On Monday's NBC Today, correspondent Mara Schiavocampo offered a fawning report on the 20th anniversary of the popular children's show, Bill Nye, The Science Guy, describing its host as "Part teacher, part crusader." A sound bite followed of Nye declaring: "Climate change is happening." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
While Schiavocampo started by describing the success of educational program, she quickly turned to promote Nye's advocacy: "But don't let his friendly appearance fool you....Bill Nye has become a firebrand for science, an advocate regularly speaking out about topics like evolution and climate change."
Mara Schiavocampo
By Kyle Drennen | July 22, 2013 | 11:37 AM EDT
By Jeffrey Meyer | July 17, 2013 | 1:43 PM EDT
For years, MSNBC has taken a firm stance in favor of pro-abortion rights activists, with daily segments highlighting their support for abortion activists. MSNBC has served as an unofficial mouthpiece for Planned Parenthood, as it regularly brings on activists from the nation's largest abortion chain to rail against abortion safety laws across the country.
Take for example a recent segment on the July 17 MSNBC Live, in which fill-in host Mara Schiavocampo melodramatically began a segment with a Planned Parenthood representative by claiming that there was a “Another day. Another battle between state legislators and advocates for women's health care this time in Wisconsin.” The MSNBC host proceeded to then interview Tanya Atkinson of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin. No pro-life activist was brought on for balance, nor did Schiavocampo challenge Atkinson on any of her assertions. [See video after jump. MP3 audio here.]
NBC: Despite Overturned NYC Soda Ban, Bloomberg's 'Fight to Make New Yorkers Healthier Will Continue'
By Kyle Drennen | March 12, 2013 | 5:59 PM EDT
Introducing a report on Monday's NBC Nightly News about a New York City ban on large sugary drinks being overturned by a New York State Supreme Court judge, anchor Brian Williams touted how Mayor Michael Bloomberg "is saying this isn't over yet."
In the report that followed, correspondent Rehema Ellis proclaimed: "In a city of more than 8 million, where health officials say the obesity epidemic is responsible for more than 5,000 deaths a year, the Mayor says his fight to make New Yorkers healthier will continue."
By Kyle Drennen | November 17, 2011 | 3:50 PM EST
At the top of the 10 a.m. Eastern hour on MSNBC on Thursday, MSNBC aired uncensored taped footage of two topless women at the Occupy Wall Street protest in lower Manhattan. Fill-in anchor Richard Lui made no mention of the explicit images as he talked to correspondent Mara Schiavocampo about the protest. (h/t TVNewser)
Back in July, NBC's Today did an entire segment on why Americans are obsessed with breasts. Images of breasts were then shown a total of 54 times on the highest rated morning news broadcast.
By Brent Baker | October 14, 2011 | 12:57 AM EDT
In the face of their removal from a Manhattan park so it can be cleaned up, NBC anchor Brian Williams stepped up his praise Thursday night for the far-left Occupy Wall Street protesters. “They share a heritage with other big protest movements in American history,” he heralded in his lead story, “some of them have changed history.”
He then trumpeted: “The center of the message is increasingly resonating. The crowds tell us that. Now the polls tell us that.”
By Geoffrey Dickens | October 13, 2011 | 10:41 AM EDT
The Occupy Wall Street protestors have received overwhelmingly positive coverage from the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) news networks, as they used their airtime to publicize and promote the aggressively leftist movement. In just the first eleven days of October, ABC, CBS and NBC flooded their morning and evening newscasts with a whopping 33 full stories or interview segments on the protesters. This was a far cry from the greeting the Tea Party received from the Big Three as that conservative protest movement was initially ignored (only 13 total stories in all of 2009) and then reviled.
Where the Tea Party was met with skeptical claims of their motivations -- with some reporters claiming they were merely corporate backed puppets and others implying they were spurred on by their racist opposition to the first black president – the Occupy Wall Street crowd was depicted as an almost genial “grassroots” movement.
By Brent Baker | October 11, 2011 | 8:07 AM EDT
So enthused about promoting the far-left protests, ABC anchor Diane Sawyer on Monday night's World News championed “the Occupy Wall Street movement” by ludicrously claiming that “as of tonight, it has spread to more than 250 American cities, more than a thousand countries -- every continent but Antarctica.”
Protests against the wealthy in “thousands of countries,” including Cuba, China and every country in Africa? Per the U.S. State Department, however, there are only 195 nation states in the world, so Sawyer imagined five times as many protests as could possibly have occurred. (Video below)
By Brent Baker | October 6, 2011 | 9:00 AM EDT
CBS and NBC led Wednesday night with glowing stories about the growth and diversity of the far-left “Occupy Wall Street” protests, though without any ideological label applied nor any critics allowed, a promotional approach the networks never provided in Tea Party coverage.
“We begin tonight with what has become by any measure a pretty massive protest movement,” NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams announced. “While it goes by the official name ‘Occupy Wall Street,’ it has spread steadily and far beyond Wall Street, and it could well turn out to be the protest of this current era.”
ABC’s Cecilia Vega touted how “it is a crowd that grows daily in size and diversity,” CBS’s Michelle Miller heralded “they’re gaining momentum and new recruits” and NBC’s Mara Schiavocampo trumpeted “the largest crowd yet, and more varied in age and background.”
By Kyle Drennen | October 5, 2011 | 11:12 AM EDT
At the top of the 8 a.m. ET hour of Wednesday's NBC "Today," fill-in news anchor Tamron Hall proclaimed: "Today could be the biggest day yet for the 'Occupy Wall Street' protests in lower Manhattan." Correspondent Mara Schiavocampo followed by gushing: "Three weeks in, and no signs of slowing. The 'Occupy Wall Street' protest growing in size and scope."
Schiavocampo touted how the "coalition is growing quickly, as several labor unions have now vowed to join demonstrators in their protests against corporate interests....demonstrations spreading to more than 50 cities, from Boston to Los Angeles." The headline on screen throughout the report cheered: "Gaining Ground; 'Occupy Wall Street' Protests Spreading."
By Scott Whitlock | June 27, 2011 | 3:44 PM EDT
The network morning shows on Monday hyped the "extra spectacular" gay pride parades in the wake of New York's newly passed same sex marriage legislation. Both ABC and NBC highlighted the "hero's welcome" Governor Andrew Cuomo received after signing the bill. At the same time, they ignored dissenters.
On Monday's Today, news anchor Natalie Morales touted, "Gay pride parades around the country turned into victory laps..." and added, "Gay and lesbian couples spoke about finally realizing their decades-long dream of walking down the aisle."
Reporter Mara Schiavocampo openly opined, "This year's parade isn't just a celebration of pride, but for the first time, equality."
By Ken Shepherd | November 4, 2010 | 11:06 AM EDT
"This is the type of direct democracy people say they want. Sometimes you wonder," MSNBC's Chuck Todd editorialized after a segment about conservative ballot initiatives that passed into law on Tuesday.
Towards the bottom of the 9 a.m. EDT hour of "The Daily Rundown," reporter Mara Schiavocampo looked at a handful of state ballot initiatives that voters had considered at the polls on Tuesday.
By Brad Wilmouth | September 24, 2009 | 7:57 AM EDT
On Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News, correspondent Mara Schiavocampo filed a report based on her interview with video producer James O’Keefe, famous for his recently released video clips which exposed the willingness by a significant number of ACORN employees to give advice on breaking the law to O’Keefe, who posed as a pimp, and his friend Hannah Giles, who posed as an underage prostitute.