawaii.
"Ultimately, we are going to win this thing," he said, one of many statements met with hearty applause from the Hawaiians, reported the Civil Beat. He displayed “a Bell Curve showing the number of hotter days over the past 80 years grow alarmingly disproportionate to the number of cooler days and days with average temperatures.”
By Sean Long | April 8, 2014 | 3:58 PM EDT
The “Green is Universal” network is at it again, warning about the threat of man-made climate change. Ann Curry’s latest NBC production, “Our Year of Extremes” was billed as a documentary even though it was thoroughly alarmist and ignored plenty of scientific disagreement.
In the hour-long program Curry, kept up the hype about a connection between “extreme” weather events and global warming, presented “controversial” science about ice melt and staved off skepticism with claims of a 97 percent “consensus” on the issue of climate change.
(video after break)
By Kyle Drennen | April 4, 2014 | 10:45 AM EDT
Teasing an upcoming special on global warming hosted by Ann Curry, on Friday's NBC Today, news anchor Natalie Morales hyped the danger: "The head of the World Bank is warning that climate change will lead to violent conflict over shortages of food and water. And this Sunday night, NBC's Ann Curry shows us how ordinary people are already witnessing the impact of rising global temperatures." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
In the preview that followed, Curry proclaimed: "It feels like an all-out assault. For the last year and a half, it seems mother nature has thrown everything at us. What on Earth is going on?" She touted how "for more than a year" she and her news crew had been "searching for answers to what's causing these weather extremes."
By Matt Hadro | February 5, 2014 | 11:55 PM EST
On Tuesday’s Nightly News, NBC hyped a “scathing” United Nations report that ripped the Catholic church for covering up sexual abuse crimes. The report also pressed the church to change its teaching on birth control, abortion, and homosexuality.
“Tonight, a scathing report by a United Nations human rights group has slammed the Vatican and the hierarchy of the Catholic church,” reported fill-in anchor Ann Curry. NBC featured critical statements from both the U.N. and the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
NBC Applauds Budget Deal Ending 'Harshest Spending Cuts'; Bemoans 'Crisis' of Not Extending Jobless Benefits
By Kyle Drennen | December 12, 2013 | 5:18 PM EST
On Tuesday's Nightly News, after news broke of a budget deal in Congress, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell announced: "...the usual Washington dysfunction is on hold tonight." She touted the agreement to anchor Brian Willams by noting: "It would also roll back some of the harshest automatic spending cuts, the sequester for the Pentagon and domestic programs." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
O'Donnell cautioned that the deal "does not extend jobless benefits for those out of work the longest..." On Wednesday's broadcast, fill-in anchor Ann Curry picked up on that point and fretted: "While the agreement avoids another government shutdown next month, it also sidestepped dealing with the crisis facing 1.3 million Americans who've been out of work for a long time. And that means their unemployment benefits will stop at the end of the month unless Congress takes action."