In covering President Obama’s refusal to refer to terrorism as Islamic extremism, CBS and NBC devoted portions of their reports on Thursday night to comments Rudy Giuliani made the day before with NBC reserving a majority of their airtime to attacking the former New York City Mayor for having “set off a war of words” and taking presidential criticism “to another level.” Andrea Mitchell declared he set off “a firestorm” over telling an audience that “I do not believe that the President loves America” and suggested that Giuliani went too far.
Jonathan Karl
By Curtis Houck | February 18, 2015 | 9:39 PM EST
The “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC each devoted full segments on their Wednesday evening newscasts to a speech given by possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush in Chicago and how the former Florida Governor would be the latest member of the Bush family dynasty to run for president. In focusing on the dynasty angle, however, ABC and NBC failed to even note that Hillary Clinton’s possible Democratic presidential run would make her the second Clinton to occupy the Oval Office.
By Curtis Houck | February 17, 2015 | 10:06 PM EST
Just shy of 24 hours after a federal judge halted President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty, the major broadcast networks displayed their palpable opposition to the ruling during their Tuesday night broadcasts, lamenting that it “dashes American dreams for millions of families under the threat of deportation” after Wednesday was set “to be a historic day for millions of illegal immigrants” when they could apply for legal status.
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 15, 2015 | 11:11 AM EST
On Sunday, ABC’s This Week promoted Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Iowa, fueling speculation that he might seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. While the Sunday show was quick to play up Biden’s Iowa trip, fill-in host Jonathan Karl and his panel ignored a gaffe he made during a speech at Drake University on Thursday in which he referred to former Iowa Democratic Representative Neal Smith as his “old butt buddy.”
By Joseph Rossell | February 9, 2015 | 3:53 PM EST
It has been nearly three months since President Barack Obama spoke out in favor of Internet regulation, calling for “net neutrality” and a “free and open Internet.” In spite of the massive impact such regulations could have on Americans, the broadcast networks have given the issue short shrift.
Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Tom Wheeler said on February 4 that he backed Obama’s plan to reclassify the Internet as a public utility under the government agency’s Title II authority. FCC commissioner Ajit Pai said in a press release on February 6 that the plan "marks a monumental shift toward government control of the Internet." Even a liberal think tank predicted that these regulations could cost American households $156 in new fees.
By Curtis Houck | January 28, 2015 | 11:07 PM EST
During the daily White House press briefing on Wednesday, Deputy Spokesman Eric Schultz had an exchange with ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl where he declined to label the Taliban as a terrorist organization, instead insisting it's “an armed insurgency.”
In an admission that surely would be covered if it were uttered by a spokesman for a Republican president, the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC all failed to cover this story during their Wednesday evening newscasts.
NBC’s Chris Jansing Gushes Over ‘an Energized, Combative President’; Scolds Boehner for Inviting Netanyahu
By Curtis Houck | January 22, 2015 | 7:28 AM EST NBC News senior White House correspondent Chris Jansing did her best to provide some White House spin during Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News, hailing President Obama as “an energized, combative President” whose policies made for a “carefully choreographed, populist message with the details generally panned by Republicans.”
Also within her report, Jansing found time to chide House Speaker John Boehner for “an unprecedented breach in protocol” in inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress without White House consultation.
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 21, 2015 | 11:33 AM EST
On Tuesday night, President Obama gave his sixth State of the Union address, and on Wednesday morning, ABC and CBS did their best to boost his speech and tout his liberal agenda to their audiences. During their respective broadcasts, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today made sure to play up Obama’s “renewed swagger” by giving an “aggressive speech” to Congress and America. ABC’s Jonathan Karl, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent, went so far as to declare Obama “seemed so confident you would have thought he had just won another election.”
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 20, 2015 | 10:59 AM EST
On Tuesday, ABC’s Good Morning America previewed President Obama’s 7th State of the Union address and the network did its best to play up President Obama’s recent unilateral actions aimed at normalizing American relations with Cuba. During a brief report that sounded more like a White House press release, ABC’s Jim Avila insisted that “tonight at the State of the Union President Obama will tell Congress that he has done all he can do to normalize relations with Cuba.”
ABC, NBC Cheer Obama’s Liberal Proposals in SOTU Previews; ‘Going to Play a Little Robin Hood’ With Tax Hikes
By Curtis Houck | January 19, 2015 | 9:58 PM EST Ahead of President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, the networks offered previews of his speech during their Monday evening newscasts with ABC and NBC working particularly hard to paint a rosy picture for Obama with rising poll numbers and having “redefined” the “model of how to sell the State of the Union.”
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 15, 2015 | 9:26 AM EST
On Thursday, ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS This Morning eagerly promoted President Obama’s latest proposal that would require all private companies provide their employees with “at least seven days of paid sick leave.” NBC’s Today did not cover President Obama’s initiative on their Thursday morning broadcast. During the network coverage of Obama’s initiative, GMA co-host Robin Roberts cheered on the program and insisted that “studies have shown again and again and again that paid sick leave, not only benefits workers and their families but employers, as well, because productivity goes up.”
By Curtis Houck | January 14, 2015 | 6:18 PM EST
On Wednesday, ABC’s Good Morning America had a segment that promoted how, due to budget cuts, the IRS will be forced to “delay those refund checks,” “increase the risk of identity theft,” conduct “46,000 fewer audits,” and maintain an “IRS help line” that “is going to become much less helpful.”
Co-host George Stephanopoulos lamented about “fewer audits means less revenue to the Treasury” to run the federal government and then asked ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl if there was “any chance that this can get fixed this year or is it a lost cause for this year.”