NBC News took the step of acknowledging on Friday’s Today show that the man accused of killing three Muslims in North Carolina held atheist beliefs after having ignored that element of this tragic story in both their morning and evening newscasts since the first stories aired on Wednesday night. During the program’s 7:00 a.m. hour, newsreader Natalie Morales referred to Craig Stephens Hicks in a 27 second brief as “a self-described gun-toting atheist” and is now “facing first-degree murder changes.” The brief did not bring up Hicks’s liberal political beliefs (as have fellow networks ABC and CBS in their coverage).
Natalie Morales
NBC Colleagues React to Williams Suspension: 'You Cannot Mislead...Truth and Transparency – It's Our Trade'
By Kyle Drennen | February 11, 2015 | 5:09 PM EST Reacting to the decision by NBC News to suspend NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams for six months following his Iraq war lies, Today 9 a.m. hour co-host Willie Geist acknowledged it was "kind of a difficult and strange morning." Fellow co-host Natalie Morales added: "...it is a difficult day here and we are certainly sharing our best wishes with Brian. It's a tough time for him and his family, so we hope and pray for the best."
By Scott Whitlock | February 3, 2015 | 11:33 AM EST
ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday ignored the massive new budget proposed by Barack Obama (and the tax increases contained within). NBC's Today, despite four hours of air time, allowed a scant 23 seconds. But in that brief period, news reader Natalie Morales spun, "President Obama unveiling a record $4 trillion budget on Monday aimed at helping the poor and middle class."
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 22, 2015 | 11:23 AM EST
On Thursday, NBC’s Today gave Hillary Clinton some free publicity following a policy speech she gave in Canada on Wednesday. During a news brief in the 7:00 a.m. hour, Natalie Morales gushed how Mrs. Clinton “may try her hand at comedy. During a policy speech in Canada on Wednesday, Clinton described a mock conversation that Vladimir Putin had with himself about becoming Russia’s president again after initially leaving office.”
By Jeffrey Meyer | December 30, 2014 | 10:49 AM EST
It appears as though NBC has gone all in by creating yet another musical for the network. Following primetime productions of The Sound of Music and Peter Pan, NBC decided to create a Today musical featuring the cast and crew of the network's morning show. The 30-minute special aired on Monday, December 29 and while it included numerous scenes, one featuring Matt Lauer and his female colleagues was the most bizarre. During a scene in which Lauer was having his pants ironed by an NBC staffer, the NBC anchor turned to Savannah Guthrie, Natalie Morales, Jenna Bush Hager and Tamron Hall opened his suit jacket and told them to “drink it in ladies”
By Matthew Balan | December 11, 2014 | 5:30 PM EST
CBS This Morning was the sole Big Three morning newscast on Thursday to report that the police in Hong Kong cleared out the main camp of pro-democracy protestors in the former British colony. Anchor Charlie Rose gave a 20-second news brief on the government's crackdown on the demonstrators. BBC News reported that "more than activists have been arrested...after police cleared the main pro-democracy protest camp."
By Matthew Balan | November 19, 2014 | 7:07 AM EST
NBC's Today on Tuesday was the sole Big Three morning or evening newscast to cover the latest development in the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. News anchor Natalies Morales devoted 21 seconds to the city government enforcing a court order to clear out part of the demonstrators' encampment. The protesters have spent nearly two months at the site
By Curtis Houck | October 14, 2014 | 5:46 PM EDT
On Friday afternoon, Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis and her campaign released a new ad that took aim at her Republican opponent Greg Abbott as a “hypocrite” for supposedly not caring about the disabled after becoming a paraplegic in 1984.
Since the despicable ad aired, only one story has been offered on the morning or evening newscasts of the major broadcast networks through Monday night. That single story came on Tuesday morning during the 7:30 a.m. half-hour of NBC’s Today by NBC News national correspondent Peter Alexander and lasted just over two minutes.
By Kyle Drennen | October 13, 2014 | 12:07 PM EDT
On Monday's NBC Today, 9 a.m. ET hour co-host Willie Geist actually tried to spin top Democratic Party surrogates like Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton mispronouncing the name of Iowa Senate candidate Bruce Braley as a boost to Braley's campaign: "But now he's getting a lot of name recognition. Maybe it was like evil genius move, who knows?"
So his biggest supporters not knowing his name helps with name recognition? In the clip of the First Lady that was featured, she even went so far as to direct people to the wrong website: "You need to elect Bruce Bailey to the U.S. Senate....vote.BruceBailey.com, that's vote.BruceBailey.com."
By Jeffrey Meyer | September 19, 2014 | 10:09 AM EDT
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice told NBC News that Governor Chris Christie (R-N.J.) was innocent of any wrong-doing relating to the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge. Despite Governor Christie’s reported innocence, ABC and CBS have yet to cover the NBC story, but when the story originally broke in January, all three networks eagerly jumped on it. So far NBC has devoted only two news briefs on its Thursday night and Friday morning broadcasts totaling 59 seconds.
By Kyle Drennen | September 12, 2014 | 12:03 PM EDT
On Friday, all three network morning shows seized on reports that Sarah Palin and her family were "caught in a massive brawl" during a house party in Anchorage, Alaska. ABC's Good Morning America opened with substitute co-host Lara Spencer declaring: "One witness saying it was like an episode of Jerry Springer, her kids throwing punches. What sparked this rumble in the tundra?" The song Eye of the Tiger was heard playing in the background. [Listen to the audio]
In the full report that followed on GMA, correspondent Paula Faris pushed the tabloid story: "According to the Washington Post, Palin, along with her husband Todd and kids Bristol, Willow, and Track, arriving in a stretch Hummer. The Post also reporting that as the beer started flowing, that's when the fighting started." Supposed eyewitness Eric Thompson proclaimed: "I heard Sarah Palin scream out, 'You know who we are, don't you?' It was like we were just on a Jerry Springer episode."
ABC, NBC Fail to Cite Hamas Official Admitting to Group’s Kidnapping and Murder of Israeli Teens in June
By Curtis Houck | August 21, 2014 | 3:25 PM EDT The morning news shows for the major broadcast networks came and went on Thursday and two of the three networks in ABC and NBC refused to mention a key revelation in the ongoing fighting between Israel and the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. After previously denying involvement, a senior Hamas official admitted to the group's involvement in the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in early June that later led to the intense fighting throughout the summer.
The other major broadcast network, CBS, did mention this new development at the end of a 21-second news brief on its morning show, CBS This Morning. Co-host Norah O’Donnell reported that: “Also this morning, for the first time, Hamas officials confirm that the group kidnapped three Israeli teenagers who were killed back in June.” [MP3 audio here; Video below]